“I was a stranger and you took me in…”

Having worked with international college students and scholars for 20 years (as of this writing), we have learned a lot about the realities of cross-cultural turbulence.  In the early years of those two decades, things like CNN, MTV and American-made movies from Hollywood set the world on edge regarding what was the truth about America.  Many international male students when coming to the US were surprised not to find dancing females at every corner of the city (MTV).  They were stunned that hospitable families really wanted to make friends with them because Americans are, so they thought, self-centered, materialistic and rude (CNN).  And they were shocked that the average American wasn’t greedy, violent, trashy, lazy and immoral (Hollywood).  Sure, there are some that fit these descriptions, but what culture is completely free from such?  YouTube and other technologies have helped changed things.

Cross-cultural realities are there and do affect those who cross cultures. The Bible doesn’t use the generic “internationals” to describe such people.  Translators used any of three words to designate them: aliens, foreigners and strangers.  They all mean the same thing: those who cross cultures.

In Matthew 25:35, Jesus identified himself as a stranger.  The immediate context is of the great judgment of the nations (vs. 31-32), where “nations” are classified as either sheep or goats.  He puts sheep at his right hand and goats at his left.  The difference between the two is how they treat Christ when he is identified with needy people: hungry, thirsty, stranger, needing clothes, sick and imprisoned (vs. 35-36).  It is true that this judgment is on individual Gentiles, not geo-political countries.  And the judgment is based on how they treated Jewish people, whom Jesus described as “the least of these brothers of mine” (v. 40).

Despite making the point that he was closely identified with his Jewish brethren, Jesus did experience all of the things he said here.  He experienced hunger when he fasted for 40 days in the wilderness just prior to launching his ministry (Matthew 4:1-11).  His most memorable thirst came when he was on the cross: “I am thirsty” (John 20:28).  He also could have used clothes when he died, since Romans crucified criminals naked.  If he never was physically sick, he was sick in heart at the Jewish rejection of his messianic claims (Matthew 23:37-39).  And he was imprisoned, if only briefly, before his trial.  But a stranger?  When did Jesus ever leave Israel and cross-cultures?  The case could be made that he briefly left Israel proper when he went to Decapolis, to the west side of the Sea of Galilee, but that would hardly qualify.  He stayed only a very short time, and the culture was hardly different.  But this misses the point.

Jesus didn’t leave Israel to cross cultures; he left heaven and came to earth to cross cultures!  If you want the ultimate cross-cultural experience, try that!  It was so bad, so extreme, only the God-Man could do it.  Consider the culture shock Jesus experienced when he left the indescribably glories and ultimate joys of heaven and came to fallen earth.  He left the spiritual and joined the material/physical.  He left his unlimited presence to take up a limited (bodily) presence.  He left a sinless environment to reside in a sinful one.  He left unblocked glory to live among darkness, degradation, corruption and evil.  He left his exalted position to take up a humbled one.  He masked his divinity in a human form.  He departed from his master/ruler role to become a servant.  He withdrew his royalty to become a commoner.  As inherently immortal he experienced mortality.  He left as owner of everything to own nothing but the clothes on his back.  He traded being worshiped by angels to being denied, rejected, assaulted and tortured by humans (they didn’t kill him; he gave his own life up — John 10:17-18).  He left as a leader and became a follower.  He left as the Second Person of the Trinity and became the “second man” (1 Corinthians 15:47).  As a heavenly deity he became a “heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:48).  He was the creator of the First Adam only to become the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45).  As inherently all-powerful, he had to trust his Father and the Spirit for strength.  We could go on, but as you meditate on such incongruities, you can’t help but more deeply appreciate the Stranger and the experiences he went through for us.

The cross is a combination of two wooden beams, one vertical, one horizontal.  The next time you look at one, remember that most strangers in this world are so by going horizontal, from one earthly culture to another.  Jesus went vertical, downward, to reach us. Are you ready for him to take you up to his culture?