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"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they will also answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
- Matthew 25:31-46
Chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew's Gospel focus on the questions of the destruction of the temple and also of Jesus' return, the end of the age (see earlier readings from Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught the parable of the talents: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went out on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and his his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." This is the climax of Jesus' discourse on the end of the age, and He gives us a picture and prophecy of universal judgment. The time of the Cross is near, and He gives His hearers the true image of His identity. Sheep are used to illustrate the righteous, says my study bible, for they follow His voice and are gentle and productive. Goats indicate the unrighteous, because they do not follow the shepherd and they walk along cliffs, representing sin.
"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'" To inherit is to be a son or daughter as opposed to a stranger or a servant. The righteous become children of God by adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' " Many church fathers see in this inspiration to mercy a command for "feeding" those who need the spiritual food of the Gospel (those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness"), for liberating those who are imprisoned by sin and life without the message of mercy, those who need healing from spiritual ailments. We have to be able to see not only the literal meaning here, but also to understand that many are poor, hungry, naked, strangers, imprisoned, in all kinds of forms. We also have the command to love neighbor as oneself expressed here in action, by seeing Christ in each of these.
"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they will also answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." This fire wasn't prepared for human beings, but "for the devil and his angels." But things depend on what we choose, with whom we choose to ally, or not. These choices are made, says my study bible, by "coldness of heart."
Jesus always takes us into elective choice, and active practice of love. If we notice carefully, we want to understand what He means by "the least of these My brethren." He doesn't say that everyone is an heir; that status belongs to those who engage in this active practice of mercy, but clearly there are those who do not fall into this category as He indicates. Our initiation, and even adoption, seems to depend at least to some extent upon our own initiative, just as the Good Samaritan was a neighbor by initiative. It is elective, active love, the practice of mercy, that guides us into relationship and relatedness, on His terms. This is what it means to follow His commands. The practice of righteousness isn't just a general rule of how much one gives, or a kind of surface level of conduct. As we've seen from His criticisms of the leadership in the temple, hypocrisy is capable of putting on a good face, an elaborate ritual of good practice. There has to be a spiritual component to all of this, one that touches the heart and incorporates grace, and thereby do the commentaries of the early church fathers reflect the spiritual nature of interpretation. It's all about the heart and His commands. I think it's particularly important that we understand that the poor, the stranger, those imprisoned, naked, or hungry can come in all kinds of forms, otherwise our hearts are blind and deaf to the person sitting next to us, and we're also blind and deaf to Jesus' teachings and doctrines that reach to the heart, and ask us to go outside of our own self-centered worlds. The prompting of grace requires active faith. Wealthy people who've stolen money from others write large checks all the time to demonstrate their charity for show. All kinds of people participate in charitable organizations that do good works in order to impress, or even to gain social standing. That's not what He's asking for. This is not a legalistic framework. What does it really mean to be a brother or a sister, a co-heir to this kingdom of mercy? It means seeing and hearing what He asks us to see and to hear. It means hearts open to following His teachings, and thereby putting them into action. This is action that comes from good faith. My study bible says that the standard of judgment is uncalculated mercy toward others. Works produced by faith are emphasized; saving faith always produces righteous works. It says that what we do reflects our true inner state, a teaching Jesus has emphasized over and over again throughout His ministry. Let us remember that needs come in all kinds of forms, both spiritual and physical. We will be truly living as members of this Kingdom if we allow ourselves to really pay attention.
