After separating the sheep and the goats, Jesus says that the sheep are blessed because they have performed works of love and mercy: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the prisoner.
Following Jesus is about entering the Kingdom of God. What does such “entering” look like? It seems like action: feeding, giving, welcoming, clothing, caring, and visiting. The distinguishing mark of “sheep” is their love and mercy, not church attendance, doctrinal orthodoxy, confession of faith in Christ, or anything else we’d typically categorise today as “religious.” This is not to say, of course, that such things are unimportant. But if we perform them all impeccably
but neglect works of love and mercy, we stand not with Jesus but against him. Religion, this story proclaims, is for the sake of love and mercy, not the other way around. The blessed ones have demonstrated their faithfulness by performing acts of loving kindness.
In this passage, Jesus says that whenever they gave food to the hungry, welcomed a stranger, clothed the naked, or visited the sick or
imprisoned, they acted kindly toward Jesus.
The significance of Jesus’ proclamation of being found in the “least of these” after referencing his kingship is important. The King of Kings is not a remote supreme being on a throne up above the clouds or somewhere in the mysterious reaches of the universe. Jesus teaches that God is here in the messiness of human life. God is here, particularly in your
neighbour, in the one who needs you most. Do you want to see the face of God? Look into the face of one of the least of these: the vulnerable, the weak, the children.
How can we best live as residents of God’s Kingdom? Can we perhaps be more intentional about finding ways to acknowledge Jesus in the faces and lives of “the least of these” – the vulnerable, oppressed and
oft-discarded?
Reflections by Rev Joe Taylor
