Matthew 25:37, commentary and pictures

At the final judgment the King commends those on his right for feeding him when hungry, giving him drink when thirsty, welcoming him as a stranger, clothing him when naked, and visiting him when sick and in prison, and they answer by asking when they ever saw him in such need and helped him.
They ask in surprised humility because they did not recognize their kindnesses as service to him and were not conscious of having done anything for reward.
He answers that what was done in love to even the least of his brethren was counted as done to himself, for he identifies his interest with suffering humanity and the poor of every nation represent him on earth.
The separation there turns not on profession but on practice, with eternal destiny decided by practical benevolence and by neglect of good that could have been done as surely as by open sin.
Such service flows from Christ's love dwelling within, is done gladly without seeking praise, and even a cup of cold water or other small quiet act is recorded in heaven and rewarded.

Judgment Setting and Wording

The verse belongs to the memorable discourse in Matthew 24 and 25 given shortly before entering Gethsemane to bear the sins of the world. It belongs to the final judgment when the Son of man comes in glory with all the holy angels, sits on the throne of glory, gathers all nations, and separates them as sheep from goats to the right hand and to the left. Those on the right are invited to inherit the kingdom for feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, taking in the stranger, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned. At that second coming the whole world is represented by only two classes, the righteous and the unrighteous, the just and the unjust, the one on the right hand and the other on the left. There the righteous are placed before Christ, where worldly cleverness and selfish aims do not make the work successful in His sight and have no place in His kingdom.

In answer to the King's commendation they ask with surprise, Lord, when did they see Him hungry and feed Him, or thirsty and give Him drink. They ask likewise when they saw Him a stranger and took Him in, naked and clothed Him, sick or in prison and came to Him. Their question is part of the representation of the character God accepts and of the Master's words that forever decide the destiny of the sheep and the goats. It is to be studied with ears to hear and intellect to comprehend, for the education of the soul and for the work that must be done.

Matthew 25:31-46 is the reverse of Christ on trial before the priests. It points forward to when He occupies the position of supreme Judge of heaven and earth, seated upon the Father's throne with no appeal from His decisions. On that day, instead of being surrounded and abused by a riotous mob, He comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, escorted by legions of angels. Then He pronounces sentence upon His enemies, including that same accusing throng.

The final separation saves the righteous in the kingdom of God inside the city, while the wicked find themselves outside the gates. The sight brings shame and awakening to poor, worldly, guilty souls, with lamentation and woe in acknowledging they are too late, too late, because choice has already decided destiny. When opportunity to repent and be converted was offered, they dishonored their Redeemer, scorned mercy, refused to acknowledge the love of God, and chose the service of Satan and his side of the controversy, becoming a sad spectacle to angels and to men. The nearness and publicity of that judgment is shown in that failure to stand beside a wife, share burdens, and bring earnings into the house for the support of rightful wife and children is held as robbery and embezzlement, remaining on the record to be seen and heard proclaimed in the ears of the assembled universe. Forsaking a wife, casting support of children upon her, idolizing money, and refusing confession and restitution bars entrance to the kingdom of heaven, and there is no chance to enter unless there is thorough conversion, repentance, Christlike love, and payment of honest debts for support.

The twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, including the instruction about talents and the final judgment in 25:14-46, is to be read and studied diligently. It must be compared with the life record as a test of lived faith, because the present is trading time in which God-given capabilities are to be used for the Master and put out to the exchangers. That comparison requires close, critical self-examination of how opportunities have been used and how the Lord's talents are being traded. It rebukes boasting and self-sufficiency as fearfully dangerous, because they lead men to make the words of Christ of no effect. It calls for walking in Christ's footsteps in the humility of true faith, putting away self-trust, committing to the Saviour day by day and hour by hour, and constantly receiving and imparting His grace.

Unconscious Humble Service

At the final separation of sheep from goats with its announcement of reward, the righteous answer the commendation for feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty with surprised, humble, perplexed unawareness. They ask when they saw him hungry and gave food, or thirsty and gave drink, not recognizing or recalling that their care was service to him. They served without knowing it and were not conscious of anything they had done, because what was done for needy sufferers he counts as done to himself. Ministering to those who suffer for his name is evidence of discipleship and receives his approval at the judgment, and practical help for people in need becomes the basis of his judgment.

They did not act for praise, recognition, reward, credit, attention, self-exaltation, or because they recognized him in those helped. They served willingly and gladly because his spirit and love lived in them, and helping others was a pleasure to them. They cared because they saw in each one a soul for whom the Saviour died, and carried on the work he came to do. Even a cup of cold water, a timely word, and other quiet, ordinary, easily overlooked acts done without seeking credit are precious to God and are rewarded at the last day as service done to him. Their treatment of his people and of humanity, including people outside their own faith, is considered in the judgment that distinguishes by actions rather than profession and brings reward or condemnation, with goods used to help entrusted for fruit to God's glory.

