How Jesus preached the social gospel

Matthew 11:2-5
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

So many times I have read Matthew 11:2-5. But until recently I had not noticed that this passage deals directly with what has come to be called the "social gospel"—the idea of taking food to the needy, helping orphans, providing shelter, and meeting other needs, but doing so without particular concern for meeting spiritual needs.

This past Wednesday night Ranger Horton spoke at our church's mid-week service. He pointed out something I had never noticed before in this passage. Jesus directly addresses how he met the needs of specific people:

To:	He gave:
The blind	The sense of sight
The lame	The ability to walk
The lepers	Health
The deaf	The sense of hearing
The dead	Life
The poor	The gospel

Did you notice what Jesus gave to the poor? He gave them the gospel. Yes, he fed people—in fact, he fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes. But those he fed were with him because they wanted what he had to give more than they wanted to care for their own physical needs, so Jesus took care of their physical needs for them. It seems from this passage that Jesus' main concern for the poor was that they hear the message of good news that the Christ had come to redeem mankind through his death on the cross and eventual resurrection from the dead.

Christianity compels us to care for the needs of others and we should certainly feed the poor, clothe the naked, and comfort the hurting. But we must never do it without sharing the gospel. We are not here to save the world—that's God's job. We are here to tell the world that the Almighty God reached to sinful man with his love by sending his Son to die on a cross to pay the penalty for the sins of everyone who believes.

What a wonderful message! What a wonderful way to meet the needs of the people around us.