Jesus was the judge

JESUS WAS THE JUDGE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 25:40 Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye
did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least,
ye did it unto me.
GreatTexts of the Bible
Unto Me
1. Our Lord is here lifting the curtain of the Unseen. He is describing a great
symbolic act of final judgment. The Throne of God is pictured, setupon the
clouds; the nations are gatheredbefore Him. The King is seatedto judge in
person. The issues of eternity depend upon His word. He will give sentence,
with discernment that cannot err, of reward or punishment to every man
according to his works. He calls no witnesses, fornone are needed. The books
that are opened, spokenof elsewhere,are but the universal memory of the
Divine omniscience whichthis Judge brings to His work. Without hesitation,
without the possibility of other than perfectjustice, He divides, separating one
from another to the right hand or to the left, and they that have done evil go,
in that timeless existence which we call eternity, into punishment, but they
that have done goodinto life.
2. The two earlier parables of judgment refer to those who are in confessed
relationship with God. The parable of the Ten Virgins represents the
relationship of friendship,—that of people who would share in the joys of

God’s home, as friends at a wedding feast;the parable of the Talents
represents a less intimate relationship—that of service;the talents are
committed to their proprietor’s “ownservants.” Now the scene changes, and
we are brought out to the larger world of the nations; the judgment of those
who do not know Christ as their Friend or consciouslyserve Him as their
Masteris here typified.
I
The Judge
1. The Judge is “the Son of Man.” The significance ofthat title is thus drawn
out by Dr. Sanday: “The ideal of humanity, the representative of the human
race.… Jesus did deliberately connectwith His ownPersonsuch ideas as
these.… This deeply significant title … at the centre is broadly basedupon an
infinite sense ofbrotherhood with toiling and struggling humanity, which He
who most thoroughly acceptedits conditions, was fittest also to save.”
It is the conceptionwhich fits most closelyto St. Paul’s thought of Jesus as the
Head of the race, the secondlife-giving “Adam,” the consummation of
humanity, in whom all that is human is gatheredup, the new Fatherof the
Race, forat His birth, perhaps by virtue of His birth of a virgin, there came
into the stream of human life a fresh impulse of creative power, as some swift-
flowing clearand wholesome streampours itself into a sluggishand polluted
river. He has bound humanity to Himself, and Himself to humanity, in His
incarnation, multiplying the bonds of union in His love. None is so near akin
to eachof us as He, not even brother or child; therefore none is faint and
wearyamong us, none is wrong or oppressed, but He feels the pain and the
heartache. It is this first that gives truth to His words, “Inasmuch as ye did it

unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.” He is the
Son of Man because He stands in a unique relation to the human race.
Not with people as socialaccidents have sorted them—as rich or poor, as wise
or foolish, as lords and ladies or humble folk, has He that close affinity which
makes Him call us all His “brethren”; but deep within these wrappings of
rank or circumstance He who shares our nature reads the characteristic
features of our manhood—commoninfirmity, common need, common pains,
and common mortality. In these it was that He took part. In these, as often as
He sees them, He still claims to have a share. Whateversharpens in your
bosom the sense that your neighbour is your brother-man must likewise
sharpen the sense that he is a born brother to the Son of God. Is it not, then,
due to this deep underlying unity of His nature with all our race, a race which,
sundered by many things, is one in its sorrows, thatJesus Christ bids us
discern Himself in every man who hungers, bleeds, weeps, or dies? With that
most human of all things, suffering, the badge, not of a tribe, but of our whole
race, has He most completelyidentified Himself, who is Himself the Ideal Man
and the Representative Suffererfor all mankind. “Ye did it unto me!”1 [Note:
J. O. Dykes, PlainWords on GreatThemes, 165.]
Not long since, a lady stood on our southern coastand saw a dearsister
drown. She could neither give help nor procure it; she could only stand still
and suffer. And it is told to this day how they both died together, one in the
sea, and the other on the land. As the remorseless currentchokedlife in the
one, grief palsied the heart of the other. Not a blow was struck, not a wave
touched her feet, but that awful sympathy which links our souls became
insufferable, and went to her heart as fatally as an assassin’s steel.2[Note:J.
H. Hollowell.]
The first evangelist, who delights to grace his narrative of the ministry of
Jesus with citations from the Hebrew scriptures containing oracles that have

at length found their fulfilment, bethinks himself of that weird description of
the suffering servant of Jehovahin the writings of Isaiah, and the text which
appears to him most apposite is: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows.”Surely, indeed! The oracle is happily chosen. Whatstrikes
Matthew’s mind is the sympathy with human suffering displayed in Christ’s
healings. He could easily have found other texts descriptive of the physical
side of the phenomenon, e.g., the familiar words of the 103rd Psalm, “who
healeth all thy diseases.”Butit was the spiritual not the physical side of the
matter that chiefly arrestedhis attention: therefore he wrote not “that it
might be fulfilled which was spokenby David, saying, who healeth all thy
diseases,”but “that it might be fulfilled which was spokenby Isaiahthe
prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases,”
translating for himself from the Hebrew to make the text better suit his
purpose. The evangelisthas penetratedto the heart of the matter, and speaks
by a most genuine inspiration. For the really important thing was the
sympathy displayed, that sympathy by which Jesus took upon Himself, as a
burden to His heart, the sufferings of mankind. That was the thing of ideal
significance, ofperennial value, a gospelfor all time. The acts of healing
benefited the individual sufferers only, and the benefit passedawaywith
themselves. But the sympathy has a meaning for us as well as for them. It is as
valuable to-day as it was eighteencenturies ago. Yea, it is of far greatervalue,
for the gospelof Christ’s sympathy has undergone developments of which the
recipients of benefit in Capernaum little dreamed. Christ’s compassion
signified to them that He was a man to whom they might always take their
sick friends with good hope of a cure. How much more it signifies to us! We
see there the sin-bearer as well as the disease-bearer, the sympathetic High
Priestof humanity who hath compassiononthe ignorant, the erring, the
morally frail; who, as a brother in temptation, is everready to succourthe
tempted, whose love to the sinful is as undying as Himself, “the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”1 [Note:A. B. Bruce, The GalileanGospel,
130.]
2. The Son of Man is identified with us not only in nature but in condition.
“Thoughhe was rich, yet for your sakeshe became poor.” His design in

coming here at all was to be a Healer, Rescuer, anda Comforter for mankind.
To One who came forth from the unseen world of bliss on such an errand, the
most suitable place and the most attractive would be the place where He was
needed most. In His own language, the physician must go where the sick are to
be found; and the sore, sadsickness under which humanity pines awayto
death is at once sin and the suffering which is sin’s shadow. To get near
enough to our strickenrace that He might probe and know its misery, feel and
bear its evil, and win the powerat once to stanchits wounds and lift from it its
whole burden, Jesus neededto become familiar with men in whom the malady
had workeditself out to its painfullest consequences. Therefore “he bare our
sicknessesandcarried our sorrows.”He became the companionof the
unhappy, and the resort of outcastmen and women and of the desperately
sick whom no one else could save. It was on the shady side of life that He
expectedto find a welcome. The proud and prosperous are too well satisfied
with the world and with themselves to make likely patients for a Divine
Healer. Where people had drunk life’s cup down to the bitter lees, and found
at the bottom only failure, penury, sickness, and sorrow ofheart, there He
hoped to win a hearing for His soft and soothing call, “I will give you rest.”
What is this quality of sympathy which Jesus so constantlyrevealed?
Certainly it is something more than amiable pity for distress. Suchthe priest
and Levite might have felt, who nevertheless passedtheir wounded
countryman on the other side. As its meaning teaches,sympathy is never
indifferent. It is a “suffering with” the distressed. It is the “passionof doing
good.” It is the satisfactionofself in the helping of others. A readerof the
woes ofsoldiers left to die on a battlefield knows the emotion of pity. It is a
Florence Nightingale who sympathizes with them by nursing them back to
life. One learns with regret and concernof the wretched lives of the lepers in
the penal colonies in the south seas. It is a FatherDamien who by his self-
devotion and tireless labours, ending only in the common death of the afflicted
ones, reveals whatsympathy in its truest form can mean. Herein is seenthe
revelation of God’s life in Christ. His is not the passionlessand unsuffering
life which the medieval saints loved to picture.1 [Note: H. L. Willett, The Call
of the Christ, 167.]

3. The Judge is so identified with the moral law that He feels every violation of
it as an outrage upon Himself. Dr. Dale of Birmingham used to say, “In God
the moral law is alive.” We may go further. This word of judgment, which we
are now considering, is true only because in Jesus the moral law is alive. To
resistHis will is a synonym for sin. It is the nature of Christ which is outraged
by every sin that is committed. Holiness is simply the will of Christ, and
wheneverwe have put from us truth as we know it, or right as it calledto us,
wheneverwe have held down the goodwithin us and given rein to the evil, it
was Jesus who was there despisedand rejected.
Dora Greenwell, in her poem, A Legend of Toulouse, describes the act of
wilful sin as the flinging of a daggerat the heart of God, in desperate revolt
againstthe splendour of His holy nature.
A legend was it of a youth,
Who as it then befell,
From out his evil soul the trace
Had blotted out of guiding grace,
Abjured both heaven and hell;
That once unto a meadow fair,

(Heaven shield the desperate!)
Impelled by some dark secretsnare,
Repaired, and to the burning sky
Of summer noon flung up on high,
A daggermeant for God’s own heart,
And spake unto himself apart
Words that make desolate.
The daggerthat was meant for God found its mark in the heart of Christ; and
in the blood from His wounds we are to see the appeal of God to the sinner for
mercy, upon the cross, andin His crucifixion in the soul of the sinner.
There came from out the cloudless sky
A hand, the dagger’s hilt

That caught, and then fell presently
Five drops, for mortal guilt
Christ’s dear wounds once freely spilt:
And then a little leaf there fell
To that youth’s foot through miracle—
A leaf whereonwas plain
These words, these only words enwrit,
Enwritten not in vain,
Oh! miserere mei; then
A mourner, among mourning men,
A sinner, sinner slain
Through love and grace abounding, he