Their unawareness is because he was interwoven into character. Those commended may know little theology but cherish his principles and become a blessing to those around them through the divine Spirit. This unconscious service includes the lowly among the nations and among the heathen who never heard the words of life by human lips. They worship God ignorantly, befriend his people even at peril of life, hear his voice in nature without the written law and do what the law requires. It also embraces people who lacked clear knowledge of God's law but, when grace stirred compassion, helped or protected his servants. Their help through Christlike kindness is accepted as work for God and proves the Holy Spirit touched their hearts, and God intends the message of salvation to reach those willing to receive its light.

Their perplexed surprise turns to gladness and joyful looking up at his words of approval. From the opposite side the condemned ask the same kind of when-saw-we-thee question, unconscious of guilt. Satan has blinded them so they do not see what they owe their brethren, and they live self-absorbed without care for others' needs. To neglect the needy is to refuse to seek him and enter fellowship with him, so he answers, I know you not.

Christ Identified with Suffering

Christ makes the interests of suffering humanity and fallen mankind his own, so that kindness, love and care shown to even the least of his brethren and children, not the greatest but the least, is counted and registered in heaven as done to himself, and the wondering question of the righteous is answered by that declaration. The righteous answer his commendation for feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, taking in strangers, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned with humble surprise, asking when they saw him in those conditions and ministered to him. They served without knowing they were serving him and were not conscious of anything they had done, because he was interwoven into character, and their deeds of love and charity to the suffering poor, the afflicted, the widows, the fatherless and the destitute are therefore counted as his. Bringing him into everyday life in this practical ministry stands against training in self-indulgence, extravagant display, superfluous clothing, jewels and ornaments while widows cry, orphans pray and want stalks the streets, for the wasteful will be confronted in the day of God by the worthy poor who knew pinching want while enough to supply all their wants was wasted. Putting surplus means liberally into the Health Institute to help humble, worthy, sick and suffering poor unable to pay regular prices inherits the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, while failure to minister brings everlasting punishment.

The poor are his representatives on earth, and the needy of every nationality and race represent him. Relieving their needs and suffering is ministering to him, while neglecting, mistreating or oppressing them is neglecting him. Pity, benevolence and sympathy toward them are accepted as service to him, but every neglect is written in the books of heaven as if done to him himself. Treatment of suffering ones therefore decides the verdict of the Judge of all the earth, whether welcome into the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world is received. Those who have means are responsible for feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, educating the fatherless and helping widows, and claiming to keep the commandments while turning a deaf ear to the oppressed, lifting the soul to vanity, speaking sharp cutting words with hardness of heart and claiming to advance his cause oppresses the poor and shuts away the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

He is hungry and thirsty in the person of the poor and suffering, near every day in the afflicted ones, famishing in the hovel or empty street while others feast, without a place to lay his head, destitute, languishing in prison, and suffering in the person of his saints. He is hungry and thirsty to see Christians act on Christian principles, share one another's afflictions, show his character and live in unity and care for others, for God values character and sees purposes. Dissension, bickering and self-seeking come from Satan. To neglect the needy is to refuse to seek him and enter fellowship with him.

Wealth and goods are entrusted by him to relieve and comfort his suffering children, so even a pittance of bread to the starving or flimsy garments against frost is giving to the Lord of Glory. Unused wealth and needless comforts are claimed by those in need, and feeding the hungry and meeting the needs of the poor are duties. He hungers and thirsts for resources to carry forward his work, so denying needless self-indulgence and giving those savings to that work, including help to those outside one's own faith that brings fruit to God's glory, is service to him done because helping others is a pleasure.

He visits the poor and needy through his children who relieve their distress and suffering, and acts as simple as sharing bread and water express compassionate service to him. He takes joy in helping those in need, seeking the lost, rescuing the perishing, lifting the bowed down, healing the sick and comforting the sorrowful and distressed. He calls people to self-sacrifice through those in need and through righteous causes that bring poverty, toil and reproach, and responding to them is responding to the living Christ.

Judgment Decided by Works

At the judgment throne two classes are separated not by profession of faith but by practice, by actions rather than profession, and the decisions of the last day turn on practical benevolence. The works by which the righteous and the wicked are distinguished are the criterion by which all are judged, and good works are the fruit of justification by faith and of genuine faith. Those who live for themselves and do not work for Christ receive the same condemnation as those who do evil.

