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In John 14:7–9, Jesus declared: “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Every believer must understand this: one of the purposes of Jesus’ life and ministry was to show the heart of the Father. Every word He spoke, every healing, and every act of deliverance revealed what the Father desires.

In Luke 4:18–19, Jesus declared: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

The Father’s care for the poor was given special importance. It would not go against the Spirit of the Gospel to say that ministry to the poor was a priority.

When John was in prison, he sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was truly the One who was to come. Jesus answered in Matthew 11:2–5: “Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

This was not an afterthought. It was proof that the gospel is incomplete if the poor are left out.

Jesus also stressed this truth to the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16–22: “Jesus said unto him, If you would be perfect, if you would be complete, go and sell that which you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

Again, in Luke 14:12–14, Jesus taught: “When you make a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends, nor your brethren, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbours; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made unto you. But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

In Matthew 25:31–46, Jesus gave a clear warning of final judgment: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you an hungred, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you drink? When did we treat you as a stranger and take you in? or naked, and clothed you? Or when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come unto you?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, since you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:  For I was an hungred, and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you did not take me in. naked, and you did not clothe me: sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto?  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, since you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.   And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

Jesus commanded His followers to care for the poor. In doing so, they reveal the Father’s open heart to those in need. The gospel is not complete if the poor are ignored. If you close your eyes to their need, you close your heart to the Father Himself. If you claim to follow Jesus but ignore the poor, you deny the very heart of the Father.