“I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

                 The context is clear.  The point is obvious.  Mixing prophecy and parable, Jesus responded to a question his disciples asked:  “[W]hen will this [destruction of the Temple] happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).  Quite a bit to answer from one question!  He summarized his reply with a point about his relationship to his people.  They are so much one with their Lord that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (25:40).  Was a brother hungry or thirsty?  You nourished the brother and Christ.  Was a brother naked or sick?  You cared for him and Christ.  In prison?  You visited both.  Those “righteous” (25:37) individuals will enter God’s kingdom because of their loyalty proven by their works that were motivated by their faith.  Clearly Jesus used metaphors to make his point.

But was Jesus really ever in prison?  Let’s consider it for just a moment.  Everyone who is in prison is there for one of two reasons.  First, they have been accused of a crime or criminal activity.  Unless of course we’re talking about oppressive regimes where tyrants throw anyone they want in prison for any reason.  But even then rulers must come up with some kind of charge, even if it is false.  Second, they have been convicted of a crime.  In either case, both can land you in jail.

Certainly Jesus was arrested (illegally) and accused of a crime — blasphemy, or claiming to be God (26:65-66).  He was convicted of that crime in a prejudiced trial by a hastily assembled court in the earliest hours of the morning.  Justice was not served that night in the house of Caiaphas, the high priest.  So Jesus was in a position to be in prison, or at least house arrest.  The text later says, “Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast [of unleavened bread] to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd…  Pilate asked them, ‘Which one [prisoner] do you want me to release to you: Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?’ ” (27:15, 17).  Obviously the governor considered them both prisoners that were equally possible candidates for holiday release.  So while he may never have been inside a physical prison, he most definitely was a prisoner.

What happens when one is put in prison?  A person loses (at least) three things.  First, he loses his mobility or liberty.  He cannot come and go as he pleases anymore.  His area of mobility is drastically limited, in most cases to that of a small concrete cell with an iron-barred or steal door with locks.  Even the best maintained prisons are not places people would naturally choose to spend the night.  Think of Jesus in Heaven… sharing the throne of the universe with the Father and Spirit…angels singing “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).  Free to move about the entire universe (and beyond), to do what he wants, completely unhindered by anything physical or spiritual or evil.  And then to leave that to dwell in a human body, to be limited in his mobility and liberty in a fallen world… Doesn’t that sound like a prison?

The second thing a person in prison loses is much of his activity.  As suggested earlier, people in prison aren’t completely immobile, unless one is fastened to a wall, buckled down to a table, or put in an extremely small box.  Most prisons allow some movement, just not much.  American prisons typically allow their inmates to study, exercise, and do many other things considered normal activity for those on the “outside”.  But think of the hindrances Jesus faced when on the earth.  Matthew 13 closes with this telling comment:  “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”  Jesus had returned to his hometown, Nazareth, and “they took offense at him” (v. 57).  How’s that for being limited in one’s activity?  Here you have the only opportunity to have God in human form do great signs and wonders, and you limit him by your own unbelief and rejection.  This is true for salvation, too.  God has the power to save everyone, but he activates that power only when we believe, when we trust him.  Didn’t these experiences make Jesus feel like he was imprisoned?

Finally, people in prison lose all their authority.  Others tell prisoners what to do, when to do it, where to go, etc.  Think of the authorities Jesus was under while on earth:  imperfect parents, a Jewish culture oppressed by Roman influence, and corrupt religious and political leaders in a fallen world.  Most of all, he was subject to his heavenly Father who sent him here.  And for what?  For us!  He endured such prison experiences so that we could experience the liberty, activity and authority of heaven itself.  We can leave the stifling confinement of a fallen world, a fleshly nature and the attacks of the enemy because of his prison experiences!  “[T]hough he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

Are you walking in the light of your coming liberation by serving others as this poor prisoner did?