Come, O Blessed Of My Father, Inherit The Kingdom Prepared For You From The Foundation Of The World
A Reflection On Matthew 25:31-46
The Lord said, “When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’
Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘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?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
RSV Matthew 25:31-46
Today, on the Third Sunday of Triodion, the Church calls our attention to the last judgment. This narrative vividly reminds us of the consequences of separating ourselves from Christ and of whom our Lord aligns Himself. Explicitly, Christ tells us, ‘as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ Therefore, let us reflect deeply on how our acts of service or neglect shape our lives in this life and the life to come, and let us live intentionally in our Lord’s presence.
Simultaneously, there is a reminder of what becomes of us if we neglect others: in doing so, we neglect Christ. By serving others, we also serve Christ, as He does for us. To become Christlike, we must always remember that “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). We, too, are called to do likewise, for our faith is to be lived in the image of Christ, aligning our life with the eternal life of our Lord.
Guiding us how to live in such a way, our Lord begins by telling us, “When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.” What this event is in reference to is the second coming or Parousia/presence of Christ at the end of time.
When the Son of man comes, He will come in His full glory, meaning His presence will be unmistakable by the whole of His creation. Before Him, the whole of His creation will be gathered together, and His very presence will separate us as a shepherd does sheep from goats.
To better understand judgment from our perspective in the presence of Christ, we must remember that Christ is the perfect, ideal man and our Lord and God. When we call to mind what an ideal is, we see that it is a judge. If we hold something up as perfect or ideal, we recognise that we are lacking in some way when we compare ourselves to it. The easiest example that comes to mind to explain this is the awe we feel when we look at a beautiful landscape. When one looks at a vast vista of mountains and trees, there is so much beauty to take in that one is left speechless. Our experience of Christ’s presence as a perfect man does this to us in a perfected way, simultaneously shedding light on the good and bad within all of us.
If we desire to be in the presence of our perfect God, we will see that He continually gives us all we need to grow in communion with Him and ultimately stand in His presence. Acts of service rooted in love are essential, for He tells us, ‘as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me.’ Recognize His presence in those around you, and let that recognition motivate your daily actions, fostering genuine growth in your faith. No darkness within us can withstand the light of Christ, yet if we are to truly repent, we need to let go of whatever darkness we may hold and offer it to our Lord.
As we recognise the presence of our Lord in all around us and serve them, we will see manifest the words of our Lord. ‘When I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me, I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me.’ Simply put, by treating others with the same love our Lord offers us, we live lives marked by fully receiving and sharing His presence.
His light, shining through our acts of service, dispels the darkness in the lives of others while doing the same for us. This is what it means when we hear we are meant to be recipients of the call to ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ For us to truly receive the gift of inheriting the blessings that come with our Lord's presence, we need to live lives aligned with the inheritance we are called to and blessed to receive.
On the flipside, if we neglect those around us, we must remember, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ Those counted with the goats and described as going ‘away into eternal punishment’ are not those destined to suffer separation from a vengeful god, but those who reject Christ through neglect throughout their life. Let this warning deepen our resolve to serve with compassion, knowing that neglect is a rejection of Christ Himself and affects our eternal call towards His loving and saving presence.
The way that we reject Christ in this life as well as into the life that is to come is by neglecting Him in the other ‘for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ So when we neglect those we are called to serve, we ultimately reject our Lord. If we continue to do so, then the natural consequence will be that we continue to reject Him even when He comes again.
Oftentimes, I hear from those inquiring into our faith a fixation on separation and judgment. Yet, rejection is not the primary focus of this Gospel. Rather, the focus is on what it takes for us to live lives commensurate with the gifts God offers us through His Son. His Son offers us salvation, the full inheritance of the kingdom of our Father. Yet to be participants in this inheritance, we need to live lives of service, imagining our Lord’s service to us all.
If we focus on separation from God and neglect what He is calling us to do in the life He has given us, we risk becoming paralyzed. The fear of God is not meant to paralyze us; rather, it reassures us that His grace is greater than our shortcomings. God recognizes our fragile state, and He sends us His Son so that the path to His righteousness may be laid out before us, offering us hope and reassurance.
God offers us all that we need to receive the call ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’. For us to receive His gifts in the life we have here and now, we need to recognise Christ’s presence in those around us, including ourselves. As we serve others centered in the love of God we will truly see when ‘I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ For our Lord is present always in His beloved creation.
The warning of final judgment is not a call for us to become despondent; it is a call to action with the gift of life God has given us. He comes to us in the incarnation to minister to our every need. He reveals to us who were once in the grave that even in the darkest place imaginable, there He is also to raise us to His saving presence. So if our Lord is always providing for our needs in this way, as members of His body, the Church, we are called to do likewise for all around us. When we prioritise the betterment of all around us, we ultimately prioritise ourselves, for we are then found to be full participants in the gifts that God offers us in this life in anticipation of the life that is to come.
As we approach Great Lent within the next week, let us set out to prioritise acts of service to others, imaging the service our Lord offers us. Yes, let us call to mind the final judgment, and rather than being paralyzed by it, let us use it as a reminder that, as long as we have life in us, we have the gift of serving others and returning to our Lord in repentance. For truly it is the call of us all to ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’ and for us to be participants in this great gift, we must strive to live lives of loving service commensurate with this great gift of our Lord’s presence.
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