Day 22 | The Kindness of Strangers

Matthew 25:31-46

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 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. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 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. 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.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 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.’

“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. 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.’ 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?’ 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.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Words: Jacquie Humphrey Read: 0 - 5 mins Published: 22 March 2024

In this passage, Jesus is teaching about what will happen on the day of judgement. Not a light topic! I find it interesting that a characteristic that marks out the ‘sheep’  is how well they have loved others.

 

Jesus provides quite the list of needy humans: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison.

 

For many of us, helping others may not be easy, and means stepping out of our comfort zone. But in this passage Jesus tells us that when He sees us do this, he sees that we do it for Him.

 

Prayer: Lord, I love you. I want to show my love for you in how I love others. Who do you want me to help as a way of extending your love?

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