You Who Are Blessed By My Father

Passage: Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus’ treatment of Judgment Day in Matthew 25 follows closely on the heels of his explanation of the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 22. As discussed here, Jesus uses the Parable of the Wedding Banquet to teach that the Kingdom of Heaven has a distinct ethic. Part of accepting God’s invitation to join the celebration that is his Kingdom is embracing the clothing, or ethic, of that Kingdom. In Matthew 25 Jesus fleshes out that ethic.

To our surprise, it’s not primarily an ethic of religious observance or moral purity. It’s the ethic of generosity. The ethic of a lifelong commitment to communing with people in need and sharing that which you’ve been given in abundance. Jesus identifies six kinds of people: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the inadequately clothed, the sick, and the imprisoned. These types represent those who, due to their need or class, have been pushed to the margins of his culture. In this teaching Jesus confronts Old Testament-style injustice – that is, the dehumanization of some people due to the uneven distribution of the necessities of life. In a manner consistent with God’s commands to the nation of Israel, Jesus addresses far more than economic inequity. He more broadly invites his listeners to participate in shalom – life the way it was meant to be. God didn’t create a world in which some people have enough to eat and others don’t. In which some people have safe, comfortable homes and others don’t. In which some are isolated by cells or broken bodies. In which some spend their days and nights alone and unknown. Jesus addresses a world that has fallen out of order. And he invites people to begin to impose God’s good order on their disordered world– a relationship; a household; a neighborhood; a city at a time. Jesus invites us to start right now.

In fact, Jesus tells us that if we want to be part of what he’s about, we have to start living shalom. This is an inextricable part of his Gospel – for us and for the world. Jesus saves us from an eternity without God. But that eternity starts now. Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” And then he adds, “No one comes to me except through them.” Open your eyes and ears. Look for people who need the food, shelter, security, friendship and love you have in overabundance. Share it. Invite them into the abundant life you enjoy. When you do you will meet the Savior. And you, and they, will learn what it is to be blessed by the Father.