Sank down on lowly bended knee,
Lookedup to heavenand cried,
“Have mercy, mercy, Lord, on me
For His dear sake, who on the tree
Shed forth those drops and died!”
II
The Standard of Judgment
The standard of judgment is intensely human and practical. It is no ecstatic
rapture, no ritual observance, no external professionthat is to be the test. It is
plain humanity, a cup of cold water, a morsel of bread—socialservice,in a
word. In this tremendously Divine word, with its sweepof authority so
amazing, here is the kind of testmost natural to man, as it is true to His own
example.
1. The final test for every soul is its relation to Christ Himself. It does not
seemto be so much a verdict passedby one who has heard the evidence and
sums it up impartially as a sentence whichresults from the touchstone of His

presence. He implies that He—partly the word He has spoken, partly the
works He has done, but essentiallyHe Himself—is the standard by which men
will be tried. In some of His sayings the idea of the Judge almostmelts away,
becomes aninappropriate image. Rather there appears simply the gracious
Saviour of men, the only One who could really save them, and for that reason
the only One who could really judge them. He is there, not only in the lastday,
but now always in the course of human history, in our midst, willing to save
all who will acceptHis call, rejecting literally no one, but for that reason
passing an unwilling verdict on those who will not come unto Him that they
might have life. It seems to be in this sense that He regards His function of
judgment as beginning from the time of His manifestationto men. And we
almost gatherthat the scene ofa judgment-bar, and the dramatic division of
all mankind into two classesatone moment, is sketchedfor the sake of
pictorial representationto the multitude, but that what fills the mind of Jesus
is the intrinsic determination of men’s destiny by contactwith Himself in the
field of human experience. Following up this suggestion, whichcomes more
from a study of His modes of thought than from an accumulation of particular
utterances, we arrive at the idea that He is the appointed Judge of all mankind
for this reason:at the long last, when the ultimate destiny of every human
being will be determined, the one factor which will be decisive must be the
relation of eachto Jesus.
The place assignedin the last judgment to Himself in the words of Jesus is
recognizedby all interpreters to imply that the ultimate fate of men is to be
determined by their relation to Him. He is the standard by which all shall be
measured; and it is to Him as the Saviour that all who enter into eternallife
will owe their felicity. But the description of Himself as Judge implies much
more than this: it implies the consciousnessofability to estimate the deeds of
men so exactly as to determine with unerring justice their everlasting state.
How far beyond the reachof mere human nature such a claim is, it is easyto
see. No human being knows anotherto the bottom; the most ordinary man is a
mystery to the most penetrating of his fellow-creatures;the greatestofmen
would acknowledgethat even in a child there are heights which he cannot
reachand depths which he cannot fathom. Who would venture to pronounce a

final verdict on the characterofa brother man, or to measure out his deserts
for a single day? But Jesus ascribedto Himself the ability to determine for
eternity the value of the whole life, as made up not only of its obvious acts but
of its most secretexperiencesand its most subtle motives.1 [Note: J. Stalker,
The Christologyof Jesus, 241.]
Thou didst it not unto the leastof these,
And in them hast not done it unto Me.
Thou wastas a princess rich and at ease—
Now sit in dust and howl for poverty.
Three times I stoodbeseeching atthy gate,
Three times I came to bless thy souland save:
But now I come to judge for what I gave,
And now at length thy sorrow is too late.2 [Note: Christina G. Rossetti,
PoeticalWorks, 148.]
2. Christ interprets our relation to Himself by our conduct to the leastof His
brethren. We cannotspend our treasures as Mary did in ministering to the

personalhonour or refreshment of our Divine Lord. He is far withdrawn now
beyond need or reachof human ministry into the serene heavenof His glory.
But, though absent, He has left His proxies behind Him. No disciple may
excuse himself to-day from imitating Mary’s open-handed gratitude on the
plea that the Saviour is out of reach. For every purpose of devotion—for
giving Him pleasure, for testifying our own thanks, for winning in the end His
praise—it is really all the same if we minister to His poor ones as if we spent
our money on Himself. Through this appointed channel is our homage to
reachHim there where, priest-like, He stands at the heart of this ailing race, a
sharer in eachman’s sorrow.
This means that the face of every man and woman and little child we pass in
the street—sin-scarredorcarewornor tear-stained—mustbe to us as the very
face of Christ. Behind that marred countenance, under that brutalized,
besottedhusk, lies hidden a beautiful brother, waiting for the manifestationof
the sons of God. Dare we think cheaply and contemptuously of the vilest man
whom Christ loves, for whom Christ died? Since He is not ashamedto call
them brethren, for His sake they are sacredand dear. The touch of His
nature, the blood of His sacrifice, make the whole world kin.
The people we know personally, the men we work with, the womenwe mix
among, our own companions, our own servants, our own neighbours, have
this imperious claim for ministration, wheneverwe grow aware of their need.
Often they will not, or cannot, seek us out; it is for us to seek them out. They
are perhaps prisoners of pride or reserve or shyness, and our sympathy must
penetrate to them. The people who most deserve help will hardly ever bring
themselves to ask for it. But it is love’s instinct and prerogative to anticipate
Christ’s necessitiesbefore everHe makes a request.
I was hungry, and Thou feddest me;

Yea, Thou gavestdrink to slake my thirst:
O Lord, what love gift canI offer Thee
Who hast loved me first?
FeedMy hungry brethren for My sake;
Give them drink, for love of them and Me:
Love them as I loved thee, when Bread I brake
In pure love of thee.1 [Note: T. H. Darlow, The Upward Calling, 218.]
Edward Irving causedit to be engravedon the silver plate of his London
church, that when the offerings of the people no longersufficed for the wants
of God’s poor, the sacredvesselswere to be melted down to supply the
deficiency. He was right. It is the Master’s mind. Christ has expressly
transferred to the honestand suffering poor His own claim on the devotion of
His people. Even while He was warmly defending the action of Mary of
Bethany on that Saturday evening, He hinted that after He was takenaway
from the reachof our personalhomage the poor would remain with us in His
stead. He made this still more plain on the following Wednesday. When, in the
majestic passagebefore us, He foretold with dramatic vividness the awful
transactions ofthe judgment, He made it for ever unmistakable that the
enthusiastic love of the Church for her absentand inaccessible Lord is now to
pour itself out in deeds of practical beneficence, finding in the distresseda

substitute for Him who was once the Man of Sorrows.2 [Note:J. O. Dykes,
Plain Words on Great Themes, 160.]
The saying, “The poor ye have always with you,” was literally true with Lord
Ashley, and it remained true to the end of his life. The state of the weather,
depressionin trade, illness, bereavement, separationfrom children or
friends—these and a hundred other things suggestedto him no extraordinary
cause ofcomplaint as they affectedhimself personally, but they led him
invariably to think how much more terrible similar circumstances must be to
the poor and friendless. Nor did his sympathy exhaust itself in merely
thinking about the poor and friendless. During the pauses in the greater
labours which absorbed so much of his time, he would devise schemes forthe
relief of those within his reach, and would make the help he gave a
thousandfold more acceptable by the manner in which he gave it. He was
never too proud to graspthe hand of a poor honestman, or take up a sickly
little child in his arms, or sit in the loathsome home of a poor starving
needlewomanas she plied her needle. He never spoke down to their level, but
sought to raise them up to his, and his kindly words were as helpful as his
kindly deeds. The time had not yet come for that personaldevotion to the
welfare of the poor which distinguished his later years;that was only at this
period occasionalwhich afterwards became continual, but the principle that
inspired it was the same; it was devotion to Him who had said, “Inasmuch as
ye have done it unto one of the leastof these, ye have done it unto me.” To
Lord Ashley, Christianity was nothing unless it was intensely practical.1
[Note:The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, 175.]
Look you to serve Me but above?
Nay, rather serve Me here below;

Would you on Me heap out your love?
On want and sin your love bestow;
Have I not said it? What you do
To these, My poor, ye do to Me;
Whateverhere I take from you
Sevenfoldreturned to you shall be.
Doubt not if I am here; with eyes
Of mercy know Me, wan and pale.
What! hearyou not My anguished cries,
My moans and sighs that never fail!2 [Note: W. C. Bennett.]
3. Our Lord sets their true value upon the unconscious services thatwe render
to our fellow-men. “Ye did it unto me,” even when ye knew it not. There is a
holy art of anonymity, the giving and doing for His sake and for His eye alone,
which is as beautiful as it is rare, and which imparts to those who have

learned to practise it an inner peace and glory which nothing else can
produce. It is this that determines the value and quality of every action—is it
done for Christ and for His glory alone? Our debt to Him is payable at the
bank of humanity’s need, and He estimates at its eternal worth all that is done
to alleviate that need, even though it be unattended with blare of trumpets
and the limelight of self-advertisement. “ByHim actions are weighed.”
It is said that when Thorwaldsen, the Danish sculptor, returned to his native
land with those wonderful works ofart which have made his name immortal,
chiselledin Italy with patient toil and glowing inspiration, the servants who
unpacked the marbles scatteredupon the ground the straw which was
wrapped around them. The next summer flowers from the gardens of Rome
were blooming in the streets of Copenhagen, from the seeds thus borne and
planted by accident. While pursuing his glorious purpose, and leaving
magnificent results in breathing marble, the artist was, atthe same time, and
unconsciously, scattering otherbeautiful things in his path to give cheerand
gladness.
So Christ’s lowly workers unconsciouslybless the world. They come out every
morning from the presence ofGod and go to their work, intent upon their
daily tasks. All day long, as they toil, they drop gentle words from their lips,
and scatterlittle seeds of kindness about them; and to-morrow flowers from
the gardenof God spring up in the dusty streets of earth and along the hard
paths of toil on which their feet tread. The Lord knows them among all others
to be His by the beauty and usefulness oftheir lives.1 [Note: J. R. Miller,
Glimpses Through Life’s Windows, 11.]
There is one motto which is more Christian than Mr. G. F. Watts’ saying,
“The utmost for the highest,” and that is, “The utmost for the lowest.” Life’s
biggestand bravest duties are, according to the teaching of Jesus, owedto
“the leastof these my brethren.” While we are all applauding the sentiment

that God helps those who help themselves, the one outstanding Christian
teaching is that God helps those who cannot help themselves;and that when
Christ thrust into the foreground of His programme the weak, the helpless,
the morally, spiritually, and economicallyinsolvent, and told an astonished
world that the last should be first, the leastshould be greatest, and the lost
should be found, He was “setting the pace” for all who aspire to follow Him.2
[Note:C. SilvesterHorne, Pulpit, Platform, and Parliament, 81.]
Wherever now a sorrow stands,
’Tis mine to heal His nail-torn hands.
In every lonely lane and street,
’Tis mine to washHis wounded feet—
’Tis mine to roll awaythe stone
And warm His heart againstmy own.
Here, here on earth I find it all—
The young archangels, white and tall,
The Golden City and the doors,

And all the shining of the floors!
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Christ's Acceptance OfVicarious Service
Matthew 25:40
R. Tuck
What is striking and suggestive is, that our Lord should make no reference to
the cultured and. sanctified personallife of his disciples, but fix attention on
their service to others, their sympathies, generosities, andcharities. At first it
may seemas if his praise rested on their goodworks;but soonwe come to see
that what our Lord accepts is the best indication of character, and preciselyof
Christly character. There is a sortof goodnesswhichis only sentimental. Thai
goodness is always self-centredand self-sphered. That goodnessChristneither
approves nor accepts. Thatgoodnessis essentiallyun-Christly. There is a
goodness whichfinds expressionin serving others for Christ's sake;serving
others because we have not Christ to serve. That goodness is principle. That
goodness is Christ-likeness."EvenChrist pleased not himself;" "I am among
you as he that serveth."
I. VICARIOUS SERVICE IS SERVING OTHERS. To mutual service
humanity is called. To the specialservice ofall distressed;disabled, and
suffering ones, the Christian humanity is called. This "serving others"
becomes anabsolutely efficient and sufficient test of the Christ-spirit in us.
Christ was good;but we know it because he "went about doing good." Over
his whole life shines the glory of something done to relieve, and comfort, and
raise, and save his fellow men.

