Scripture: St. Matthew 25:31-46 (NKJV)
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
From Luther’s Church Postils, 1544, for the Twenty Sixth Sunday after Trinity
Sunday: Matthew 25:31-46, continued:
The second reason why Christ especially mentions these works of mercy and their
omission, from the fifth commandment, is, that he wishes to remind us, who have
been called to be Christians, have received mercy through our Lord, have been
redeemed from the wrath of God and the guilt of the fifth commandment and from
eternal death, and on the contrary have a gracious God, who is good to us in
time and in eternity, to remind us, I say, to look upon all this and regard it
as having been done not only for our salvation but also for an example. For,
since he has shown us such mercy as to save us, we are also to act toward our
neighbor in a manner as not to transgress against the fifth commandment, which
especially demands love and mercy.
And we are not to do these things simply because of the commandment and of the
threatening of judgment, but for the sake of the example of the excellent and
great goodness God has shown. For this example cannot be without blessed
results, as God’s work of redemption is not without power and good fruit.
Although most people become worse from having heard the Gospel, there must
nevertheless be some who rightly understand it and remain faithful to it; for
he says that he will separate them into two flocks; therefore there must also
be pious ones who have kept this commandment.
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
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