"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right. 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'
Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me . . . Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25:31-46
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are . . . Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:1,18
Jesus confronts the brutality of history by identifying with the vulnerable, exploited, and abused . . . The shocker is not that Jesus says 'it's good to help the poor' - you can find that teaching anywhere. The shocker is that Jesus identifies himself with the poor.
Joshua Ryan Butler
Read
Matthew 25:31-46.
What stood out to you from the passage?
What questions do you have?
Reflect
1. How do you normally size people up?
2. How does Matthew 25 change the way that you live?
3. What does it mean that Jesus identifies with the poor? Does that challenge you? Encourage you? Why or why not?
4. How is the Matthew 25 challenge changing the way you see your circumstances?
5. What small thing can you do to make a huge impact for God's kingdom?
6. Who are the "least of these" in your life that you can love this week?
Do
The Matthew 25 Challenge - text m25 to 44888.
Check out these additional resources: The Skeletons in God's Closet by Joshua Ryan Butler and The Genius of One, Chapter 12.