NOTES for Pmn 1:17-25

The words “receive him as you would me” echo Jesus' parable (Matt 25:34-46) about how we should receive the poor, the sick, and simply those we meet along the way. “I was sick and you visited Me.” The pronoun “I” and the comparison “as you would me” seem excessively personal, because it is impossible to practice constantly seeing the Savior's features in every person. Often, belief in God and trust in God cannot help us do this. Then Paul's rational argument, an appeal to reason, comes to our aid. If you cannot understand or explain this, if you do not want to live this way, remember how much you personally owe God for your salvation. And you can repay that debt in only one way: by receiving the other, the different one, the person unlike you in every respect.