II. VICARIOUS SERVICE IS SERVING CHRIST THROUGH SERVING
OTHERS. It is not mere neighbourliness, sympathy, or charity, that is here
commended. These, standing alone, are not the conditions of acceptance with
Christ. He was speaking to his own disciples. The basis of acceptancefor them
was their love to him and trust in him. But they could not show such love
directly to Jesus. Perhaps it would have been easierforthem if they could. We
are all put under this strain. We cannot minister to Jesus himself; will we
minister to him vicariously, through his suffering brethren? When he comes
for his reckoning, it is of this our Lord will take account;and if he finds we
have been, consciously, vicarious ministrants, he will say, "Inasmuch as ye did
it unto one of the leastof these my brethren, ye did it unto me." Charity, for
Christ's sake, is acceptable.
III. VICARIOUS SERVICE OF CHRIST, THROUGH THE SERVICE OF
OTHERS, PROVES IN THE END TO BE THE BEST SERVICE OF
OURSELVES. Forwe "enterthe joy of our Lord." But this point needs to be
presentedwith great care, lestself-seeking considerations, entering in, should
spoil the Christly service. - R.T.

Biblical Illustrator
Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed.I.
Considerthe reference made to the CONDUCT of the righteous.II. Their
STATION
Matthew 25:34-44
Christ inviting His saints to His kingdom
C. Bradley.
I. THE TIME WHEN THIS INVITATION WILL BE GIVEN.
1. After our Lord has assembledround Him the whole world.
2. He will give us this invitation before He condemns the ungodly.
II. THE CHARACTER IN WHICH CHRIST WILL GIVE THIS
INVITATION — "Then shall the King," etc.
III. THE PERSONSTO WHOM THIS INVITATION WILL BE GIVEN.
1. Those who have abounded in goodand charitable works.
2. They think nothing of their goodworks.
3. They are those whom the Fatherhas blessed.
IV. THE KINGDOM TO WHICH CHRIST CALLS HIS REDEEMED.
1. It is really a kingdom.
2. A prepared kingdom.
3. A kingdom prepared long ago.
4. It is one which we are to inherit; our possessionof heavenwill be full and
free.
5. We are to inherit this kingdom with Christ our Lord.

(C. Bradley.)
Heaven
J. Leifchild, D. D.
I. THE PERFECTED NATURE AND BEING OF THE RIGHTEOUS. A new
body to which they will be united. Its identity with the former.
II. THE STATE AND CONDITION IN WHICH IT WILL BE ENJOYED,
AND TO WHICH THEY WILL BE SUMMONED.It must be a place, and
not merely a state. Epithets by which this heavenly country is designated.
III. THE INHABITANTS OF THIS FUTURE ABODE. The greatobjectof
their contemplation and. source of their happiness, infinitely surpassing all
the rest, will be the Deity Himself. Their worship will be of the highestorder.
They will have the most extensive intercourse, and be in the most intimate
fellowship. There will be different orders and societies among them. The
happiness of all will be continually progressive, according to the degree in
which it is possessedby each.
(J. Leifchild, D. D.)
A call to glory
J. Vaughan, M. A.
The callis not arbitrary. It signifies —
(1)Sympathy;
(2)Service;
(3)Sovereignty.
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The unavailing declinatures of praise and blame
M. Martin, M. A.
The true principle of Christian benevolence rests onthe identifications of
Christ with His people; and in the transactions of the great judgment this
principle is brought out and wielded by the Judge, to the surprise alike of the
righteous and the wicked. The righteous, to their astonishment, hear
themselves commended for loving services to the King, which they are quite
unconscious ofever having rendered. The wicked, onthe other hand, to their
amazement and dismay, hear themselves condemned for having refused to the
King services whichthey are quite unconscious ofever having had
opportunities to render or refuse.
I. THE IDENTIFICATION OF CHRIST WITH HIS MEMBERS.
1. Christ for me.
2. Christ with me.
3. Christ in me.
II. ITS SURPRISING INFLUENCE ON THE JUDGMENT.
1. The plea of the unrighteous in exculpation seems to involve —
(1)A professedignorance ofChrist and His people;
(2)a complaint that if they had the opportunity it was not made plain and
palpable;
(3)a professionthat had they seentheir opportunity they would have
embracedit.
2. The righteous' modest declinature of praise. It is to be explained on the
grounds, on their part, of a certain want of —
(1)Recollection;
(2)Recognition;
(3)Realization.

(M. Martin, M. A.)
The tests of the final judgment
S. Robins, M. A., W. Clarke., A. MeCaul, D. D.
I. The TERMS of judgment.
1. Negatively.(1)Notthe mere rightness of a creed.(2)Notany inwrought
impression upon the man's own mind, if unattended by the outward marks of
a converted heart.(3)That which is furnished in the life.
II. The JUSTICE WHICH IS MANIFESTEDIN THE APPOINTMENTOF
THESE TERMS. Love to Christ is the principle, without which there canbe
no present enjoyment and no hope of future glory. Thus we hold it to be a test
of final judgment, an evidence of love to the Saviour, to have honoured the
people of Christ, especiallythose without rank or standing in society. All the
riches of providential gift are intended to be the materials whereonstated
Christian principle shall work. But mark the considerationof the Saviour: He
has so brought down this exhibition of charity that it is within the reachof all,
a cup of cold water.
(S. Robins, M. A.)
I. Considerthe UNION which subsists betweenthe Redeemerand His people,
and the happy privilege it implies — "these, My brethren."
II. The indispensable DORIES which the brethren of Christ owe to each
other.
(W. Clarke.)
I. GUARD AGAINST MISTAKE. Men think that if only they are generous
they will be saved. That we cannot be justified by the merit of almsgiving.
II. THE LESSONS HERE TAUGHT.
1. That though men are not justified by our works they shall be judged by
them. That the Judge will pay especialattentionto works ofcharity.

(A. MeCaul, D. D.)
The objects, source, anddignity of Christian liberality
T. Robinson, M. A.
I. The OBJECTS ofChristian bounty. The leastof the brethren of Christ.
1. Leastin consideration.
2. In civil station.
3. In age. The brethren of Christ demand our first care.
II. ITS NATURE.
1. It is essentiallyhumble.
2. It is tender in its exercise.
3. It is appropriate.
III. ITS SOURCE.
1. Its source is the love of Christ.
2. The magnitude of His love; its activity.
IV. ITS DIGNITY. Christ considers Himself your debtor.
(T. Robinson, M. A.)
The disabilities of selfishness
H. Allon.
1. Selfishness is incompatible with the fundamental principles and purposes of
human society.

2. Selfishness is inimical to the proper development and perfection of thy own
individual life.
3. Selfishness is a direct contradictionof the entire missionand characterof
Christ.
4. What emphasis He gives to the leastof My brethren, as if He would sternly
exclude mixture of motive.
5. The unconsciousnessofthe selfishman is striking.
(1)It blinds the soul.
(2)It makes sympathy unintelligible.
(3)What grand opportunities for the service of love and rewardit loses. We
are all familiar with the excuses ofselfishness.
(H. Allon.)
The Divine law of compassion
T. R. Evans.
Without this principle of love men have not the temper of Christ. His kingdom
is meaningless to them. Pure philanthropy owes its noblest spirit to Christ.
From what other source couldit have sprung?
1. Is it a legacyto us from the ancientworld? The temper of humanity could
not have been wholly lacking in ancient times.
2. It is impossible that Judaism, so happily conspicuous in ancient times for
the tender springs of mercy which God's hand cleft for it out of the rock of
Sinaitic Law, should have slowly leavenedGentile society with the spirit of
compassion.
3. If we turn to the voluminous instructions of the greatethical systems, we
are no nearer an answerto our question. We are compelledto trace to Christ

the development of that spirit of humanity, of which compassionis one of the
vital elements. The foundations of the Christian doctrine of compassion.
I. Much stress must be laid on the impression produced by Christ's earthly
life.
II. A secondfruitful element was Christ's revelation of the nature of sin. It
was not based on a misconceptionof the characterofthose on whom it was
poured.
III. This power was given to us by Christ, for He has cleansedand sanctified
human nature.
VI. Christ's revelation of the dignity of man.
V. Christ's revelationof immortality. Let nothing tempt us to forgetthe
spiritual and supernatural ground on which all adequate sympathy with our
fellow men must stand. The most effectualbenevolence rests on the mystery of
Christian faith.
(T. R. Evans.)
There is more in our deeds than we are aware of
Canon Scott-Holland.
Dearpeople, She law and conditions under which human life grows and works
are the same whether we make for good or whether we make for evil. We
cannot complain of them in the one case without protesting againstthem in
the other. If we deem the conditions under which our life may go down hill to
the pit to be hard and cruel, we must take into accountthat we are
incriminating also the conditions under which our life cannow climb upwards
towards the blessedhills of heaven. Both stand and ,fall together. If, in this
case ofsin, we find ourselves to be handling and discharging powers that lie
behind and within us, unsuspected, incalculable in range, yet, subject to our
will, set loose and in action; so, in the case ofgoodness, there lie within us and
behind us stores of energyimmeasurable, beyond belief, such as eye hath not

