We spend so much of our lives searching for Jesus. We go looking for Him during our prayer time, in the songs we sing on Sunday mornings, in the silence of our thoughts, and in the corners of the church where we think He is most likely to dwell. We ask to feel His presence, to hear His voice, to encounter Him in the stillness and while He does meet us there, the truth is He is not only there.
Jesus is out on the streets.
He is the homeless man you passed yesterday, the one people avoid making eye contact with.
He is the man collapsed in addiction on the pavement, the one we label without knowing his name. He is the child begging for food beneath the bridge, whose voice most people have trained themselves not to hear.
He is the young woman in the short skirt standing in the shadows, not because she wants to be there, but because pain and desperation brought her to that place.
He is the prisoner locked behind cold bars, praying someone remembers he exists. He is the child sobbing from a place of trauma that language cannot explain.
Jesus told us exactly where to find Him. He said, “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 clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.” And then He said something even more piercing. He said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
(Matthew 25:35–36, 40)
So if we are still asking, “Where is Jesus?” we may need to open our eyes a little wider. He is in the margins.
He is in the brokenness.
He is in the ones we overlook.
He is in the pain we try not to see.
Jesus is not just seated in a building waiting for worship. He is walking through alleyways, sitting outside grocery shops, sleeping on cardboard, and hoping someone will stop long enough to notice. He is not hiding. We are just looking in the wrong places.
So if you are looking for Him, now you know where to find Him. He is out there waiting to be loved, seen, touched, and remembered.
Let’ s carry our faith into the streets. Let’ s bring our compassion out into the world. Let’ s stop walking past Jesus without recognizing Him.
With love,
Amanda
