“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.’”

Matthew 25:31 – 40

Jesus now speaks of things to come – when he returns “in his glory.”  It is a day of reward, so to speak.  He looks at all those before him and invites those on his right hand, those near to him, to come for their inheritance – their place in the Kingdom of God.  Who deserves this?  His answer is startling, to say the least.  Jesus describes them.

“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.”  Do I read this correctly?  They fed Jesus because he was hungry?  That because he was thirsty they gave him something to drink?  Or because he was a “stranger” they invited him in?  Hungry, thirsty, a stranger!  A prisoner with no friends?  That is exactly what Jesus is saying. This startled everyone.  Jesus is describing himself.  He was all these things.  They would soon see with their own eyes.

I am pondering this passage here on Good Friday. Jesus is moving toward death on a Roman cross, denounced by his own people, the Jews.  On the cross, he was alone.  He was hungry.  He was thirsty. He was a stranger among us, so strange!  He had no one to visit him in his destress.  Jesus experienced it all.  His robe was ripped from him, he needed clothed.  Where was everyone, those pious children of Israel, the keepers of the Law, the lords of the Temple?  All forsook him, all but a few of his friends and family.  That is exactly what happened.

Now what?  Those who followed the Lamb of God, the Risen Lord, fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the poor, visited those in prison.  These people were there before Him.  Jesus startled them by saying that what they did to the poor and helpless they did to him.

Jesus said, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

Lord, on this Good Friday, open my mind and heart to hear what you are saying.  Do not delay.