seennor heart conceived — energies whichwait on our little volitions to
liberate and discharge themselves also. In both caseswe find ourselves to be
creatures that move under the influence and pressure of higher and deeper
agenciesthan ourselves. Neitherour evil nor our gooddates from our own
petty life, or has its origin in our tiny scope ofwill. Both were born long ago;
both are ancientand immense; both occupythis dim and unknown
backgroundon the surface of which our little day plays itself out.
"Kingdoms" they are named of our Lord, kingdoms — a kingdom, on the one
hand, of this world, of Satan, workedand pushed and animated and fed, built
and bonded together, by principalities and powers, by workers ofwickedness
in high places;a kingdom chargedwith mysterious forces and full of dark and
dreadful hosts; and, on the other side, a kingdom of God, of heaven, of Christ,
of righteousness, setoveragainstthe other, with its own patient and
unwearied armies, who watchand war there with swords of victory and helms
of flame and wide unslumbering eyes;a kingdom behind us, weightedwith
accumulatedglories, and thick with bonded ministries, and rich with
memorial honours; a kingdom of Christ, filled with His breath, and fed with
His body, and alive with His promise, and aglow with His hopes, and built
with His headship, and expanded by His pleadings, and mighty in His
intercessions.These are the two kingdoms, on the mere skirts of which we
walk, and move and live.
(Canon Scott-Holland.)
Self-forgetfulness
C. D. Bridgeman, D. D.
In the text the thought is not that the just failed to discernthe Masterin the
men they helped, but that Christ is to be the motive of all action. Let us
considerfor a few moments this ideal of a Christian worker.
I. THE BEAUTY OF SELF-FORGETFULNESS.In nature we see this lack of
self-consciousness. There is no deeper tint to the bloom of the flowerbecause
there is an admiring crowd. The stars look down as beautifully in the silent

desert, etc. The sea breaks and scatters its treasures on a dead shore, etc.
There is an utter self-obliviousness. How this self-forgetfulness adds to the
charms of a child. A saint loses his sanctitywhen we see that he thinks himself
saintly.
II. SELF-FORGETFULNESS CONTRIBUTESTO POWER. A traveller
says, while climbing an ice-bridge in the Alps, he had to cut in the ice rests for
his feet. There was no trouble in doing this so long as his mind was centredon
his work, and he forgot self and danger. When he thought of selfhe trembled,
and to tremble there was death. The man who loses all thought of self in a
grand work, enlarges his nature until he seems to circle beyond the stars.
III. SELF-FORGETFULNESSCONTRIBUTES TO HAPPINESS.There is
joy in an unselfish ministry. Look at the steps by which we attain to this.
1. The first feeling in looking to Christ is that of shame, because ofour
sinfulness and insincerity.
2. The next thought: "How can I attain to the exaltedlife of Christ?"
3. Then our thoughts of self are lost in admiration of the excellencesofJesus.
Christ becomes enthronedwithin us, and He is a force that manifests Himself
constantly. The Christian shines unconsciously — as the jewelsparkles, as the
bird sings. Love thinks nothing of the sacrifice it makes. Toldof what it has
done, it blushes at what it deems unmerited praise. Self-forgetfulness is the
first sign that we are doing work for the God above us.
(C. D. Bridgeman, D. D.)
Christian sympathy
J. Gaskin, M. A.
I. THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST ARE OFTENTIMESFOUND IN
CIRCUMSTANCESWHICH PATHETICALLY CLAIM THE SYMPATHY
OF THEIR FELLOW CREATURES.
1. Forthe sake ofcorrection.

2. Forthe sake ofpreservation. From what dangers are we snatched by that
poverty at which we murmur.
3. Forthe sake ofexample to others, and that God may be glorified in them.
4. That we may have an opportunity of exhibiting our love to the Redeemerby
extending the necessaryrelief to them.
II. JESUS SO IDENTIFIES HIMSELF WITH HIS DISCIPLES, AS TO
REGARD EVERY EXPRESSIONOF SYMPATHY WITH THEM AS AN
ACT OF KINDNESS TO HIMSELF.
III. Every actof kindness to a suffering disciple, flowing from the simple
motive of love to the Master, HE WILL MOST ASSUREDLY
ACKNOWLEDGE AND RECOMPENSE. Here is consolationforthe poor;
Jesus Christ is the companion of their distress.
(J. Gaskin, M. A.)
The principle by which men shall be judged
A. Watson, D. D.
I. CHRIST'S IDENTIFYING HIMSELF WITH MEN — "We have done it
unto Me." —
1. Who are Christ's brethren to whom these acts are done, and which are
counted as having been done to Him? They are humble afflicted Christians;
but the word brother must have a wider meaning; coldheartedness willnot be
excusedbecause those who we so treatedwere not of Christ's family. The
spirit of pity is not confined by the knowledge we have that this man or that is
one of Christ's brethren. Christ acknowledgesas His brethren men whom
nobody ever acknowledgedbefore. We shall not recognize the " brethren"
unless we have the brotherly spirit within us; that will open our eyes and work
marvels within us.
II. That our Lord is giving AN OUTLINE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF
JUDGMENT by which men shall be tried who do not know and have not

known or seenHim. Its connectionbetweenHim and His brethren is not
arbitrary, it is founded in nature and fact. In all ages, andin all nations, there
are circumstances sufficientto test and prove the characterof man. Jesus here
tears asunder every false covering under which men claim to be accounted
religious, when they omit the common calls on mercy and kindness. Great
duties are not open to all; go were you will, opportunity for pity can be found.
(A. Watson, D. D.)
The final test
H. Melvill, B. D.
I. The PERSON by whom the last trial is to be conducted. It is the King: who
is also spokenof as the "Sonof Man." The combined justice and mercy in His
appointment, who is to decide our portion for eternity. The equity of the trial
depends mainly on the characterand capacityof the being who presides. An
angelwould not guarantee a just verdict; the Omniscient will. Oh for a judge
who can have a fellow feeling with us. It is a beautiful arrangementof the
gospelthat the offer of Judge and Redeemershould meet in the same Person.
II. THE TEST. Relieving or not the distressed. The powerof being charitable
not limited to the richer classes. So that we show you the lowerranks of
societyare no more excluded than the higher from the allegedblessedness of
givers; and that those who seemto you to have nothing to bestow, may as well
abide, at the last, a scrutiny into ministrations to the necessitous, as others
who have large indomes at their disposal, and can take the lead in all the
bustle of philanthropy. Ay, and we reckonit a beautiful truth, that, from the
fields and workshops ofa country may be sent to the platform of judgment
the most active and self-denying of the benevolent; and that howeverin this
world the praise of liberality is awardedonly to those who can draw out their
purses and scattertheir gold, our labourers and artizans may be counted
hereafteramongstthe largestcontributors to the relief of the afflicted. The
donations which they have wrung from overtaskedlimbs, or which they may
be said to have coined out of their own flesh and blood, may weigh down in

the balances ofthe judgment the more showygifts which the wealthy dispense
from their superfluities, without trenching, it may be, on their luxuries-yea,
and thus is there nothing to prove to us that there may not be poured forth
from the very hovels of our land, numbers who shall as well abide the
searching inquiries of the Judge, as the most munificent of those who have
dwelt in its palaces, andbe as justly included within the summons, "Come, ye
blessedof My Father," though none are to be thus addressedbut such as have
fed the hungry, and clothed the naked, and succouredthe sick.
(H. Melvill, B. D.)
The reasons forChrist's sentence
T. Manton.
(1)Goodworks are the reasons ofthis sentence.
(2)The goodworks only of the faithful are mentioned, and not the evil they
have committed.
(3)Only works of mercy, or the fruits of love, are specified.
(4)All cannot express their love and self-denial in this way.
(T. Manton.)
Judgment upon works
T. Manton.
1. At the generaljudgment all men shall receive their doom, or judgment shall
be pronounced according to their works.
2. Christ hath so ordered His providence about His members, that some of
them are exposedto necessitiesandwants, others in a capacityto relieve them.
3. Works of charity, done out of faith, and love to Christ, are of greaterweight
and consequencethan the world usually takeththem to be.

(T. Manton.)
The surprise of the righteous
J. W. Alexander.
These blessedofthe Father, brethren of the Son, and heirs of the kingdom,
stand amazed that the Sonof Man should so overwhelm their trifling services
with a glorious reward. Nay, they canhardly recollectany service at all. The
ministries were so trifling, and were bestowedon objects so inconsiderable,
often with such mixture of bad motives, and such deficiency of good, that it
amazes them to find every transient item legible in the book of the Judge, now
seatedupon the throne of His glory. Mark how He receives them, how He
gathers up the bruised, withered, scatteredflowers which seemeddying in our
hands, and makes of them a garland; binds them on His brow as a diadem;
points to them before His angels as an honour.
(J. W. Alexander.)
Christian benevolence
Anon.
I. WHY IS THE EXERCISE OF CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE SO
IMPORTANT?
1. Christian benevolence is the image of God-the nearestapproachwe can
make to His likeness.
2. Peculiarlyan imitation of Christ.
3. The distinguishing bond of Christian profession.
4. Is the fulfilling of the law, and contains every kind of virtue that has our
fellow-creatures forits object.
5. Is the spirit of heaven.

II. OBSERVATIONSON THE MODE OF DOING GOOD.
1. Secure the principle of charity by some system.
2. Visit the sick and the poor,etc.
(Anon.)
True benevolence ofChristianity
"Paganphilosophy," says RobertHall, "soaredin sublime speculation, wasted
its stength in endless subtleties and debates;but among the rewards to which
it aspired, it never thought of 'the blessednessofhim that considereththe
poor.' You might have traversed the Roman empire, in the zenith of its power,
from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, without meeting with a single charitable
asylum for the sick. Monuments of pride, of ambition, of vindictive wrath,
were to be found in abundance; but not one legible recordof commiseration
for the poor." The primitive Christians, it is evident, taught this lessonof
philanthropy to the world. Hospitals were referred to as in existence at the
Council of Nice, A.D. 325.
Sins of omission
T. Manton.
The wickedare described by sins of omission.
I. Explain sins of omission.
II. Some sins of emissionare greaterthan others.
III. In many cases, sins of omissionmay be more heinous and damning than
sins of commission;partly because these hardenmore, and partly because
omissions make way for commissions.
(T. Manton.)

