Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye
gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Mat 25:34-36
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye
gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Mat 25:34-36
The special peculiarity of the persons of whom our Lord here speaks, is that they did not know, that they had no suspicion, that in showing kindness to men, they were showing kindness to Christ. "Lord," they answer, "when saw we Thee?" It is a revelation to them, in the strictest and deepest sense of the word. A revelation, that is an unveiling, a drawing away of a veil which was before their eyes, and hiding from them a Divine and most blessed fact, of which they had been unaware. But who are they? I think we must agree with some of the best commentators, that they are persons who, till the day of judgment, have never heard of Christ; but who then, for the first time, as Dean Alford says, "are overwhelmed with the sight of the grace which has been working in upon them and the glory which is now their blessed portion."
If this be the true meaning of our Lord’s words, what comfort and hope they may give us, when we think, as we are bound to think, if we have a true humanity in us, of the hundreds of millions of heathens now alive, and of the thousands of millions of heathens who have lived and died! Sinful they are as a whole. Sinning, it may be without law, but perishing without law. For the wages of sin are death, and can be nothing else. But may not Christ have His elect among them? May not His Spirit be working in some of them? They are Christ’s lost sheep, but they are still His sheep who hear His voice. May He not fulfil His own words to them, and go forth and seek such souls, and lay them on His shoulder and bring them home, saying to His Church on earth, and to His Church in heaven: "Rejoice with Me; for I have found My sheep which was lost"?
How shall we know Christ’s sheep when we see them? How, but by the very test which Christ has laid down, it seems to me, in this very parable? Is there in one of them the high instincts—even the desire to do a merciful act? Let us watch for that: and when in the most brutal man or woman we see any touch of nobleness, justice, benevolence, pity, tenderness—in one word, any touch, however momentary, of unselfishness—let us spring at that, knowing that there is the soul we seek; there is a lost sheep of Christ; there is Christ Himself; working unknown upon a human soul; there is a soul ready for the Gospel, and not far from the kingdom of God.
(C. Kingsley, All Saints’ Day and Other Sermons, p. 347)
Related: Mat 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Love to Christ is the principle, without which there can be no present enjoyment and no hope of future glory. Thus we hold it to be a test of final judgment, an evidence of love to the Savior, to have honored the people of Christ, especially those without rank or standing in society. All the riches of providential gift are intended to be the materials whereon stated Christian principle shall work. But mark the consideration of the Savior: He has so brought down this exhibition of charity that it is within the reach of all, a cup of cold water. (S. Robins, M. A.)
If this be the true meaning of our Lord’s words, what comfort and hope they may give us, when we think, as we are bound to think, if we have a true humanity in us, of the hundreds of millions of heathens now alive, and of the thousands of millions of heathens who have lived and died! Sinful they are as a whole. Sinning, it may be without law, but perishing without law. For the wages of sin are death, and can be nothing else. But may not Christ have His elect among them? May not His Spirit be working in some of them? They are Christ’s lost sheep, but they are still His sheep who hear His voice. May He not fulfil His own words to them, and go forth and seek such souls, and lay them on His shoulder and bring them home, saying to His Church on earth, and to His Church in heaven: "Rejoice with Me; for I have found My sheep which was lost"?
How shall we know Christ’s sheep when we see them? How, but by the very test which Christ has laid down, it seems to me, in this very parable? Is there in one of them the high instincts—even the desire to do a merciful act? Let us watch for that: and when in the most brutal man or woman we see any touch of nobleness, justice, benevolence, pity, tenderness—in one word, any touch, however momentary, of unselfishness—let us spring at that, knowing that there is the soul we seek; there is a lost sheep of Christ; there is Christ Himself; working unknown upon a human soul; there is a soul ready for the Gospel, and not far from the kingdom of God.
