Sheep and goats - the reward

Matthew 25:34-36
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 hungered, and ye gave me 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.

The next few verses establish that these blessed did not think of this as service to the King: "We never saw you!"

Not having ever looked through those in need and seen their Lord is the primary commonality between both those who worked to meet those needs and those who didn't. They only saw people, but some valued people and cared about those needs and some didn't.

I think I have a lot to say about this parable, but the thing that came to me on this most recent re-reading is that this kingdom that we are supposed to have, that has been prepared from the foundation of the world, is a kingdom where the needs of all are met.

One way of looking at the list of needs is that it is deliberately all-inclusive. It includes physical needs that can be easily solved by giving, but also the issues that cannot be resolved that simply are still served by coming and visiting. Without mentioning poverty, it includes the results of poverty.

The only thing that appears to be excluded is spiritual correction. There is no mention of "I was sinning or not working hard enough, and you came and corrected me." It's almost as if that isn't really a need.

And it makes me think "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

That if we would do God's will, that kingdom would be here now. We would not have to wait for it. The hungry would be fed, the thirsty sated, the naked clothed. Strangers would be embraced and become no more strangers. There might still be sickness and prisons, but they would be remembered and comforted.

And, there is much more that we could do in those regards. That's the case I want to make.

When Jesus was confirming his identity to an imprisoned John (possibly for the benefit of John's disciples, as we have already seen evidence that John knew), Jesus answered:

"The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Matthew 11:5

That may not all be in reach for us, but much more of it is in reach that we are accomplishing. How much do we care? How committed are we to doing His will?

That's what we are going to be covering over the next few weeks.