Love That Astonished the Ancient World
Matthew 25:35–36 “For I was hungry and you gave me food…”
In the Roman Empire pagans abandoned plague victims, but early Christians nursed them—pagan and Christian alike. Basil built the first public hospital in 369 AD. Tertullian boasted that the church’s “charity box” fed widows, orphans, prisoners, and even shipwrecked strangers. At the time, some thought it madness, but the Christians were following Christ’s command to love and care for others.
The Red Cross, food banks, disaster relief—every impulse to love the “least of these” traces back to followers who took Jesus at His word. They believed that people aren’t expendable. They are made in God’s image. Let’s examine how we might obey Christ’s command to love and care for others today.
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