Matthew 25:31-46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Today’s reading is from the recommended lectionary readings for the day. To see the other recommended readings, click here.
First thoughts
Next Sunday starts the Advent season, so this reading should be seen as preparation for it.
It is also Thanksgiving weekend, when we’re reminded of all we have to be thankful for.
Thanksgiving, like the secularized “Christmas” season that surrounds us, can easily be reduced to shallow or sentimental terms.
I remember in elementary school the teacher stressing that for the first Pilgrims who gave thanks, life was not easy. Many of those they had traveled to the New World with had died terrible deaths from starvation and disease. They didn’t give thanks for plenty, but for bare survival.
Likewise, we often seem thankful for having a nice house rather than for just the blessing of having shelter from the elements, or for having good food, rather than for the blessing of not starving. Being deeply thankful requires an awareness of how dependent we are on God’s provision.
Advent, in its turn, is about light breaking into deep, overwhelming darkness.
We like to focus on the positive…but both Thanksgiving and Advent call us to remember the depths from which we have been lifted.
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When does a curse sound like a blessing?
Most of the time when we read about God’s judgment it makes us feel uncomfortable because we don’t like the idea of being judged.
Let’s imagine a scenario: Think of a TV crime show. The scene is a small store of some kind. The police come into the store and see three people. One is on the floor, obviously injured. Another, apparently the store owner, is behind the counter holding a gun pointed at the third person, who is masked with his hands raised.
How does each of these people feel about the police arriving?
For the injured person, there is relief that help is on the way…treatment for injuries and the possibility of punishment for the attacker.
For the masked person, the arrival is not welcome. This isn’t what was planned, and bad things are likely to happen next.
For the store owner it’s a little more mixed. On the one hand, help has arrived, but on the other, there are going to be a lot of questions to answer before things get back to normal.
In the same way, God’s judgment can sound like good news, bad news or mixed news depending on where you are in your faithfulness in following his laws.
When Jesus first spoke these words he probably spoke them to a crowd of people who had lived their lives oppressed by pretty much everyone: the government, the wealthy and the religious establishment. For them, the word of God’s judgment was good news–the people who had kept them down were going to get what was coming to them.
But the crowd in front of him wasn’t the only people who were going to hear the words Jesus spoke. They would also be heard, either directly or through informers, by those same government officials, wealthy people and religious leaders Jesus was saying would be judged. For them, these words were insulting at the very least, and dangerous to their hold on power.
If the promise of God’s judgment sounds like a threat, maybe it’s time to consider who’s side we’re really on.
The most-used part of this verse is one I often find awkward. It seems like almost any time there is a special offering to support disadvantaged people, or a food drive, or anything like that, the quotation is used, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
While it’s hard to go wrong using the words of Jesus, I cringe at the thought of referring to someone as “the least of these”…especially when it’s used in a setting where the receiver of the gift is present.
Jesus speaks elsewhere of being discreet with our giving (Matthew 6:3, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”)
Maybe I’m being oversensitive here, but it’s important to not just treat people with respect, but to actually have respect for them, even when they are in unfortunate circumstances.
In other words, remember the last part of the sentence…what we do for people reflects the respect we have for Jesus himself.