Monday
Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“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. 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, 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.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
“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. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 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.’
“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?’
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Have you ever found yourself saying, “I wish I’d known!” You find out that the kid that everyone regarded as a nerd in high school turned out to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company and you say, “I wish I’d known!” Or that girl that no one paid attention to in middle school who grew up to become a famous actress: “I wish I’d known!”
When we say “I wish I’d known” we are saying that if we had recognized who we were dealing with we may have behaved differently toward them.
Here Jesus tells a story, called a parable, which is a kind of “I wish I’d known” story. And Jesus tells the story because there are a couple of things he wants us to know.
First, he wants us to know that he is coming again and that, when he comes, he will judge all nations and people.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
The “Son of Man” is a title that Jesus used to refer to himself; it’s a title similar in meaning to “Messiah” or “Anointed One.” Jesus is clearly saying, in parabolic form, that he will return to judge the world. This judgment will be like separating sheep from goats. Then he speaks of the criteria for such judgment.
“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. 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, 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.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Now, at first, this sounds like Jesus is saying that his judgment will be based on how we treat people. It sounds like we can “earn” our salvation through kindness and generosity.
This is not what Jesus is saying.
We know from other places in scripture that the gospel teaches that salvation is a gift of God’s grace that comes through faith and cannot be earned.
In Ephesians Paul writes:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no man can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10
So we can assume, therefore, that Jesus is giving us a description not of how to achieve salvation, but rather, how those who have already received the gift of salvation will act.
He is saying that those who follow him, who have received the gift of righteousness by faith, will express that righteousness through lives of compassionate service and generosity.
And finally, Jesus is teaching us who we are serving when we reach out to the hungry, the poor, the imprisoned, and the stranger; we are serving Christ himself.
He wants us to know all this so that we don’t stand before him someday and say, “I wish I’d known!”
Pastor Brian Coffey
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