Matthew 25:31-46

“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.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘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.”

This passage paints a picture of the final judgment, where God separates those whom He judges righteous from those whom He judges unrighteous. While there are other passages in the Bible that tell of a final judgment to come in the end, this passage is especially striking and unique in that it describes why people are judged the way they are by God. 

Despite all of our efforts to define and preserve Christian orthodox beliefs, and as important as they are, that does not seem to be the defining characteristic of those deemed righteous by God in this prophesy. Instead, it is how they treated “the least of these”. God judged the righteous and unrighteous based on their actions towards those who were vulnerable. 

This does not mean that Christian orthodox beliefs are unimportant, or that theology and other teachings don’t matter, so long as we have the right actions. Nor does it mean that we can earn our own salvation by simply helping the vulnerable in our world. That would go against the rest of Scripture.

However, it does mean that what we believe, think, or know of God is not the defining characteristic of a Christian. It also means that our beliefs should not simply be something we hold within ourselves and continue living our life, but should rather influence all of our outward life, specifically our actions towards others.

So while we must hold to Christian orthodox beliefs, we must ask, are we really believing in those ideas if our actions do not align with those beliefs? If Jesus really has saved us and is Lord of our life, then shouldn’t we be trying to emulate Him and his actions here on Earth? 

Another significant thing about this passage is the actions mentioned that the righteous did for the least of these. These are all actions that require proximity, presence. The acts of feeding others, clothing others, visiting and caring for others all require the one doing them to be near the other, to close the distance between them and provide those tangible acts of love for the other. These actions also often require self-sacrifice of some sort.

So we see that not only should Christ’s love for us change our actions, it ought to change our proximity to pain, suffering, and vulnerability. Not only do we go to help and care for our struggling neighbors, we join them in whatever pain or lack they are experiencing, and we carry that weight with them. 

May we be so shaped and formed by Christ and His great love for us that our actions align with His nature and that our lives would overflow with His grace and love towards all around us, especially the vulnerable in our communities. And may we all leave the comfort of our ignorance and selfishness to join our neighbors who are standing in the midst of suffering or vulnerability, that they might also know the love of Christ and see it tangible shown through the presence of God’s people.