31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 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 foundation of the world. 35 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, 36 I was 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 drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 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.’ 44 Then they 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 minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as 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.”
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
When Jesus comes at the end of the tribulation, He will sit on His throne and three groups of people will be gathered before Him, all survivors at the end of the tribulation. On His right (the place of honour) will be the Gentile believers and on His left will be those Gentiles who have not believed through the tribulation. The third group will be the Jews who have survived. Jesus will welcome the Gentile believers on His right to inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Gentiles being a part of the church and welcomed into the kingdom was always God’s plan, not just an afterthought. They will receive entrance into the kingdom because of their righteousness which comes from belief in Jesus, but Jesus points to their works of mercy and compassion towards the Jews, “one of the least of these, my brothers”, as a demonstration of their belief and changed nature. Those Gentiles on His left will be cursed and told to depart from Jesus’ presence and will be cast into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. These Gentiles are cursed because they mistreated Israel but ultimately because they rejected Jesus and did not believe in Him for eternal life.
There are many “least of these” in life today, not only the Jews. Many people are mistreated because of their race, gender, age, or wealth. If you were evaluated purely on how you treat those who are the “least of these” in comparison to your situation, would people identify you as a believer?
This passage is a good reminder to treat all people the same and to love them just as God loves them.
I was encouraged to try make it more of a habit to give to others with less than me because as this passage says when we bless others, we bless God.
I think what I thought and want to now try do is that I must treat everyone how I would treat someone if I knew that they were Jesus