Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
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Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
(Matthew 25:31-46*)
This week’s lectionary reading is one of my favorite passages in the gospel of Matthew. Some sectors of Christianity tend to read this passage individualistically, as if it’s a scene of individual people standing before an apocalyptic judgment seat. I encourage us not to fall into the individualism ditch this week. The passage in Matthew states that it is “the nations,” collective people groups, that are being gathered. This collective view aligns with the use of the phrase “son of man” and a judgment, from the Hebrew apocalyptic book of Daniel. Daniel 7 doesn’t address individuals or their personal, private deeds or misdeeds. It uses rich imagery to address empires, nations, and collective groups, not individuals. It is also telling that no one responds in this passage responds with the question “when did I see you”: they all ask “when did we see you.”
So this parable has a collective nature. It isn’t about how we live our lives as individuals or whether we practice personal charity. It’s about how we choose to structure our collective lives together and who we choose to care for. How do we systemically, as a nation, divide up resources, and how do we collectively distribute power? Do we privilege some above others? Or do we ensure everyone in our society is taken care of? We’ll begin unpacking these questions as well as the language of eternal punishment, next.
(Read Part 2)
(*Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™)
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