‘ “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”’ Matthew 25:31-46
This is the third post based on the Olivet Discourse from Jesus. These are the last Parables Jesus taught before He willingly went to the cross. Here are the links to the previous posts:
This parable is a reflection on “practical servanthood.” Jesus said that He came to serve, not to be served, which is the picture and example that followers of Jesus are to emulate.
‘For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ‘ Mark 10:45
Please look at the parable; the king has returned, and everyone is there. He is sitting on His throne, and He, as the Shepard, will separate the sheep from the goats.
He places the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.
A person in our culture will strive to be a GOAT, the “greatest of all time.” As Christians, Jesus has defined who would be considered the greatest:
‘Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ‘ Matthew 20:26-28
Once everyone was separated, He said to the ones on the right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
He goes on to say: “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.”
I’m sure this will shock them, and they asked, “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?”
And the King replied, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
A submitted heart to Jesus will manifest in our willingness to serve those around us. If we struggle with this, we kneel before the Lord and ask Him to help us sort this out.
The Lord turned to the group on the left, the goats, and said, “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.”
As with the previous group, this will shock most. This group felt that if their good only outweighed their wrong, they would make it into heaven. This will include those who felt there are more ways to get to heaven than through saving faith in Jesus Christ.
God’s gift of grace is available to everyone, but some will choose not to accept it.
This group will also ask, “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?”
And His reply will be, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
And sadly, “They will go away to eternal punishment.”
“But the righteous to eternal life.”
This is one time you don’t want to be a “goat.”
Heavenly Father, please help us get to know You and You way better daily.
I pray that You soften the hearts of those around me to hear You and to gain the repentance that only You can provide.
I thank You for Your grace, mercy and forgiveness.
I pray, Lord, that You allow Your Spirit to help me to look at others the way You do. And I pray for the courage to act on the Spirit’s promptings.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