Done to my friends is done to me
Cicero writes thus to Plautius, "I would have you think that whatever friendly
service, or goodadvice, you shall bestow upon my friend Fumius, I shall take
it as kindly as if it had been done to myself,"
Kindhess to Christ's servants
After telling us of the arrival of himself and his companions at a heathen
village on the banks of the Orange River, Dr. Moffatsays:"We had travelled
far, and were hungry and thirsty and fatigued. We askedwater, but they
would not supply it. I offered three or four buttons that still remained on my
jacketfor a little milk. This also was refused. We had the prospectof another
hungry and thirsty night. When twilight drew nigh, a woman approached
from the height beyond which the village lay. She bore on her head a bundle
of wood, and had a vesselofmilk in her hand. She laid them down, and
returned to the village. A secondtime she approachedwith other and larger
supplies. We askedher again and again who she was. She remained silent, till
affectionatelyentreatedto give us a reasonfor such unlooked-for kindness to
strangers. The solitary tsarstole down her sable cheek when she replied, 'I
love Him whose servants ye are, and surely it is my duty to give you a cup of
cold waterin His name. My heart is full, therefore I cannot speak the joy I feel
to see you in this out-of-the-world place!' I askedher how she kept the life of
God in her soul, in the absence ofall communion with saints. She drew from
her bosoma copy of the Dutch New Testamentshe had receivedin a school
some years before. 'This,' she said, 'is the fountain whence I drink; this the oil
which makes my lamp burn.'"
Christ's representatives
Translatedfrom the German of Krummacher.
A rich young man of Rome had been suffering from a severe illness, but at
length he was cured, and receivedhis health. Then he went for the first time

into the garden, and felt as if he were newly born. Full of joy, he praisedGod
aloud. He turned his face up to the heavens and said, "O Thou Almighty
Giver of all blessings, if a human being could in any way repay Thee, how
willingly would I give up all my wealth!" Hermas, the shepherd, listened to
these words, and he said to the rich young man, "All goodgifts come from
above; thou canstnot send anything thither. Come, follow me." The youth
followedthe pious old man, and they came to a dark hovel, where there was
nothing but misery and lamentation; for the father lay sick, and the mother
wept, whilst the children stoodround naked and crying for bread. Then the
young man was shockedatthis scene of distress. But Hermas said, "Behold
here an altar for thy sacrifice!Beholdhere the brethren and representatives
of the Lord!" The rich young man then opened his hand, and gave freely and
richly to them of his wealth, and tended the sick man. And the poor people,
relieved and comforted, blessedhim, and calledhim an angelof God. Hermas
smiled and said, "Everthus turn thy grateful looks first towards heaven, and
then to earth."
(Translatedfrom the German of Krummacher.)
Practicalbeneficence the true Christian life
R. Veitch, M. A.
To be servant of humanity is to be servant of Christ. The love of God cannot
be where compassionate love of man is wanting. From gospeltruths such as
these start here is made. The exclusive emphasis laid in the text on practical
beneficence shows thatit alone is acceptedas evidence ofdevotion to Christ.
With Christ religion is simply goodness;personaldevotion to Him is the very
heart of goodness.
I. CHRIST'S RELATION TO MEN FROM WHICH HIS AND OUR TRUE
ATTITUDE TO THEM SPRINGS — "My brethren." All are His brethren.
The leastare included. Their poverty and destitution, pain and sorrow, are
His own. Relief of their wants is relief to Him, etc. Those who are Christ's
brethren should be ours. We should be so lifted up into the spirit of His life,

that His attitude towards all men becomes ours. Our best love of Christ is
evidenced in love to man.
II. SERVICE OF THE LEAST IS, IN A SPECIALWAY, EVIDENCE OF
NOBLE LOVE. His greatestlove was showntowards the worstof men, and
the most genuine evidence of our love to Christ is in our stooping to the least.
This attitude to men must spring from a deep interpretive sympathy — from a
love which believeth all things — "the enthusiasm of humanity." Service of
God, which separates us from service of the leastamong the brethren of
Christ, is monkish and not Christian. We need faith in self-sacrificing love as
mighty to redeem. God's supreme demand is that we live to bless His children.
The Christian principle and life have their place in all the concerns of our
daily existence. We need to be continually reminding ourselves that we are
dealing with brothers.
III. WHAT IS NOT DONE TO CHRIST'S BRETHRENIS DEFECTIVE OF
SERVICE RENDERED TO HIM. Every opportunity which business life
affords of reaching out to other souls to bless them, and which is neglected, is
something positively not done to Christ. The redeeming principle must rule us
in our attitude towards all the greatsocialquestions which arise for solution
to-day — questions betweencapital and labour, landlord and tenant, seller
and buyer. What is needed to-day is not a sentimental adherence to the
principle of beneficence, etc., but an enthusiastic devotion to Christ, such that
we shall seek with all our might His ends, and even be willing to make
sacrifice to the death for their attainment.
(R. Veitch, M. A.)
Necessityof goodworks
R. Winterbotham, M. A.
Be warned againstthat fatal fanaticismwhich has devastateda greatpart of
Christendom in these latter days, which takes its stand upon one half of the
truth in order to deny the other half, which calls justification by faith only
"the gospel," justas if judgment according to works were not equally "the

gospel," justas if very fundamental truth revealedin Scripture were not
equally a part of the "everlasting gospel."There was a certain clergyman (in
Ireland) who preachedall his life that we never can be saved by goodworks,
and that all our goodworks are as filthy rags, and so on. At last a neighbour
remonstrated with him after this manner: "Why do you always preach
againstgoodworks? there is not one of them in your parish!" Doubtless this
anecdote, whichmight savourof the ridiculous if it were not so sad, is only too
true in fact; there are, we must fear, not a few places where justification by
faith is preachedevery Sunday — where neither priest nor people everdo any
goodworks of piety and charity — whence, therefore, both priest and people
will certainly go into everlasting fire unless they repent and amend. God
forbid I should say that justification by faith only is not true, is not part of the
gospel;but I do say — and observationof mankind fully confirms me in
saying — that the teaching of justification by faith, as though it were the
whole of the gospel, is simply the most ruinous error that could be committed.
If that be the gospelwhich is plainly and clearly laid down in the New
Testament, then salvation by faith is the gospel, salvationby works is the
gospel, and salvationby sacramentalincorporationin Christ is the gospeltoo.
The faithful preacherwill preachthese doctrines all round, without dwelling
on any one or two to the practicalexclusionof the others [or other; a faithful
Christian will believe them all round, and strive to live by them, not staggered
because they seemto be inconsistent, because in human systems they are made
to mutually exclude one another, but knowing that what God hath joined
togetherman has no right to put asunder, whether in doctrine or in practice. I
do not ask thee for one moment to forgetthe law by which thou must be
justified thy God, the law of faith in Him who freely justifieth the
unrighteous; but I do ask thee to remember, O man, the rule by which thou
shalt be tried before thy Saviourand thy Judge. Those that treat Him well He
will reward, those that treat Him ill He will condemn.
(R. Winterbotham, M. A.)
Relationof goodworks to Christianity

Martin Luther., F. B. Proctor, M. A.
Goodworks do not make a Christian; but one must be a Christian to do good
works. The tree bringeth forth the fruit, not the fruit the tree. None is made a
Christian by works, but by Christ, and being in Christ, he brings forth fruit
for Him.
(Martin Luther.)Faith to the powerof goodworks is saving faith.
(F. B. Proctor, M. A.)
Christ reproaching the wicked
It was I who formed you, and ye clave to another. I createdthe earth, the sea,
and all things for your sakes,and you misused them to My dishonour. Depart
from Me, ye workers ofiniquity, I know you not. Ye have become the
workmenof another master, even the devil. With him possessdarkness, and
the fire which shall not be quenched, and the worm which sleepethnot, and
the gnashing of teeth. I formed your ears that you should hear the Scriptures,
and you applied them to songs ofdevils, to harps, to jokes. Icreatedyour eyes
that ye might behold the light of My commandments, and follow them; but ye
opened them for adultery, and immodesty, and all uncleanness. Iordained
your mouth for the praise and glory of God, and to sing psalms and spiritual
songs;but ye applied it for the utterance of revilings, perjuries, and
blasphemies. I made your hands that you should lift them up in prayers and
supplications; ye have stretchedthem out in thefts and murders.
( Hippolytus.)
The blessedsometimes think themselves cursed, forgotten
J. Cumming, D. D.
and forsaken:— The cloud that casts its cold and its freezing shadow over
your home broke into innumerable blessings. Thosethings that pained you
when they touched your flesh no soonerapproachedthe chancelof the soul,

the immortal spirit, than they became the very soil on which charactergrew
up, and ripened into happiness and heaven. There is not a line of suffering
visible upon your road that has not had parallelwith it a line of glory, of
happiness, and joy. When you thought you were cursed, you were really
blessed;what you dreamt in your ignorance were calamities were the very
credentials of the people of God; and if God had not so dealt with you, you
had never been in that happy group to whom he speaks those thrilling words,
"Come, ye blessed." Do you see a mother with an infant in her arms? The
infant in its ignorance put forth its hands to touch the flame of the candle, as if
it were a bright and beautiful plaything. The mother draws back its hand, or
puts awaythe candle;much to the child's disappointment, but much to the
child's happiness and comfort. So God deals with children of a larger growth,
We in our ignorance would seize the flaming thing that would burn to the
quick; He in His compassionputs it away, and bids the heart be still; and
what you know not now He tells you you shall know hereafter.
(J. Cumming, D. D.)
The final separation
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. THE DIVISION.
1. They shall be divided into two parts — the sheepand goats. There shallbe
two positions, on the right and on the left hand. There will be no third class.
There is no state betweenbeing converted and unconverted.
2. They will be divided readily. It is not everybody that could divide sheep
from goats. Theyare extremely like eachother: the woolof some sheepin a
warm climate becomes so like hair, and the hair of a kind of goatso like wool,
that a traveller scarcelyknows whichis which; but a shepherd who has lived
amongstthem knows the difference well. The eye of fire will soonseparate the
sheepfrom the goats.

3. They will be divided infallibly. Notone poor trembling sheepwill be found
amongstthe goats.
4. That division will be keenand sharp. The husband torn away from the wife.
5. It will be very wide as well as keen. The distance betweenhappiness and
misery.
6. The separationwill be final.
II. THE DIVIDER. "He shall separate." Jesus willbe the Divider.
1. This will assure the saints of their right to heaven. He said "Come."
2. This will increase the terror of the lost, that Christ shall divide them,
Christ, so full of love, would not destroy a sinner unless it must be. He also has
powerto carry out the sentence.
III. THE RULE OF THE DIVISION. The greatdivision betweenthe sons of
men is Christ. He is the divider and the division. The rule of the division is —
1. Actions.
2. Actions about Christ.
3. The actions which will be mentioned at the judgment day, as the proof of
our being blessedof the Lord, spring from the grace of God. They fed the
hungry, but sovereigngrace had first fed them.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The reward of the righteous
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. There is much of teaching IN THE SURROUNDING CIRCUMSTANCES.
"When the King shall come in His glory." Then we must not expect our
reward till by and by. When the King shall come in His glory, then is your
time of recompense. Observe with delight the august Personby whose hand
the rewardis given — "When the King." It is Christ's own gift. The character

in which our Lord Jesus shall appearis significant. The King. He will come in
His glory; the cross is exchangedfor the crown.
II. THE PORTION ITSELF. The rewardof the righteous is set forth by the
loving benediction pronounced by the Master, but their very position gives
some foreshadowing ofit. The righteous the objects of Divine complacency,
revealedbefore the sons of men. "The welcome uttered — Come. It is the
gospelsymbol, "Come ye blessed," whichis a cleardeclarationthat this is a
state of happiness; from the greatprimary source of all good — "Blessedof
My Father." It is a state in which they shall recognize their right to be there; a
state therefore of ease andfreedom. It is "inherit the kingdom." A man does
not fearto lose that which he wins by descentfrom his parent. It denotes full
possessionandenjoyment. The word "kingdom" indicates the richness of the
heritage of the saints. It is no petty estate, no happy corner in obscurity; but a
kingdom. Your future joy will be all that a royal souldesires. According to the
word "prepared" we may conceive it to be a condition of surpassing
excellence.
III. THE PERSONSWHO SHALL COME THERE.
1. Their name — "Blessedofthe Father."
2. Their nature. Sons to inherit.
3. Their appointment.
4. Their doings.Actions of charity selected —
1. Becausethe generalaudience assembledaround the throne would know
how to appreciate this evidence of their new-born nature.
2. They may have been chosenas evidences ofgrace, becauseas actions, they
are a wonderful means of separating betweenthe hypocrite and the true
Christian.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Charitable actions revealan inward grace

