Saturday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 26, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 25:31-46 (NKJV)
25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Devotion
After reading today’s lesson, there seems to be a great deal of talk about good works: I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, etc. Well…there is. The problem people run into with this text is misunderstanding the role of good works in regards to salvation. The fallback mode for sinful mankind is to think salvation is the result of good works. But a careful observation of this text shows quite the contrary.
One need only go back to the beginning to see that good works are the result of salvation rather than resulting in salvation. The scene begins with separation of the sheep from the goats, the righteous people from the unrighteous people. The sheep are unaware of the good works that they have performed. Why? Because faith sets its eyes on Jesus, as the writer to the Hebrews wrote: looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2a).
The unrighteous, like the righteous, ask the same question, “When did we…?” However, the difference is simple: But without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6a). Since unbelief does not look to Jesus, it has no concern for others for the essence of unbelief is self-centeredness.
Our assurance as Christians is that we have nothing to fear when Judgment Day comes for the Judge is also our Savior.
Prayer: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offenses; that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
