What did Jesus think about immigration?

Those who welcome the stranger enter eternal life.

Anyone who imagines that Jesus has no interest in the debate about our treatment of the stranger on our borders must attend further Bible studies. One of his most loved parables concerns a good Samaritan: unwelcome in Israelite territory because he was not "one of them", a descendant of despised transplants that did not belong. The Samaritan alone shows compassion for an injured Israelite who, if he had been in full force, could have cursed him. Jesus pronounces the Samaritan a true neighbor.

Respect for the stranger in the gospel is visible much earlier. Matthew's gospel story begins when a troop of kids from out of town reveres a newborn king while local authorities conspire to kill him. Since the beginning of his ministry, Jesus heals and teaches people who flow towards him from the Decapolis, 10 cities that include nine on the wrong side of the border. The Syrians quickly put their trust in him. A Sirophoenician woman with a sick daughter quarrels with Jesus for both healing and admiration.

In his first and only teaching in Nazareth, Jesus reflects how prophecy often finds a home among foreigners such as the widow of Zarefat and Naaman the Syrian. The same good word, delivered locally, is spat out. As if it were the right time, the citizens of Nazareth run away from the city. Meanwhile, a Samaritan woman in a well becomes a successful evangelical apostle. Later at the crucifixion, a Roman centurion is the first on the spot to testify: "Really this man was the Son of God!" (Matt. 27:54).

Another centurion - not simply a foreigner but an enemy - seeks healing for his servant and shows such confidence in the authority of Jesus that Jesus declares: "Truly, indeed no one in Israel has found so much faith. I tell you that many will come from the east and west and eat with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven "(Matthew 8: 10–11). Jesus exorcises the demoniacs of Gadarene and heals the Samaritan lepers with the same immediacy as the local sick of similar afflictions.

The bottom line: divine compassion is not limited to a nation or religious affiliation. Just as Jesus will not limit his definition of family to blood relationships, he too will not draw a line between his love and those who need it, no matter who they are.

In the parable of the judgment of the nations, Jesus never asks: "Where are you from?", But only "What have you done?" Those who welcome the stranger are among those who enter eternal life.

The same Jesus who receives the stranger with the same welcome and compassion of his fellow citizens provokes an even more fervent demonstration of trust in his word from these strangers. Descended from a long series of immigrants and refugees - from Adam and Eve through Abraham, Moses, to Mary and Joseph forced to flee to Egypt - Jesus made hospitality towards the stranger a pillar of his teaching and ministry.