C. H. Spurgeon.
When you read "for " here, you must not understand it to be that their
reward is because ofthis, but that they are proved to be God's servants by
this; and so, while they do not merit it because ofthese actions, yet these
actions show that they were savedby grace, which is evidencedby the fact
that Jesus Christ wrought such and such works in them. If Christ does not
work such things in you, you have no part in Him; if you have not produced
such Works as these you have not believed in Jesus. Now somebodysays,
"Then I intend to give to the poor in future in order that I may have this
reward." Ah, but you are very much mistakenif you do that. The Duke of
Burgundy was waitedupon by a poor man, a very loyal subject, who brought
him a very large root which he had grown. He was a very poor man indeed,
and every root he grew in his garden was of consequenceto him; but merely
as a loyal offering he brought to his prince the largesthis little garden
produced. The prince was so pleasedwith the man's evident loyalty and
affectionthat he gave him a very large sum. The stewardthought, "Well, I see
this pays; this man has got fifty pounds for his large root, I think I shall make
the Duke a present." So he bought a horse and he reckonedthat he should
have in return ten times as much for it as it was worth, and he presentedit
with that view: the duke, like a wise man, quietly acceptedthe horse, and gave
the greedystewardnothing. That was all. So you say, "Well, here is a
Christian man, and he gets rewarded. He has been giving to the poor, helping
the Lord's Church, the thing pays, I shall make a like investment." Yes, but
you see the stewarddid not give the horse out of any idea of loyalty, and
kindness, and love to the duke, but out of very greatlove to himself, and
therefore had no return; and if you perform deeds of charity out of the idea of
getting to heaven by them, why it is yourself that you are feeding, it is yourself
that you are clothing; all your virtue is not virtue, it is rank selfishness, it
smells strong of selfhood, and Christ will never acceptit; you will never hear
Him say, "Thank you" for it. You served yourself, and no reward is due.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)

Heaven prepared far the saints
C. H. Spurgeon.
If I might so speak, God's commongifts, which he throws awayas though they
were but nothing, are priceless;but what will be these gifts upon which the
infinite mind of God has been setfor ages ofages in order that they may reach
the highestdegree of excellence?Long before Christmas chimes were ringing,
mother was so glad to think her boy was coming home, after the first quarter
he had been out at school, and straightwayshe beganpreparing and planning
all sorts of joys for him. Well might the holidays be happy when mother had
been contriving to make them so. Now in an infinitely nobler manner the
greatGod has prepared a kingdom for His people; He has thought "that will
please them, and that will bless them, and this other will make them
superlatively happy." He prepared the kingdom to perfection; and then, as if
that were not enough, the glorious man Christ Jesus wentup from earth to
heaven; and you know what He said when He departed — "I go to prepare a
place for you."
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Hard to see Christ in the poverty of the saints
T. Manton.
Do not judge amiss of others. God's people are a poor, despised, hated,
scornedcompany in the world as to visible appearance;and what proof of
Christ is there in them? Who cansee Christ in a hungry beggar? or the
glorious Son of God in an imprisoned and scornedbeliever? or one beloved of
God in him that is mortified with continual sicknesses anddiseases. A pearl or
a jewelthat is fallen into the dirt, you cannot discernthe worth of it till you
washit, and see it sparkle. A prince in disguise may be jostledand affronted.
To a common eye things go better with the wickedthan with the children of
God. If you see the image of Christ in them, you will one day see them other
manner of persons than now you see them, or they appear to be.

(T. Manton.)
Charity ministers to self-enjoyment
T. Manton.
Wells are sweeterfordraining; so are riches, when used as the fuel of charity.
(T. Manton.)
God rewards charity
T. Manton.
The poor cannotrequite thee; therefore Godwill.
(T. Manton.)
Destiny determined by serviceableness
J. C. Jones.
The judgment will go according to our serviceablenessorotherwise. "Every
man according to his works, whetherthey be goodor evil." We are apt to
imagine that true religion consists in extraordinary frames of mind, ecstatic
moods. It consists in nothing of the kind, but in the faithful discharge, in the
spirit of Christ, of the human duties of our every-day existence. Manyare the
legends concerning the Quest of the Holy Grail, the traditional Cup of Healing
from which the Saviour drank the sacramentalwine the night He was
betrayed. But the prettiest of them all, prettiest because truest, is that which
represents a bold knight of the Round Table travelling far over mountains
and through deserts in search ofthe mysterious Grail. His protracted and
exhaustive journeys, however, turned out fruitless. At length, wan in
countenance, depressedin spirit, and fatigued in body, he resolvedto return
to Arthur's Hall, a sadder but not a wiserman. However, as he was nearing

the gate of Camelot, he saw a poor man writhing in the ditch, evidently in the
last agonies ofdeath. Movedwith compassion, the sworndefender of the
rights of the poor and the weak dismounted from his steed, sought a cup of
water, and handed it to the suffering man; when lo! the cup glowedas if it
were a thing alive, flamed as if it were the sapphire of the New Jerusalem. The
knight at lastsaw the Holy Grail, not, however, in traversing barren
wildernesses orperforming deeds of prowess, but in succouring the poor and
forlorn. "Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of these little ones, ye have done
it unto Me." "Whosoevershallgive to drink unto one of these little ones a cup
of cold wateronly in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not
lose his reward." A little gift to a little one — it will be honourably mentioned
in the judgment day.
(J. C. Jones.)
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the leastof these my brethren - The
meanestfollowerof Christ is acknowledgedby him as his brother! What
infinite condescension!Those, whommany would scornto set with the dogs of
their flock, are brothers and sisters of the blessedJesus, andshall soonbe set
among the princes of his people.
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
One of the leastof these - One of the obscurest, the leastknown, the poorest,
the most despisedand afflicted.
My brethren - Either those who are Christians, whom he condescends to call
brethren, or those who are afflicted, poor, and persecuted, who are his

brethren and companions in suffering, and who suffer as he did on earth. See
Hebrews 2:11; Matthew 12:50. How great is the condescensionand kindness
of the Judge of the world, thus to reward our actions, and to considerwhat we
have done to the poor as done to him!
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
And the King shall answerand say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it
unto me.
No thoughtful person can conclude that Jesus equatedsalvationwith
benevolence in the usual sense. It is not mere charity, but help of Christ's
followers that is highlighted here. If this principle were more widely
understood and accepted, it would revolutionize men's attitude towardthe
church. In the final essence, whatmen do to his church, they do to him. To
neglect, flout, or dishonor the church is to do the same to Christ who is the
head of the church. On the other hand, those who support and provide for the
church and extend their concernand constantaid upon behalf of her poor and
needy, do the same for Christ whose body is the church.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
And the king shall answer, and sayunto them,.... Christ, though a king, and
now appearing in greatglory and majesty, yet such will be his goodness and
condescension, as to return an answerto the queries of his people; blushing
and astonishedat his notice of their poor services, whichthey know to be so
imperfect, and are always ready to ownthemselves unprofitable servants;and
this he will do in the following manner:
verily I say unto you; a way of speaking oftenused by him, when here on
earth, when he, in the strongestmanner, would asseverateanything as truth,
and remove all doubt and hesitation about it,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the leastof these my brethren, ye
have done it unto me: which is to be understood, not in so limited a sense, as to

regard only the apostles, andthe leastof them, for these were not the only
brethren of Christ; nor in so large a sense, as to include all in human nature;
but the saints only, the children of God, and household of faith: for though
acts of charity and humanity are to be done to all men, yet especiallyto these;
and indeed, these only can be consideredas the brethren of Christ, who are
born of God, and do the will of Christ; for such he accounts his mother,
brethren, and sisters;and who are not only of the same human nature, but in
the same covenantwith him, and the sons of God, not by nature, as he is the
Son of God, but by adoption, and so are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ: now he that does any of the above acts of kindness to these "brethren"
of Christ, and because they stand in such a relationto him, even the "least" of
them: though he is not an apostle, ora martyr, or a preacherof the Gospel, or
has any considerable gifts and abilities for usefulness, but is a weak believerin
spiritual things, as wellas poor in temporal things; and though it is but to
"one" of these opportunity and circumstances notallowing it to be done to
more; yet as such is the humility and condescensionof this great king, as to
accountsuch mean persons his brethren; such also is his grace and goodness,
as to reckoneveryinstance of kindness and respectshownto them, as done to
himself in person; and will take notice of it, acceptand reward it, as if it had
been so done.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the King shall answerand say unto them, Verily I say unto you, etc. —
Astonishing dialogue this betweenthe King, from the Throne of His glory, and
His wondering people! “I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat,” etc. —
“Notwe,” they reply. “We never did that, Lord: We were born out of due
time, and enjoyed not the privilege of ministering unto Thee.” “Butye did it to
these My brethren, now beside you, when castupon your love.” “Truth, Lord,
but was that doing it to Thee? Thy name was indeed dear to us, and we
thought it a greathonor to suffer shame for it. When among the destitute and
distressedwe discernedany of the household of faith, we will not deny that
our hearts leapt within us at the discovery, and when their knock came to our
dwelling, ‹our bowels were moved,‘ as though ‹our BelovedHimself had put in

