Scripture:
Matthew 25:31-46 NKJV
[31] “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. [32] All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. [33] And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. [34] Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of 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 took Me in; [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] When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? [39] Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ [40] And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ [41] “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ [44] “Then they also will answer Him, 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, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Observation:
As I was reading through this scripture this morning. I really wanted to write about this whole chapter, and honestly, if you have five minutes, you might take the time to read through Matthew chapter 25. It could save you a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering. If you want to know the truth, it starts in chapter 24 and verse 3 when the disciples ask Jesus what the signs of the end look like. I would love to take the day off and explain what’s going on through these 2 or 3 chapters from that point forward. However, I’m not sure the whole day would be enough time. So let’s just take a quick overview of what’s going on here in chapter 25, verses 31 through 46, and see if we don’t get something insightful. Jesus has just gone over the servants who did well with their talents and the virgins who ran out of oil. I believe all of that was in preparation for these verses. As HE explains to HIS disciples about what the end is going to look like, HE talks about the king who sits down to divide the goats from the sheep. The goats to HIS left and the sheep to HIS right. After doing so, HE starts to express the reason for doing so. Saying to those on HIS right, “Come you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For it was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in.” The list of things done by those blessed by the Father continues for a short minute. The fact that the M in the word “Me” is capitalized has significant meaning. It expresses that the king in this explanation is talking about HIMSELF. I think we should pay special attention to that moving forward. Because the way this scenario is explained… it leaves those to whom HE is talking to, with some questions…. wait, I don’t remember helping you, LORD is what is said in short. I don’t remember clothing you, I don’t remember feeding you or giving you something to drink, and by the way, the only person I visited in prison was Uncle Bobby, who robbed that bank after getting drunk and beating up his entire family. So I’m not really sure what’s being said here…. I added that part for the theatrical effect. But of course you know that. My point is this these people who showed love to others didn’t even consider what they were doing they just did it because it was right. The response from the KING is what should catch our attention, and maybe even motivate us a little bit. “I say to you. Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, my brethren you did it unto me.” As we have gotten the opportunity to read, those who were on the left-hand side of the dividing line got a much different response. They were told to depart from me, you cursed, into a place that does not sound comfortable at all. They may have spent their lives looking for Jesus and waiting for opportunities to serve HIM but missed everyone. As they passed by the man asking for money at the market looking for a stage to speak on or a platform to present the gospel. Walking right by every opportunity that was offered. In a hurry to serve GOD on a big scale. But left with the words depart. What a moment that must have be. I honestly hope to never experience it.
Application:
Don’t let the opportunity to love someone pass you by. I’m going to tell you… It’s not always going to be easy. Some people are honestly just hard to love. They are pushy inconsiderate, and life it just all about them. But those are the ones HE wants you to love. Now, here is the thing, though. Love takes the time to correct someone. Over the past few years, GOD has given me a lot of opportunities… and honestly, on some of them, I totally blew it. It’s not easy to look at someone in need as though they could be an angel in disguise. They could totally frustrate us and want every waking moment of our time learning how to lead them in those moments can honestly be very difficult. Im not sitting here saying I have it all figured out. But I want to get better at it. I want to be set on the right side of blessing on that day. I want to be considered a sheep and not a goat. Just thinking about that contrast is interesting. Looking at the 2 animals and their characteristics will tell us a lot. Now I haven’t been around animals a lot, but I have built some farm fencing and bucked some hay as a kid, so I believe I have a little bit of an understanding about them, and the thing about goats is that they are very hardheaded. They want to do things their way, and they seem to be determined to do so. But sheep are very docile and timid they do more following. Now I want us to think about that for a minute… what is it that Jesus said to His disciples as HE called them. FOLLOW ME. That means do as I do. Let me show you. Now, throughout the gospels, we get the opportunity to see exactly what that is. As HE feeds 5000, casts out demons, heals those who can not walk. Showing compassion to shady women at a well. HE loved the least of these, and HE did it well. I can’t imagine his level of frustration at times as HE said stuff like now go and sin no more. Praying to the Father that maybe this time, the words would take root. Maybe the soil had been filled enough to get the rocks out. Some people are just hard to love. But that doesn’t let us off the hook. Here’s the thing, though… it doesn’t let them off the hook either. Jesus changes lives, and changes need to be made… correction needs to be stated, and time needs to be given to respond. Im not saying to cast your pearls before swine because the bible tells us about that as well. But it’s pretty easy to tell if someone is a swine. If they are just disregarding what you say and want to do things their way… by all means step back and assess that situation. But if they respond and follow through with the correction given, then dive in and do your best to love them through the tough stuff. Some of us will read this message and embarrass the opportunity to love the least of these and be set to the right-hand side and sone will disregard this message saying that’s not for me I serve GOD in a big way and miss the opportunity.
Looking for Jesus in some big booming voice that says HELP THAT ONE, and well, you know how that ends. We all want a little love… try giving some and see how people respond. Love the difficult ones. Because if we are all honest. We can all be difficult to love.
Prayer:
Father, forgive us for when we don’t love the way we should. As you know it’s not always easy. But we love because you first loved us. In our sin and brokenness, you sent your son to show us the way. You sent HIM knowing that we were the least of these. We were hungry and you fed us the bread of life, we were thirsty and you gave us living water. You did not leave us where you found us. But you drew us to you. Thank you. Help us to see the opportunities to love the way you love. To see those who need you and be your hands and feet. We want to be found using what you gave us to further your kingdom. Allowing the light you placed inside of us to shine. Not in an abrasive, forceful manner. But in a way that others can see that you live inside of us and your live shows through us. We know it won’t be easy, and we will have to draw some boundaries. However, as you guide us, we know that it is possible. Father, as we love the way you love, help those whom you place in our path to receive the correction and respond in a manner that produces fruit in their lives. Open the heart’s Father and plant your seeds. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.