Christ the King
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Scripture |
Matthew 25:31-46 31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the 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 people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that 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 something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me 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 nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw 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, ‘Truly I tell you, just 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.”
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Devotional |
Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of Matthew culminates in three parables that make up chapter 25 and serve as his final words before the events that lead to his arrest and crucifixion. The third story of this group is better described as an apocalyptic vision of the final judgment when Christ will reign in power over heaven and earth. The reaction of the sheep and the goats, the blessed and the accursed is somewhat a surprise. The blessed are surprised at being welcomed with the sheep into the kingdom. They are praised for the treatment of the needy of the world. The condemned are surprised by how they ended up with the goats. Their argument, “If only we had known it was you in all those needy and poor people.” They were condemned because they did not take action. This is the only scene with any details picturing the last judgment in the New Testament. To the readers surprise (ancient and modern), the criterion of judgment is not confession of faith in Christ. Nothing is said of grace, justification, or the forgiveness of sins. What counts is whether one has acted with loving care for needy people. 1 Right practices seem to be Jesus’ theme for judgment. How do we reconcile this emphasis with right beliefs? Do we place too much emphasis on beliefs? Stanley Hauerwas writes about Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin’s work with poor and right actions. Day call this understanding of the works of mercy a scandal because it challenges the assumption that Christians are to do something for the poor by trying to create alternatives to capitalism and socialism. The problem with trying to create such alternatives is that we seduce ourselves into believing that we are working to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, care for the sick and those in prison without knowing anyone who is hungry, naked, thirsty, a stranger, sick, or in prison. Day and Maurin knew that attempts to create a “better world” without being a people capable of the works of mercy could not help but betray Jesus’ response to his disciples’ question of what sign will there be of Jesus’ coming and the end of the age. The sign is that they have the time to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, care for the sick and those in prison. 2 What does this say to us about our beliefs? Do right practices come before or even in place of right beliefs? Do right practices need to be accompanied with a right heart? These are tough questions. The word Jesus leaves with us is that there is plenty of work for the Christian and also plenty of time. “Great evil is done because it is said that time is short and there needs to be a response to this or that crisis. Christians live after the only crisis that matters, which means that Jesus has given us all the time in the world to visit him in prisons of this world.” 3 Jesus leaves us with three essentials to follow: |