The Master's words forever decide the destiny of sheep and goats, and the verse records the righteous answering the King asking when they saw Him hungry and fed Him or thirsty and gave Him drink. It belongs to the representation of the character God accepts that all must study with ears to hear and intellect to comprehend for the education of the soul and for the work to be done for the soul. Day by day in the common incidents of life men determine eternal destiny, and eternal reward or everlasting punishment is meted out according to what each has done or has not done. The whole life's tendency, disposition, and actions are examined in the courts of heaven to see whether character in probationary time was formed after the pattern given in Christ Jesus or after the pattern of the enemy of all righteousness, so everyone decides his own destiny. When the judgment sits and the books are opened and the dead are judged according to their works, the principles of eternal justice are developed, and the righteous are those transformed by beholding Jesus into His likeness, working in His lines with deeper knowledge of God, vitalized by the Holy Spirit with living connection and saving faith as doers of His words and fit subjects for the kingdom as members of the royal family, while the condemned are those without grace and without doing, mere appearance and fraud in their own sight, judged by the character of their works.

Genuine faith is shown by works, and even small acts done from love, however small they seem, are accepted, remembered, and rewarded. Ministering to those who suffer for His name is evidence of discipleship, and service to the poor, afflicted, orphaned, and widowed counts as service to Him, while profession alone is not genuine and love shown through deeds is. A kind, loving heart is worth more than all riches in the world, those who live to do good show they are children of God, and they are the righteous who will dwell with Him in His kingdom. Self-sacrificing and generous acts, including devotion to His cause, are not forgotten and will be rewarded, and no sacrifice offered in faith is too costly. At the judgment He rewards these ordinary, easily overlooked acts of loving service done without seeking praise or reward as service done to Him.

Having a name in the church book will not secure entrance into the kingdom of heaven, no position in life secures it, and salvation rests on believing in Him as personal Saviour, though all may be saved and not all will be. What is required is close, critical self-examination of how opportunities have been used and how entrusted talents are being traded and whether they are put out to the exchangers, for the present is trading time in which God-given capabilities are to be used for the Master. Boasting and self-sufficiency are fearfully dangerous because they make His words of no effect. Walking in His footsteps in the humility of true faith, putting away self-trust, committing to the Saviour day by day and hour by hour, and constantly receiving and imparting His grace, with self-denying, self-sacrificing zeal for the salvation of souls and missionary work for those perishing in sins begun at once by each one who has denied self and purified the soul through belief of the truth, is what matters in what is done for the One who gave His life for the world.

The decision of that day is not confined to revolting crimes and actual open sins but turns especially on neglecting to do what might have been done and ought to have been done, including good that could have been done, abilities left undeveloped and unused, and opportunities missed. Those left in degradation bear witness against those who neglected them. Failing to give the needy practical care — water and devoted service — counts as failing to serve Him, and those who have missed such opportunities stand accountable for what they did not do.

The rich who neglected the hungry and naked and failed to act justly and mercifully are judged by how they treated those in need, and their riches cannot protect them when judgment comes. Those who squandered wealth on pride, luxury, show, and sharp dealing while others suffered will be condemned, because neglecting the needy is neglecting Him. Neglecting the unfortunate brings guilt, while feeding, clothing, acting justly, and showing mercy are the duties the setting brings into view and caring for them is service to Him. He exalts the sanctified to His throne to inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world and enter life eternal for their works of self-denial and mercy, compassion and righteousness, produced by holiness of heart which makes its possessor fruitful and abounding in all good works, never weary in well-doing, unwearied in well-doing, seeking no earthly promotion or promotion in this world but looking forward to promotion in heaven.

Every action done to relieve the necessities of the afflicted is done to Him and is kept on record by the Lord for the judgment, including help given to afflicted people of both races without distinction. Acts of love and kindness for those in need are recorded before God. Self-denying care, including giving physical and spiritual food, clothing, and pointing people to the Lamb of God, is remembered in the eternal world, where those helped greet their helpers among the redeemed. There the redeemed thank them for coming when despair bound them in unbelief, bringing food for physical necessities, speaking words of faith and hope and comfort, treating them as brothers, sympathizing with sorrows, restoring bruised and wounded souls to grasp His hand, teaching patiently in ignorance of a heavenly Father who cares, reading the precious promises, awakening spiritual necessities, inspiring faith that He would save, and opening the Word until hearts are softened and broken by His giving His life and they hunger for the Word of life and hold the truth precious, with all praise, honor, and glory to God and to the Lamb as Redeemer without detracting from His glory to thank the human instrumentality employed for saving souls ready to perish.

Practical Duties and Stewardship

Bringing Christ into everyday life means feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, taking in the stranger, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and those in prison. Followers of Jesus live with brotherly kindness and a spirit of service shown in words, actions, and labor for the uplifting of fellow men, recognizing every person's right to share gospel blessings and valuing souls aside from circumstance and rank. Training in self-indulgence leaves people unconscious of neglect and causes loss of heaven and the eternity of bliss that comes from devoting powers to God.

