J. J.
May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in Thy sight,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
“Love is blind”
Today we are observing the Last Sunday of the Church year, also called Christ the King Sunday. And so, the readings are focused on the end times and the last things. Perhaps you have noticed that increasing theme, from the parable of the tenants in the vineyard, who killed the King’s son sent to collect the harvest, to the King’s Wedding banquet, where a wedding crasher tried to sneak in without a robe of righteousness, and was cast into the darkness, to the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and how when the bridegroom came suddenly, the foolish went to find the oil, and were locked out of the wedding feast.
Now, we turn to the parable concerning the events of that Last Day, of Judgment Day. Christ Himself tells us this story, so we must not trivialize it or overlook it. Nor can we wish it away. It is an inescapable fact that our Lord shall return, and that He shall judge all people.
We would prefer to think only of the baby Jesus, or of the miracle working Jesus. We often consider the crucified Christ, and the risen Savior. And we don’t mind at all thinking about our ascended Lord as ruling and governing the world even now, although in our hearts we might think from time to time that He ought to do a better job of it, one more to our liking. Or at least I have heard that some people feel that way. I shall leave it to you to consider whether such thoughts take the occasional stroll through your own heart.
But that is not the focus of our text today. Today we see Christ as Judge. Have you ever been in a courtroom? Perhaps some of you have. It is a reverential experience. When the judge is there, and you know that he has all authority, it sends the electric through you. Even when you are not the defendant.
So how much more will it be, when on that day, the Lord and King of the entire universe, who created all and is in all, and more than that, simply is all in all – when He sits on the judgment seat, judging all flesh. And more specifically, judging us. Me. You. Each of Us. And not just on how we seem to look and act that day. But that He knows fully and completely every thought, every word, every act, of our entire lives. Nothing is outside His knowledge.
If you are thinking about it at all right now, then you know that it is more than one can comprehend, and it is more than one can even bear to think about. We know, each of us, the sorry set of facts that tell of the story of our lives. And it is not one we want printed in the newspaper (New York Times, USA Today, or name of local paper) for all to see.
So the Lord lines them up. He sorts them out, and puts the sheep on His right and the goats to His left.
He starts with the sheep. “Come, you who are blessed by 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 welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” (verses 34-36)
The sheep say, “When did we ever see You?” “When you have done it to the least, you have done it to me.”
Then to the goats He says, “‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal 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 welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’” (verse 41-43)
And they say, “When did we ever see You?” “You did not do to the least, and so you did not do to Me.”
It is surprising isn’t it. Or it ought to be surprising. What is? That in answer to His pronouncements, the righteous and the unrighteous, the good and the evil, the sheep and the goat, both say the exact same thing!! “When did we ever see You?” Neither of them saw the Lord in need. It is not that the sheep saw the Lord, and the goats did not. Neither of them did. So what is the difference? What happened? What is going on here?
Blindness. Blindness is happening here. The goats were blinded by sin. Sin that separated them from God. The same sin we were born in, and which separated us from God, and which blinds us from knowledge about even ourselves, our own wretchedness. We don’t know our own selves. As the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).
So in their lives, the goats not only did not see the Lord, they did not see their own neighbor in need. And so they did nothing for their neighbor. They did not see, so they did not love. They were full of themselves and they were blind to love.
The sheep also did not see the Lord. But they saw their neighbor. And they helped their neighbor. They fed him, clothed him, sheltered him, and they cared from him in prison and in the hospital. Having done this, the Lord says, “You did it to Me.” If they did it to Him, and they did, why did they not see Him? Because the sheep were blinded by love. They were full of the love of Christ. A love which is blind.
For you see, the same Christ on the judgment seat, is also Christ the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him, for He laid down His life for His sheep.
It is Christ, Church, it is Christ who found us naked, and covered us with His own robe of righteousness. It is Christ so found us thirsty, and gave us living water. It is Christ who knows the hunger of our souls, and giving us food in His body and blood. It is Christ, who noticing our weak flesh, took on human form, born of a virgin.
And it is Christ who saw us in the prison of sin, and visited us, born, died, and arose again. To bring us out of bondage and slavery just as God through Moses lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage and through the Red Sea to the Promised Land.
He has poured out His love on us. John, the disciple beloved of the Lord, writes in His first letter, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10). Because of His grace and mercy toward us, He is blind to our sin. Sin covered by His blood. God is love, and love is blind.
You know this in your lives, Church. How because of the love of Christ in your heart, you have patience to deal with your spouse or your children. Because of the love of Christ in your heart, you are kind and cheerful towards your coworkers. Not because your spouse, children, or fellow workers always inspire the best in us. They don’t. And we don’t. But the love of Christ in us, enables us and flows through us to them. Blind to their sin, showing them the very love we have received. Not because one is super-duper. But because Christ has called us, made you His sheep, and poured out His love for you, to you, on you, and in you.
The sheep are righteous, not because they are so good. Rather they have done good things because Christ’s love lives in them. You are these sheep, Church, and Christ's love lives in you.
We need not fear the Last Day. Rather, as we say in the creeds, we “look for the resurrection of the dead,” (Apostles Creed )for “He shall come to judge both the quick and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.” (Nicene Creed)
And while we wait. We live in Him We live in His love. A love which overflows to all, to people who like us, do not deserve it. For love is blind. Amen.
S. D. G.