(C. Kingsley, All Saints’ Day and Other Sermons, p. 347)
Related: Mat 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Love to Christ is the principle, without which there can be no present enjoyment and no hope of future glory. Thus we hold it to be a test of final judgment, an evidence of love to the Savior, to have honored the people of Christ, especially those without rank or standing in society. All the riches of providential gift are intended to be the materials whereon stated Christian principle shall work. But mark the consideration of the Savior: He has so brought down this exhibition of charity that it is within the reach of all, a cup of cold water. (S. Robins, M. A.)
Christ Reproaching the Wicked
It was I who formed you, and ye clave to another. I created the earth, the sea, and all things for your sakes, and you misused them to My dishonor. Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity, I know you not. Ye have become the workmen of another master, even the devil. With him possess darkness, and the fire which shall not be quenched, and the worm which sleepeth not, and the gnashing of teeth. I formed your ears that you should hear the Scriptures, and you applied them to songs of devils, to harps, to jokes. I created your eyes that ye might behold the light of My commandments, and follow them; but ye opened them for adultery, and immodesty, and all uncleanness. I ordained your mouth for the praise and glory of God, and to sing psalms and spiritual songs; but ye applied it for the utterance of reviling's, perjuries, and blasphemies. I made your hands that you should lift them up in prayers and supplications; ye have stretched them out in thefts and murders. (Hippolytus)
Christ in the Poverty of the Saints
"Do not judge amiss of others. God’s people are a poor, despised, hated, scorned company in the world as to visible appearance; and what proof of Christ is there in them? Who can see Christ in a hungry beggar? or the glorious Son of God in an imprisoned and scorned believer? or one beloved of God in him that is mortified with continual sicknesses and diseases. A pearl or a jewel that is fallen into the dirt, you cannot discern the worth of it till you wash it, and see it sparkle. A prince in disguise may be jostled and affronted. To a common eye things go better with the wicked than with the children of God. If you see the image of Christ in them, you will one day see them other manner of persons than now you see them, or they appear to be." (T. Manton)
Our suffering brothers are to us in the room of Christ.—Why does Christ thus find His true representatives in men who suffer? It is not a question very easy to answer. If He meant these words to be strictly confined to the pious, then that would be enough—we should not need to inquire further; but I am not at all satisfied that we are entitled to limit His words so narrowly. Am I to ask, “Is this poor creature a Christian?” before I relieve him for Christ’s sake? Or does Jesus not care to reward your kindness if you show it to the unbeliever? We must try to understand on what ground it is that the great Lord of men, the Savior and Friend of all men, identifies Himself with every human being, and with those human beings most of all who are afflicted.
1. He chose to be Himself a sufferer, poor, and “acquainted with grief”; and, I suppose, the recollection of His own straitened lot will teach Him to care most for those who are in like case.
2. Our Savior’s design in coming here at all was to be a healer, a rescuer, a comforter for mankind.—He is the ideal Man, the representative Sufferer for all mankind. “Do it to any of them, you do it unto Me.”
(Excerpt from J. O. Dykes, D.D.)
Related: Mat 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Mat 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Mat 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Our suffering brothers are to us in the room of Christ.—Why does Christ thus find His true representatives in men who suffer? It is not a question very easy to answer. If He meant these words to be strictly confined to the pious, then that would be enough—we should not need to inquire further; but I am not at all satisfied that we are entitled to limit His words so narrowly. Am I to ask, “Is this poor creature a Christian?” before I relieve him for Christ’s sake? Or does Jesus not care to reward your kindness if you show it to the unbeliever? We must try to understand on what ground it is that the great Lord of men, the Savior and Friend of all men, identifies Himself with every human being, and with those human beings most of all who are afflicted.
1. He chose to be Himself a sufferer, poor, and “acquainted with grief”; and, I suppose, the recollection of His own straitened lot will teach Him to care most for those who are in like case.
2. Our Savior’s design in coming here at all was to be a healer, a rescuer, a comforter for mankind.—He is the ideal Man, the representative Sufferer for all mankind. “Do it to any of them, you do it unto Me.”
(Excerpt from J. O. Dykes, D.D.)
Related: Mat 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Mat 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Mat 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
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