The Look of Love

Matthew 25:31-46

“To love another person is to see the face of God.” This is one of my favorite lines from Les Miserable. It appears at the end of the story and is said right before Jean Valjean dies and enters into heaven. Jean Valjean said he learned to love after having been loved unconditionally by Cosette, a young girl that he adopted and now is a grown woman and married to a man named Marius. Valjean stole a piece of bread to feed his starving nephew and ended up spending 19 years in a labor camp. He could never get away from his past as his prison guard Javert has been chasing him down ever since his release in hopes of catching him in another act of thievery. Javert had an utter hatred for Valjean, and his hatred eventually led him to despair and ultimate suicide.

We are faced with many choices in life and how we react to those choices really determines our real Christian values and how we portray or conform to the person of Jesus Christ. When it is all said and done, we can react as Javert and keep reminding people of their sins and lay guilt upon guilt or we can be like Cosette and teach a sinner about love and forgiveness by demonstrating it more instead of talking about it.

Listen to what Jesus said concerning the sheep (the righteous ones):

[34] Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. [35] For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, [36] I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ [38] And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? [39] And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ [40] And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Jesus said that when we look upon the sick, the imprisoned, the poor, and the stranger, it is the same as if we are looking upon Him and doing these things to Him. What type of look is Jesus speaking of here? The look of love. The look of compassion. The look of passion which drove Him in His passion in His dying in the cross for sinners like you and me. I remember the day when Jesus visited me, a poor, destitute sinner, that was imprisoned by sin, shame, and guilt. On that day He set my free and all because He loved me not only for who I was but also what I would become in Him. I pray that God will give me those very same eyes of love and compassion and that it will produce in me a passion for the souls of men and woman.

When we look upon the sinner, sick, imprisoned, poor and destitute as if they were Jesus, then they will look upon us and see Jesus. Jesus in us, working through us, and touching them, because we become the extension of His hand.

I agree “to love another person is to see the face of God.” What does God look like? Take a look in the mirror. If you and I look upon others like Jesus looked upon us, it is then and there we can rightfully say we have seen the face of God. His face in ours!

Pastor Robby