Two businessmen were traveling by train to an important business meeting.
In the seat opposite them was an old man with a shaggy beard, dressed in a tattered sweater and jeans. Throughout the ride the two told each other crude jokes about bums and tramps, with particular reference to the old man in the next seat.
When they arrived at the meeting they discovered this “tramp” was a world-class scholar and the meeting’s keynote speaker.
Realizing he had heard everything they said on route, they apologized.
“It is not my forgiveness you need,” he responded, “but the forgiveness of all the common people you hold in such disdain.”
My Commentary:
This short parable offers a sharp lesson in humility, respect, and the danger of judging others by appearances. The businessmen, seeing only a ragged sweater and a shaggy beard, assumed the man before them was worthless, a “tramp.” Their crude jokes exposed not only their lack of kindness but also their blindness to the dignity of every person.
What makes the story powerful is the reversal. The “tramp” turns out to be a world-class scholar and keynote speaker—the very person the businessmen were traveling to hear. Their casual cruelty suddenly becomes a source of shame. In that moment, their assumptions collapse, and they are forced to confront the superficiality of their judgments.
But the scholar’s response goes deeper than personal insult. He points out that it is not his forgiveness they need, but the forgiveness of all those whom they, and people like them, habitually look down upon. His words expose the heart of the matter: the issue is not simply hurting one man’s feelings, but holding an entire group of people in contempt. The businessmen’s sin is systemic—a posture of disdain toward the “common” people they dismiss as beneath them.
This story reminds us that dignity is not tied to wealth, clothing, or social position. Every person bears the image of God, and when we belittle others, we belittle that divine image. Jesus himself identified with “the least of these”—the poor, the overlooked, the scorned. To mock them is to mock Jesus.
The lesson is clear: respect must not be conditional. True wisdom is to look past appearances, to see not just with the eyes but with the heart. The scholar’s ragged clothing concealed brilliance, but even if he had been exactly what the businessmen assumed—a poor, struggling man with no fame or achievements—he would have deserved their respect and compassion.
Do YOU find YOURSELF telling crude jokes about others – Political party figures, lawyers, people of color, nationalities, etc.?
ACT AND SPEAK IN SUCH A MANNER THAT YOU ARE A LIVING PROOF OF A LOVING GOD!
Please share today’s Message with someone you know in your neighborhood.
