The Least of These
Scripture Reading
"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." - Matthew 25:40 (KJV)
What is your attitude toward people?
It is a question that is easy to answer when we are surrounded by people who look like us, think like us, and have their lives together. But what about the person carrying the weight of a painful past? What about the one who walks into church broken, struggling, or trying to find their way back to God?
In Luke 7, we meet a woman known only by her reputation. Scripture simply calls her "a sinner." When she entered the Pharisee's house, she came carrying an alabaster box and a heart full of repentance. As she knelt at the feet of Jesus, weeping and worshipping, the Pharisee looked at her and saw everything she had done wrong.
Jesus looked at her and saw someone worth forgiving.
The Pharisee saw a sinner.
Jesus saw a worshipper.
How many times have our attitudes, words, or actions caused someone to feel like Mary?
If I am honest, I was once Mary. In many ways, I still am. I am still someone completely dependent on the mercy and grace of God. The difference between where I was and where I am today is not my goodness, my achievements, or my qualifications. It is the grace of God.
The same grace that met Mary is the grace that met me.
The same grace that met me is available to everyone else.
This is why the story of Mary and the story of the prodigal son are so closely connected. Both came broken. Both carried a past. Both understood their unworthiness. Neither came demanding anything. They came humbled, hoping for mercy.
And mercy is exactly what they found.
The prodigal son expected rejection but was embraced by his father.
Mary expected judgment but found forgiveness at the feet of Jesus.
Yet there is another character in the story of the prodigal son that often goes unnoticed—the older brother.
Most of us want to believe we would respond like the father. We want to think we would run toward the broken, celebrate restoration, and rejoice when someone returns to God.
But if we are not careful, we can find ourselves acting more like the older brother.
The older brother could not celebrate what grace had done because he was focused on what his brother had done.
He saw failure.
The father saw restoration.
He saw mistakes.
The father saw a son who had come home.
The truth is that every church, every ministry, and every believer must decide which attitude they will carry.
Will we become gatekeepers of grace, deciding who deserves mercy and who does not?
Or will we become reflections of our Father, welcoming people into the healing presence of God?
Jesus made His mission clear:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives..." (Luke 4:18)
Jesus came for the broken.
He came for the hurting.
He came for the forgotten.
He came for the least of these.
And when He spoke in Matthew 25, He made a powerful connection. He identified Himself with the hungry, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. He taught that when we minister to those society often overlooks, we are ministering to Him.
How we treat people matters.
How we speak to people matters.
How we welcome people matters.
Somewhere around us is a Mary trying to make her way to Jesus.
Somewhere is a prodigal trying to come home.
Somewhere is someone who feels like one of the least of these.
May we never become so focused on a person's past that we miss what God is doing in their present.
At Product of Grace Ministries, we believe every testimony is evidence of God's transforming power. We believe no one is beyond His reach, no one is too broken for His grace, and no one is disqualified from His love. We are all products of grace, and because we have freely received His grace, we should freely extend it to others.
The next time someone walks into your life carrying the weight of their mistakes, remember Mary.
Remember the prodigal.
Remember your own story.
And choose grace.
Reflection Questions
Do I tend to see people through the lens of their past or through the lens of God's grace?
Have I ever acted more like the older brother than the father?
Is there someone in my life who needs compassion instead of criticism?
How can I better reflect the heart of Jesus toward the "least of these"?
Prayer
Lord, thank You for the grace You have shown me. Thank You for meeting me in my brokenness and loving me when I was undeserving. Help me to see others the way You see them. Remove any spirit of judgment, pride, or comparison from my heart. Teach me to extend the same grace that You have extended to me. Let my life reflect Your love, Your mercy, and Your compassion for the least of these. In Jesus' name, Amen.
