You Did It For Me
Matthew 25:31-46
Introduction
We have been studying some of the judgment parables found toward the end of Matthew. The judgment parables offer surprises / great reversals. The last shall be first. Many are invited, Few are chosen. Keep watch, for we do not know the hour. Today: What you did for them, you did for me.
Today’s text not strictly a parable. It’s a realistic prediction of the future. (Lightfoot). It is the “final story in Jesus’ public teaching ministry.” (Bruner) and only Matthew shares it with us. There are two groups in this passage: those who go into eternal life; those who go into eternal death. (Read Text.)
Matthew 25:31-46
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom, which has been prepared for you from the foundation 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 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This text is a big story, and it is one that affects us deeply as we consider our own lives and where we would be in the great separation. Like the other parables we looked at, it has a twist - an unexpected element. There are two surprises:
-Some served Jesus without knowing they were.
-Some claimed they would have served Him if they Had known it was Him.
The key of this teaching is how the Hungry, Thirsty, Stranger, Naked, Sick, Imprisoned are treated by the Jesus people. The foundation of this teaching relates to King Jesus.
1. Three Truths About Our King
Jesus Notices the Suffering of the World. Twice He mentions Hungry, Thirsty, Stranger, Naked, Sick, and Imprisoned. In all of the important Kingdom matters he had to attend to, he never forgot the hurting and needy nearby. In Matthew 8 a leper asked if he was willing to cleanse him. “I am willing; be cleansed.”
Jesus Identifies With the Suffering Ones of the World. Isaiah 53:3a “He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness…”. Jesus understands those who suffer because he suffered. Born into poverty; ministry years he did not have a home, ultimately killed on the cross by powerful and influential.
Jesus Becomes the Suffering One, Receiving their treatment. When Christians responded by helping, Jesus receives the care of Christian response. This is the great connecting point of this teaching - whatever we do for the ‘least of these’ we do for him.
2. Three Truths About Our Treatment of Others
Simple Service Makes a Huge Difference. Acts of service that Jesus mentions not complicated tasks. Giving a hungry man a meal / a thirsty man a drink. Welcome a stranger / clothe the naked. Bring Cheer to the sick / Visit the prisoner. Bruner: As Chrysostom first pointed out, we do not hear, “I was sick and you healed me,” or “I was in prison and you liberated me” … Big miracles aren’t happening here; little ministries are. …He makes his kingdom accessible not to the great doers in the world … but to all the little doers in the world. Simple service makes a huge difference to the ones we serve, to ourselves, and to Jesus.
Simple Service is Easy to Ignore. The Goats were not out doing hateful and harmful things. They just neglected to do the things that would bring relief, hope, and help to the hurting. The goats lived a selfish life - focused on their own comfort and ease. They live selfishly while the world around them is suffering with hunger and sickness and death.
James 2:17 “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself.”
The goats were spiritually blind - they could not see the truth about Jesus - that he identifies with the suffering.
Simple Service Was the Basis for Acceptance/Rejection. When we think of how Christ will judge us, we mostly think in religious categories: Correct doctrine; Faithfulness to church attendance; Living a moral life. Lightfoot: “In that Day it will not be a question of how much we know, what creed we can recite, or how many theological definitions we can unravel. It will not even be how good we have been in our morals and ethics. But it will be a question of how much good we have done,…how we have responded to the needs of our brothers.” The sheep were not expecting rewards for their behavior. They had to be reminded when they had done such things! It was the natural, instinctive, quite uncalculating reaction of the loving heart.
3. Response: We are on a Mission of Mercy
James 1:27 LSB Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their
affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
The Mission of Mercy is a testimonial of our care for this community. It is an act of obedience to the commands of God. It is an act of joy as we bless others with our blessings. It aligns us very closely with the character and values of Christ.
Look for simple ways to help hurting people. Help all the hurting people you can. When we help hurting people, we are ministering to Jesus.
Avoid the Avoidance - we can all come up with reasons why we can’t, or shouldn’t, be a help. It does call for wisdom - but it also calls for compassion. There are many helping agencies in our city that can provide opportunities for you if you’d like.
Conclusion
If Jesus returned today and separated the sheep and goats on the basis of the individual willingness to help the disadvantaged and hungry, where would you be?
I want one day to hear Jesus say, I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat.
The unseen reality is that Jesus, although invisible to us, is not absent from our world. He is present among us wherever people have great need. … We see a world filled with need; See also a world filled with Jesus.
If Jesus was here,
-Would you scoot over so He could have a good place to sit?
-Would you get up to greet Him and introduce yourself to Him?
-Would you take Him to lunch?
-Would you offer Him a ride to where He was going?
-Would you make sure that He had a place to stay?
-Would you make sure that He had a coat to wear if it’s cold out, or shoes to wear?
-You would do that for Jesus, wouldn’t you?
Jesus said, “Just as much as you did for these – the least of these – you did for Me. And just as much as you did not do for these – the least of these – you did not do for Me.”
The judgment parables…Call for a decision:
-Reveal the holiness of God
-Reveal the grace of God
-Reveal an eternal plan
-Reveal the Future dimly
-Reveal the effects of sin
-Reveal the reality of Eternity
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