Visiting the Sick and Imprisoned
Active care for the suffering demonstrates love and will be recognized at final judgment.
Jesus counts visiting the sick and imprisoned among the righteous acts that evidence genuine faith: 'I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' These visits to the forgotten and marginalized are visits to Christ himself. Early Christians were known for caring for plague victims when others fled. This teaching has inspired prison ministries, hospital chaplaincies, and healing ministries throughout church history. The emperor Julian complained in 362 that the “Galileans” were supporting not only their own poor but his as well.
I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
Chuck Colson, after his own imprisonment, founded Prison Fellowship based on this teaching, transforming lives inside and outside prison walls.
Gospel of Matthew