If you want to be sobered up real quick, read Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus talks about Judgment Day. There is a pastor on Facebook who I respect in many ways, but it was shocking the way he responded to my questions about this passage.

He posted about how supposedly the cops tricked protesters into protesting in the wrong place while ICE deported people without oversight from the protesters. I asked him what the definition of strangers was in Matthew 25:35 & 43, which say:

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…”

43: “ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”

Here’s what I said, “Hi Steve. I was wondering who you think Jesus was referring to when he said we are to welcome “strangers” in Matthew 25:35, 43. Strangers in some Old Testament translations is referring to immigrants to Israel. If Jesus was referring to immigrants, would advocating for government to deport immigrants be a violation of the principle Jesus was getting at?
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Here’s his first response, “there is a wall around the heavenly Jerusalem. Not everybody gets in unless they qualify.

While the illegal immigrant is here we must treat them with respect and deport them respectfully
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My response:
I guess, from your response, you believe that Jesus is referring to immigrants in Matthew 25. Is advocating that they be respectfully deported obedient to Jesus commanding us to welcome strangers?

I’m not sure how to apply the architecture of heavenly Jerusalem to immigration policies.

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His response:
There is a law. If they are here illegally, then they are lawbreakers. They must be deported respectfully, courteously and quickly. And I’d be happy to give them a cup of cold water in Jesus name if they ask.
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Good laws have to be enforced and criminals must be punished according to God’s wrath (Romans 13:4). However, Jesus’ didn’t say welcome a stranger even though God’s wrath abides on them. He wouldn’t say welcome someone you know to be a murderer, kidnapper or thief who is a fugitive. Jesus was speaking to an audience who knew that foreigners and downtrodden people were welcome in Israel, even though it was a country surrounded by hostile neighbors.

Men don’t get to make up whatever laws they want, but carry out justice according to God’s Word. Moving isn’t a sin or a crime. What is a crime is government forcing citizens to pay for immigrants to be on welfare. Don’t blame immigrants for what is actually caused by government.

Here’s the standard. Deuteronomy 23:15-16: You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.

That is what Jesus was talking about when he said to welcome stangers. If you’re advocating that people be deported, you’re in violation of what He was saying and you might think you’re a sheep, but if you are doing the things goats do, you’re going to end up in hell.

I can’t believe a pastor was so flippant about that passage when it’s so sobering to me.