Read Hebrews 13:1-2; Romans 12:13; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8; and 1 Peter 4:9. What was the role of hospitality in the early church?
Christianity was a wandering movement that often depended on the hospitality of both Christians and non-Christians. The instruction to “not forget” to show hospitality probably does not simply refer to the failure to think about taking someone in but about willful neglect.
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Paul does not have in mind hospitality only for fellow believers. He reminds his readers that by entertaining strangers some have unwittingly entertained angels (Hebrews 13:2). He probably had in mind the visit of the three men to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:2-15). Offering hospitality implies sharing possessions with another person and suffering with others, which is what Jesus did for us (Hebrews 2:10-18).
Brotherly love toward those in prison implied not simply that believers remembered prisoners in their prayers but also by providing relief through material and emotional support. There was a risk of willful neglect of prisoners. Those who provided material and emotional support to those condemned by society identified themselves with them. In some sense they became “partners” with them and made themselves vulnerable to social abuse (Hebrews 10:32-34).
Paul’s exhortation uses images and language to encourage the readers in regard to prisoners. First, the author evokes the readers’ own support for their incarcerated brethren in the past. They had become “companions” or “partners” to those who had been “publicly exposed to reproach and affliction” (Hebrews 10:33, ESV). Second, the language of “mistreatment” echoes the example of Moses, who chose “rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25, ESV). Finally, Paul captures the ideal of brotherly love. He reminds the readers that they “also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3, ESV). They share the same human condition and should treat others as they would like to be treated if they were in the same circumstances; that is, in prison. The people should, then, provide material and emotional support to prisoners, showing them that they were not abandoned.
| What more can we do for those who are in prison, whether church members or not? |
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