The Saturday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 29, 2025 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
We now complete our last week of the church year with a familiar text, the Gospel reading which is normally appointed for the 26th Sunday after Trinity, the account of Judgment Day. It is a curious thing that both the righteous and the unrighteous have the same reaction to our Lord, “Lord, when did we see You hungry…?” How can two profoundly different groups come up with the same reaction? The answer lies in the outset of today’s reading, in that God knows His sheep, and He also knows who are the goats. That is, He knows the ones to whom He has given faith, and He also knows the ones who have rejected Him.
Because God has given His sheep faith, the sheep hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him. They are led by the Good Shepherd to do good to those around them. Good works flow from faith, so much so that the sheep are sometimes unaware of the good they are doing, “Lord, when did we…?”, while the goats, asking the same question, miss the point. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).
Collect: 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.