His hand by the hole of the door.‘ Sweetwas the fellowship we had with them,
as if we had ‹entertained angels unawares‘;all difference betweengiver and
receiversomehow melted awayunder the beams of that love of Thine which
knit us together;nay, rather, as they left us with gratitude for our poor
givings, we seemedthe debtors - not they. But, Lord, were we all that time in
company with Thee? … Yes, that scene was all with Me,” replies the King -
“Me in the disguise of My poor ones. The door shut againstMe by others was
opened by you - ‘Ye took Me in.‘ Apprehended and imprisoned by the
enemies of the truth, ye whom the truth had made free soughtMe out
diligently and found Me;visiting Me in My lonely cell at the risk of your own
lives, and cheering My solitude; ye gave Me a coat, for I shivered; and then I
felt warm. With cups of cold waterye moistened My parched lips; when
famished with hunger ye supplied Me with crusts, and my spirit revived - Ye
Did It Unto MeWhatthoughts crowd upon us as we listen to such a
description of the scenesofthe Last Judgment! And in the light of this view of
the heavenly dialogue, how bald and wretched, not to say unscriptural, is that
view of it to which we referred at the outset, which makes it a dialogue
betweenChrist and heathens who never heard of His name, and of course
never felt any stirrings of His love in their hearts!To us it seems a poor,
superficial objectionto the Christian view of this scene, that Christians could
never be supposedto ask such questions as the “blessedofChrist‘s Father”
are made to ask here. If there were any difficulty in explaining this, the
difficulty of the other view is such as to make it, at least, insufferable. But
there is no realdifficulty. The surprise expressedis not at their being told that
they actedfrom love to Christ, but that Christ Himself was the Personal
Object of all their deeds: that they found Him hungry, and supplied Him with
food: that they brought waterto Him, and slakedHis thirst; that seeing Him
nakedand shivering, they put warm clothing upon Him, paid Him visits when
lying in prison for the truth, and satby His bedside when laid down with
sickness. This is the astonishing interpretation which Jesus says “the King”
will give to them of their own actions here below. And will any Christian
reply, “How could this astonishthem? Does notevery Christian know that He
does these very things, when He does them at all, just as they are here
represented?” Nay, rather, is it conceivable thatthey should not be
astonished, and almost doubt their own ears, to hear such an accountof their

own actions upon earth from the lips of the Judge? And remember, that
Judge has come in His glory, and now sits upon the throne of His glory, and
all the holy angels are with Him; and that it is from those glorified Lips that
the words come forth, “Ye did all this unto ME.” Oh, can we imagine such a
word addressedto ourselves, and then fancy ourselves replying, “Of course we
did - To whom else did we anything? It must be others than we that are
addressed, who never knew, in all their gooddeeds, what they were about?”
Rather, can we imagine ourselves not overpoweredwith astonishment, and
scarcelyable to credit the testimony borne to us by the King?
People's New Testament
have done it unto me. The righteous understoodwell that they had often, in
the name and from the love of Christ, ministered to his brethren, the poor and
suffering saints, but they had never understood that their Lord acceptedthis
as a personalservice to himself. It should be distinctly noted, (1) that the
savedare the {righteous,} or those whose sins have been washedawayby
Christ; (2) they are those who have lived and actedin the name of Christ, or
have been obedient to his will; (3) they have been full of the love of Christ and
have faithfully ministered to the distressed, especiallyto those of the
household of faith. The love of Christ implies love of the brethren, and of all
mankind.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Ye did it unto me (εμοι εποιησατε — emoi epoiēsate). Dative ofpersonal
interest. Christ identifies himself with the needy and the suffering. This
conduct is proof of possession oflove for Christ and likeness to him.
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes

And the King shall answerand say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
have done it unto me.
Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the leastof these my brethren, ye did it to me
— What encouragementis here to assistthe householdof faith? But let us
likewise remember to do goodto all men.
The Fourfold Gospel
Then shall the righteous answerhim1, saying, Lord, when saw we thee
hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink?
Matthew 25:37-40
Then shall the righteous answerhim, etc. This conversationis the drapery of
the narrative. Such words will not be actually spokenat the judgment, but
they are introduced for the twofold purpose of illustrating the beautiful
unconsciousness ofmerit and which characterizes the noblest of deeds and the
more important factthat anything done for his sake is the same as done for
his person(Matthew 10:42;Mark 9:41).
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
40.Verily I tell you. As Christ has just now told us, by a figure, that our senses
do not yet comprehend how highly he values deeds of charity, so now he
openly declares, thathe will reckonas done to himself whateverwe have
bestowedon his people. We must be prodigiously sluggish, if compassionbe
not drawn from our bowels by this statement, that Christ is either neglected
or honored in the person of those who need our assistance.So then, whenever

we are reluctant to assistthe poor, let us place before our eyes the Son of God,
to whom it would be base sacrilegeto refuse any thing. By these words he
likewise shows,that he acknowledgesthose acts ofkindness which have been
performed gratuitously, and without any expectationof a reward. And
certainly, when he enjoins us to do goodto the hungry and naked, to strangers
and prisoners, from whom nothing can be expectedin return, we must look to
him, who freely lays himself under obligationto us, and allows us to place to
his accountwhat might otherwise appearto have been lost.
So far as you have done it to one of the leastof my brethren. Believers only
are expresslyrecommended to our notice;not that he bids us altogether
despise others, but because the more nearly a man approaches to God, he
ought to be the more highly esteemedby us; for though there is a common tie
that binds all the children of Adam, there is a still more sacredunion among
the children of God. So then, as those, who belong to the householdof faith
ought to be preferred to strangers, Christmakes specialmention of them. And
though his design was, to encourage those whose wealthand resources are
abundant to relieve the poverty of brethren, yet it affords no ordinary
consolationto the poor and distressed, that, though shame and contempt
follow them in the eyes of the world, yet the Son of God holds them as dear as
his ownmembers. And certainly, by calling them brethren, he confers on
them inestimable honor.
James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
CHRIST IN HIS POOR
‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the leastof these My brethren, ye
have done it unto Me.’
Matthew 25:40

The ground of the judgment, you note, is the carrying out in this life the
principles of active love. No mention is made of faith in Christ; but all that is
done (or left undone) has its direct relationto Christ.
I. Brotherhood.—The greattruth of the Brotherhoodof men gripped the
mind of the first believers;and well it might. They loved to callthemselves
brethren, and wellthey might. Often yielding allegiance to the faith at the
expense of the snapping of all earthly ties of blood-relationship (fathers and
mothers, wife and children left), they found the ‘manifold more’ in the wider
bond of the spiritual family.
II. Equality.—From fraternity we glide into equality. About which latter, a
word. In our relation with our God we are equal. But we may not reasonfrom
this that we are equal in our mutual relations with eachother. Bring back the
early Christian communism, it could not last longer than it has lasted. Make
men equal to-morrow—‘letus all have one purse’—they would commence
diverging the day after. What Christianity does is not to cancelthe lowly lot,
but to raise and adorn it. Our subjectis not ‘no needy in Christ,’ but ‘Christ
in the needy.’ BlessedSaviour, how dost Thou assertThyself in Thy gracious
condescension!Nevera lowly actof love and help for one of Thy leastones,
but is counted by Thee as done to Thyself.
III. Ministering to Christ.—Men’s chances ofministering to Christ were
meagre and often missed. May it be given to us to fill up that which is behind.
Something we—ay, the leastmoneyed of us—many do to turn these prisoners
of despondency, perhaps of despair, into ‘Prisoners of Hope,’ pointing their
drooping hearts to ‘the stronghold’ on which they have long ago turned their
backs. Christ in these!
—BishopAlfred Pearson.
Illustrations
(1) ‘A passagefrom The Heart of Midlothian has a distinct bearing on this
passagein Matthew: “Alas!it is not when we sleepsoftand wake merrily
ourselves that we think on other peoples’sufferings. Our hearts are waxed
light within us then, and we are for righting our ain wrangs and fighting our

ain battles. But when the hour of trouble comes to the mind or to the body …
and when the hour of death comes, that comes to high and low … O, … then it
isna what we hae dune for oursells, but what we hae dune for others, that we
think on maist pleasantly.”’
(2) ‘O that we may feel now the truth that came too late to Amos Barton, in
the story, as he stoodbeside the cold body of his sainted wife: “She was gone
from him and he could never show his love for her any more, never make up
for omissions in the past by showing future tenderness.” Oh, the bitterness of
that midnight prostration upon the grave.… “Milly, Milly, dost thou hear me?
I didn’t love thee enongh—I wasn’ttender enough to thee—but I think of it
all now.” Yes, it is very touching and very sad. But how much more sad—sad
beyond all sadness—to have to sayat last, “O Saviour, I never did anything
out of love to Thee.”’
John Trapp Complete Commentary
40 And the King shall answerand say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
have done it unto me.
Ver. 40. One of the leastof these my brethren] What a comfort is this, that our
own Brother shall judge us, who is much more compassionate thanany
Joseph. What an honour, that Christ calls us his brethren. What an obligation
is such a dignity to all possible duty, that we stain not our kindred. Antigonus
being invited to a place where a notable harlot was to be present, asked
counselof Menedemus what he should do. He bade him only remember that
he was a king’s son. Remember we that we are Christ the King’s brethren,
and it may prove a singular preservative. Vellem si non essemImperator, said
Scipio, when a harlot was offeredunto him, I would, if I were not general.
Take thou the pillage of the field, said Themistoclesto his friend: ανελου
σεαυτω, συ γαρ ουκ ει θημιστοκλης,forthou art not Themistocles.

Ye have done it unto me] Christ, saith Salvian, is, Mendicorum maximus, the
greatestbeggar, as one that shareth in all the saints’ necessities;and who
would but relieve necessitous Christ? Find some Mephibosheth, in whom we
may sealup love to deceasedJonathan. My goodness extendethnot to thee,
saith David, but to the saints, Christ’s receivers, Psalms 16:2-3. Mr Fox never
denied beggarthat askedin Jesus’name. And being once askedwhether he
knew a certain poor man who had receivedsuccourfrom him in time of
trouble, he answered, I remember him well: I tell you, I forgetlords and ladies
to remember such.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Matthew 25:40. Verily I say—inas much, &c.— This is unspeakably
astonishing!The united wisdomof angels couldnot have thought of any thing
more proper to convey an idea of the warmth and strength of the divine
benevolence to man, or offered a more constraining motive to charity, than
that the Son of God should declare from the judgment-seat, in the presence of
the whole assembleduniverse, that such goodoffices as are done to the
afflicted through genuine love, are done to him. Having in the day of his flesh
suffered injuries and afflictions unspeakable, he considers allthe
holydistressedmembers of his body, loves them tenderly, and is so much
interestedin their welfare, that when they are happy, he rejoices;when they
are distressedhe is grieved. In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least
of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Wonderful condescensionof
the Sonof God!
Astonishingstupidity of men! who neglectaltogetherorare persuaded with
difficulty, to do goodto Christ. What wonderful condescension, thatthe Son
of God should callany of us his brethren! This happy relation arises from the
manhood, which he still possessesin common with us. The faithful are with
him, but in an infinitely inferior sense, sons ofthe same Father, after whose
image they are formed through the influence of his Spirit working faith in
them. It is this conformity of nature human and divine, which makes men

