When someone goes to prison, the world tends to forget them. Friends drift away. Families are left ashamed, broke and alone. And the person inside can go months without a letter.
Jesus talked about prisoners at the very start of his work.
The first sermon
Jesus went back to Nazareth, the small town where he grew up. On the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest, he went to the synagogue, the place where the town met to pray. They handed him the scroll of Isaiah, a prophet who spoke for God hundreds of years before. Jesus found a passage and read it out loud.
The Gospel of Luke, one of the four accounts of Jesus's life, records the words.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 4:18 · King James VersionThe original Greek
Πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπʼ ἐμέ, οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς, ἀπέσταλκέν με κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν, ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει,
Found in Papyrus 75 (about AD 200), Codex Vaticanus (about AD 325), Codex Sinaiticus (about AD 350).
The words "to heal the brokenhearted" appear in later copies, not in the oldest ones.
Then he rolled up the scroll, sat down and said that this was coming true that very day, as they heard it. He was telling them what his work was for. Good news to the poor. Freedom for prisoners. Sight for the blind.
Later, in a story about a king, Jesus said that the king had been in prison and people came to see him. Whatever they did for the least important person, he said, they did for him.
Ways to help
Write letters. A letter may be the only mail they get all month. Keep it simple and kind. Check the prison's rules on what can be sent.
Visit if you can. Many prisons let friends visit after an approval process. Your face may be the only friendly one they see for weeks.
Help their family. Children with a parent in prison often feel ashamed and alone. A meal, a ride or a birthday gift helps.
Send books, if allowed. Many prisons accept books only from approved sellers. Check first.
Help when they come home. Getting out is hard. A ride, a meal, a job lead or a church that welcomes them can change everything.
Pray for them by name. Ask God for their safety and their hope.
Nobody is too far
All of us have done things we are ashamed of. Some of us just were not caught. Jesus did not come only for good people. He said he came for the captives too. When you remember someone in prison, you are doing what he said he came to do.