“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 to 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. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:34-40
My Summary & Reflection
Jesus is describing a conversation between himself and those he identifies as the righteous at their time of judgment. In it, the King says to the righteous, come and inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you. He also gives them the reasons that they were chosen to receive this gift. The reason the righteous are receiving eternal life is that they were generous in providing to Jesus when he was hungry and thirsty; they were welcoming with Jesus when he was a stranger; they were concerned enough to provide clothing to Jesus when he needed it; they were compassionate with Jesus when he was battling illness; and they were willing to give their time to Jesus when he was imprisoned. The righteous were confused. They asked Jesus when they had ever seen him in need and rendered aid. He answered that whenever they had helped any one of the least of his brothers, that they had helped him.
One of the takeaways that this story provides is that the spirit of Jesus is in all of us. So, to help anyone in need at any time is to help Jesus himself. Also, I take from this a love from Jesus for every one of us. As a mother, I think about my love for my son and how when he was born, I wanted everyone that loved me to love him too. I wanted to surround him with a loving community. And I feel, as Jesus expresses in this story, that anything that anyone does to help him, is not only a gift for him but also a gift for me. To me, that’s love. Because you love someone so much and want the best for them, that anyone who does anything for them, also does it for you.
Another lesson in this story is that Jesus is showing us the qualities that make a person righteous in his eyes. Those qualities are generosity of gifts, generosity of time, and generosity of compassion for your neighbors. The idea is that the righteous care enough to meet someone at their need and to provide comfort and care when and where needed. Giving food to the hungry and clothes to the naked is giving what is needed to those who need it when they need it.
Finally, “the least of these” is a phrase that Jesus uses to identify someone who may not be able to repay. He’s telling us to be compassionate and generous to those who may not have the ability to ever give to us in return. So, we should give without expectation of reimbursement from the person to whom we are giving. Because, as Jesus is telling us, our repayment will come in the form of the eternal life that we are giving ourselves.
Your Reflection
- Are you loving and generous only to those who you feel can repay you in some way?
- How can we increase our outreach to those who need it?
- Do you believe some people to be unworthy of your generosity? How can you change that?