Christ's brethren; for which reason, in whateverperson it is to be found, he
will acknowledgethe relation, without regard to any circumstance whatever,
that is out of the person's power. See Macknight. Bythese my brethren, Dr.
Heylin also understands, the saints, who should come in Christ's train to
judgment. See Mede's Works, p. 81 and Wetstein.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Matthew 25:40. ἐφʼ ὅσον, inasmuch as, in as far as)An intensifying particle.
Without doubt, even individual acts will be brought forward.— ἑνὶ, unto one)
All things are accuratelyreckonedup; nothing is omitted. Even a solitary
occasionis frequently of greatimportance in either direction; see Matthew
25:45.— τούτων, ofthese) used demonstratively.— τῶν ἀδελφῶν΄ου, My
brethren) It is better to do goodto the goodthan to the wicked;yet these are
not excluded from the operation of Christian love (see Matthew 5:44),
provided that a due precedence be preserved in the characterof the men and
works. Men, the more that they are honoured, treat so much the more
proudly those with whom they are connected(suos):not so Jesus:at the
commencementof His ministry He frequently called His followers disciples;
then, when speaking ofHis cross (John13:33), He once calledthem little
sons,(1103)and (John 15:15)friends; after His resurrection(John 21:5),
παιδία, children,(1104)and brethren (cf. ch. Matthew 28:10;John 20:17; and
cf. therewith Ib. Matthew 13:1); and this appellation He will repeat at the
judgment-day. How great is the glory of the faithful! see Hebrews 2:10-12, etc.
During the time of His humiliation (exinanitionis) the honour of Jesus was
guarded, lestfrom such an appellation He might appearto be of merely
common rank; but in His state of exaltation no such danger exists. Observe,
however—(1)that Christ addresses no one as brother in the vocative; the case
is different in ch. Matthew 12:48-49, andHebrews 2:11-12;(2) that Scripture
does not callChrist our brother; and (3) that it would not have been suitable
in Peter, for example, to have said, Brother, insteadof Lord, in John 21:15;
John 21:20; John 21:7 (see Ibid. Matthew 13:13). Even James, calledby others
the Lord’s brother, calls himself the servant of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ, James 1:1. Jude also, in the first verse of his epistle, calls himself the

servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James;see also Matthew 23:8; Luke
22:32. Amongst mortals, unequal fraternity is so maintained, that the superior
friend honours the inferior by the title of brother; whilst the inferior
addresses the superior by his title of honour. Thus also the heavenly court has
its own etiquette, without any conflictbetweenhumility and confidence. Thus,
also, the appellation of friend appears one-sided, so that the Lord calls His
own, “friends,” but is not so called by them: see John 15:15. We must except
the faith whose freedomof speechattains to that of the Canticles.— τῶν
ἐλαχίστων, of the least)sc. outwardly, or even inwardly. A certainspecies is
pointed out in the whole genus of saints: there are some who have received,
others who have conferred favours.— ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε, ye have done it unto
Me) not merely to Me also, but TO ME absolutely; cf. οὐδὲ ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε,
neither have ye done it unto Me, Matthew 25:45.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
Ver. 35-40. The recompences ofthe last judgment are according to the tenor
of our goodworks, and the desert of evil works. The King here gives the
reasonof his gracious rewarding sentence,
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat. This doth not imply any desert,
much less any worthiness of equality betweenthe work and the reward; but
that evangelicalworks, the products of unfeigned faith and love, qualify us by
the covenantof grace to receive it. The causes ofthe reward are either, the
original cause, the most free and rich mercy of God, or the meritorious, the
most perfect righteousness andsacrifice ofChrist; and the goodworks here
recited are infallible signs that the performers of them are the objects of the
Divine favour in predestination, and are truly united to Christ. Besides, in the
gospel, which is the law of grace, Godhas establisheda necessaryconnection
betweenfaith, that works by love, and the blessedreward; and accordingly
evangelicalworks are the condition of our title, that qualifies us to obtain the
kingdom of glory, freely promised for Christ’s sake to obedient believers. And
in this respectthe dispensing the rewardmay be saidto be an act of justice,
namely, in the faithful performance of the promise; as in the forgiving sins,

which is an actof pure mercy, God is said to be faithful and just, 1 John 1:9.
Our Lord here reckons but one species ofgoodworks, insteadof many, as is
usual in Scripture, and he rather choosethto instance in works ofcharity than
of piety.
1. He knows the hardness of men’s hearts; and;
2. That the poor they should have always with them, especiallysuch as would
live godly, and so be more than others out of favour with the world.
3. He knew how acceptable these were to his Father, and had a mind the
world should know it, Isaiah58:7 Ezekiel18:7 Micah 6:8 Matthew 9:13 1
John 3:17. And hereby declares, that acts of charity to the souls makes us fit
subjects for the Divine mercy in the day of judgment, 2 Timothy 1:18.
The answer, Matthew 25:37, Then shall the righteous answerhim, saying, &c.,
only teachethus this, That at the greatday the best of men shall blush and be
ashamedto hear God speak of any goodworks they have done, and be
swallowedup in the admiration of God’s free and infinite grace, in rewarding
any thing which they have done at so liberal a rate.
And the King shall answerand say unto them, &c. This only confirmeth what
we had, Matthew 10:42, that Christ lookethupon acts of kindness done to the
meanestgodly persons, and will reward them, as if they had been done unto
himself; so that though our charity must not be limited only there, yet it must
be chiefly shownto those of the householdof faith: other charity may be
showedin obedience to the command of God, and have its reward, but none
can so properly be said to be done to Christ, as that which is done to those
who are his true members.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
Have done it unto me; expressive of the intimate and endearing union of
Christ and his people. Jesus Christ considers himself to be treated by men as
they treat his known disciples. And from the manner in which we treat them,
we may learn the manner in which we treat him.

Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
40. ἐφʼ ὅσον. ‘So far as,’ἐπὶ denotes the point to which the actionextends.
ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. This unconscious personalservice ofChrist may be
contrastedwith the conscious but unreal knowledge ofChrist assumedby
false prophets; see Luke 13:26.
Christ identifies Himself with his Church, as in his words to Saul, τί με
διώκεις;(Acts 9:4).
PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible
“And the King will answerand say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as
you did it to one of these my brothers, even these least, you did it to me.’ ”
For the King will point out that it was when they did these things to ‘His
brothers’ that they did it to Him. The only people whom Jesus describes as
His brothers in this way are those who have responded to His words and do
the will of His Father (Matthew 12:48-50;Matthew 28:10, compare Matthew
10:42. See also Hebrews 2:11-12). This is further confirmed by ‘even these
least’. For that was preciselywhat His followers were to seek to be (Matthew
18:4; Matthew 20:27; Matthew 23:11-12;Luke 9:48). Furthermore He has
already said that to receive a disciple in His Name was to receive Him
(Matthew 10:40), and has spokenof those who give a cup of cold waterto a
disciple as not losing their reward (Matthew 10:42). The evidence that we
identify ‘brothers’ with followers of Jesus is conclusive.
Some suggestthat ‘His brothers’ indicates the Jews, but Jesus never speaks of
the Jews as suchas His brothers. Others see it as indicating all mankind. That
Jesus saw alldecent men as His neighbours comes out in the parable of the
GoodSamaritan (Luke 10:36-37). But againHe never describes all men as His
brothers. This further confirms that by ‘His brothers’ He was referring to His
followers.
We are not to see ‘His brothers’ as being a separate group from the righteous
and the unrighteous. They will indeed be the same as the righteous. Thus

when Jesus said, ‘these My brothers’ He could be seenas indicating all the
righteous with a wave of His hand.
By these words Jesus was demonstrating that while His true followers are to
love all men, they are to have speciallove for their brothers. ‘By this will all
men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another’
(Matthew 13:35). And certainly as a result of persecutionmany of them would
be in need of such help, for their faithfulness in testimony would often lead to
poverty, illness, exile in a strange country and imprisonment, but Jesus’
expectationwas that in such situations their brothers in Christ would sustain
them. This would be one very real evidence of the genuineness oftheir faith.
Nothing more surprised the ancient world than the love that Christians
revealedtowards eachother.
That the description ‘His brothers’ does indicate His disciples and followers is
important for the significance ofthe whole account, for it demonstrates that in
the end it is the attitude of men and women towards Jesus that is in question.
A few moments thought will demonstrate that the final judgment cannot
possibly be limited to dealing with such matters as are describedhere,
howeverimportant they might be. For howeversentimental we might be,
acceptabilitywith God cannot possibly be seenas based simply upon these few
requirements. Indeed there was nothing that the Jews were more diligent in
than giving alms and helping their poor, and they were exhorted to it by the
Scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus’criticismof them did not lay in their lack of
such behaviour but in their reasons for doing it (Matthew 6:2) and their whole
attitude towards people. Reliefwork is goodand valuable, but it does not and
cannot ensure entry into His everlasting Kingly Rule. It is only a small part of
the whole. Such righteousness wouldnot exceedthat of the Scribes and
Pharisees.Doing fully the will of the Fatheris far more demanding than that.
But if in reality the judgment is being made on the basis of the attitude of the
judged towards Jesus Christ, as revealedby their behaviour towards His
brothers (compare Matthew 10:42 where the same principle is in mind), then
it brings us back to the basis of salvationfound all the way through the New
Testament, that salvationfinally depends on response to and attitude towards
Jesus Christ Himself. For there is no other Name under Heaven, given among

men, by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). They are not savedby ‘do-
gooding’but because oftheir response to, and attitude towards, Him which
results in even greater‘do-gooding’.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
40. Ye have done it unto me — By a turn of surpassing beauty the Lord
confers an infinite value upon the leastof their goodor approvable acts. It was
done to him. Eternal glory is the thanks he returns for personalfavours. He
identifies himself with the humblest objectof charity, and assumes that all
mercy done is done to him. He holds himself remunerator for all the good
done.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Matthew 25:40. Unto one of these least(or, these the least’) of my brethren, ye
did it unto me. This principle is the basis of Christian charity, as of all
Christian morality. The prominence given to it shows that real faith in Christ
must manifest itself in such Christian charity. The early Christians actedat
once on this principle. Christ lives again and perpetually in the persons of His
people; as we treat them, we treat Him. All men are to be treated thus,
because possible brethren of Christ. Some suppose that the saints appear with
Christ as judges; hence the expression, ‘these my brethren.’ But no theory
need exclude the pleasing thought that some may have unconsciouslybeen
‘blessedby the Father,’with love in their hearts, feeling its wayto Him who is
Love, through acts of charity to men, even while Christ has not been made
known to them.
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 25:40 ἐφʼ ὅσον, n so far as = καθʼὅσον (Hebrews 7:20), used of time
in Matthew 9:15.— ἑνὶ … ἐλαχίστων, the Judge’s brethren spokenof as a
body apart, not subjects, but rather instruments, of judgment. This makes for

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