Jesus, The Stranger

Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, came to this world a stranger.  The apostle John said, "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.  He came to that which was his own, but His own did not receive Him."


Jesus, Himself, said, "I was a stranger and you invited me in."  In effect, He stated that not only had He come as a stranger but He had come for the stranger.


Jesus was estranged not because He wasn't what He should have been but rather because the world wasn't what it should be.  Even though the world had been created through Him, it didn't recognize Him.  The world suffered from human sin, as well as mankind.  Even now it groans, Paul says.


In the end, it is not Jesus who is the real stranger, it is us.  And one sad symptom of our estrangement is the sound of our groaning.


Though ultimately Jesus was not the one who was estranged, He still did come for the stranger.  If you invite a stranger in it is as if you had invited Him.  He has come so that no one has to be a stranger ever again.
            -Michael Card, from the book Immanuel: Reflections on the Life of Christ