God requires faithful stewardship of entrusted talents, time, pen, voice, money, influence, skill, wealth, tact, and light and knowledge of His second coming, held as trustees not owners. At His coming He will reckon with His servants not over success in gathering means but over what was done with what was entrusted, asking what was done for Him in the person of the poor, afflicted, orphan and fatherless, sick, hungry, and unclothed, with His means and to make men wise unto salvation. This means consecration with His love abiding by faith, cheerfully doing duty, using one talent or two or five to advance the work Christ came to do, imparting wisdom without abuse, with not a farthing squandered on selfish indulgence under an accountability that should cause fear and trembling, for withholding entrusted means fails their purpose and misusing them must be answered for.

Spending on extravagant display, superfluous clothing, jewels and ornaments, pride of dress, love of the world, and needless luxury and self-indulgence while widows cry, orphans pray, want stalks the streets, and the hungry go unfed and the naked unclothed withholds what should be given to them. Spending less on unnecessary dress leaves more to help people in need, while using entrusted means for show lays up nothing and leaves no one helped. In the day of God the wasteful will be confronted by the worthy poor who knew pinching want while enough to supply all their wants was wasted.

Putting surplus means liberally into the Health Institute to place it where it can help humble, worthy, sick, suffering poor unable to pay regular prices, and assigning interest or dividends of stock to its charitable uses, is doing to Christ Himself. Providing healthful food for the poor is acceptable service and Christlike liberality, representing God and using what belongs to Him, and clothing the poor is the best gospel sermon that can be given them. Taking every sick case that comes, giving treatment even if it means making a home into a hospital, providing a building to treat the sick while leaving results with God, bringing the sick into the home and caring for them there, and going out often at night to ride miles through woods to treat difficult suffering cases, is service done to Christ Himself who as the great Medical Missionary enters such a home and goes with the visitor to bless both sick and caregiver. Churches should provide practical help by judicious arrangement and not leave worthy poor and sick to suffer for lack of means, for such kindness inherits the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world and enters life eternal, while failure to minister brings everlasting punishment and supporting treatment brings blessing.

This service embraces concrete vulnerable people including an aged mother needing a home and tenderness, homeless orphans, widows, fatherless, strangers, the sick, dying, heart-sick, discouraged, ignorant, outcast, lonely, traveling, and afflicted people of both races, colored and white without distinction, including neglected Black communities and newly believing families until self-supporting, with especially courteous attention to the hardest struggles. Welcoming and caring for saints, even by giving a temporary home, with patient instruction and forbearance, is willing and happy sacrifice for Christ, and refusing practical care to a godly believer in need refuses Jesus. No zeal excuses neglect of pressing necessities brought to notice, and to neglect and cast out the helpless is to put Jesus away and be pronounced a worker of iniquity. Harming or driving away the vulnerable, taking from the poor to leave them hungry or unclothed, or treating a poor stranger advantageously is recorded in heaven and faced at the accounting, while heaven lays claims to help the needy and homeless that selfishness neglects.

Relieving suffering and helping the distressed through unselfish, disinterested love expresses the gospel, represents Christ's work on earth, and opens hearts. Feeding the hungry, cleansing and clothing the cast out, visiting the sick, praying with sufferers and the helpless enslaved by appetite, reading God's word, speaking of the Saviour, sharing truth through papers and tracts, and medical missionary work for the suffering, sick, poor, needy, and helpless touch hearts, kindle faith, and prepare people to hear truth and recognize God's care. Compassion for the widow, orphan, sick, and dying gives opportunity to proclaim Jesus as hope and consolation, awaken gratitude, rescue lost souls who may then restore others.

Relieving the necessities of the destitute follows Christ's example of comforting sufferers and healing the sick, and feeding the hungry and meeting needs of the poor are duties for which unused wealth and needless comforts are claimed by those in need. Doing for Christ means personal work to save souls perishing in sin by searching Scripture to understand it, bringing God's Word into daily life and character, having burning living faith, and everywhere giving light and truth to souls purchased by blood by opening understanding to accept Jesus. Church members are first to be converted to obedience to His commandments, then as obedient children to minister of abundance to the suffering and needy in true self-denial, instead of hovering over churches bearing a continual message to those who have not heard truth and giving time now devoted to pride of dress and love of the world to uplifting humanity and souls perishing in ignorance, presenting God's Word in simple faith that Christ will make effectual. Each congregation is to make careful, judicious arrangements for care of its own poor and sick, for neglecting to open Scripture, pray, and show concern leaves neighbors unready.