Sheep, Goats, and Immigration

header-cover no-hex

Just a quick biblical story and thought after reading so much about the migrant child issue facing our country. I have no real answers for that, just something that we should keep in mind.

“The Son of Man will come in all his glory. All the angels will come with him. Then he will sit on his throne in the glory of heaven. All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate the people into two groups. He will be like a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep to his right and the goats to his left.

“Then the King will speak to those on his right. He will say, ‘My Father has blessed you. Come and take what is yours. It is the kingdom prepared for you since the world was created. I was hungry. And you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty. And you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger. And you invited me in. I needed clothes. And you gave them to me. I was sick. And you took care of me. I was in prison. And you came to visit me.’

“Then the people who have done what is right will answer him. ‘Lord,’ they will ask, ‘when did we see you hungry and feed you? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in? When did we see you needing clothes and give them to you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. Anything you did for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘You are cursed! Go away from me into the fire that burns forever. It has been prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry. But you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty. But you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger. But you did not invite me in. I needed clothes. But you did not give me any. I was sick and in prison. But you did not take care of me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty and not help you? When did we see you as a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. Anything you didn’t do for one of the least important of these, you didn’t do for me.’

“Then they will go away to be punished forever. But those who have done what is right will receive eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31-46 - NIRV

The word being translated as stranger there is the greek word xenos and here's the definition according to Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament:

  1. a foreigner, a stranger
    • alien (from a person or a thing)
    • without the knowledge of, without a share in
    • new, unheard of
  2. one who receives and entertains another hospitably
    • with whom he stays or lodges, a host

I think we can safely rule out definition #2 since the "goats" didn't take them in they couldn't be counted as guests.

So the question is how do we make our immigration laws reflect that, especially for a projected 60,000+ unaccompanied children?

For more on the child imigration crisis check out 13 facts that help explain America's child-migrant crisis - on Vox.com. Actually, for information on anything go there.

I fed the hungry - Whatever header image from Sheep or Goat? Is that fair? from Just Thinking. I didn't read the content but the image is too good.

Aron Duby

Web Developer Bacon Specialist, Introvert, Zombie Maven, Professional Photo-Bomber, Like Neo from 'The Matrix', but less terrible.