“A terrible judgment call”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Matthew 25: 31-46 (Forward, p. 80) CEV p. 1018
How I wish that the Bible came with a set of ready and easily understood instructions, especially on hard-to-understand passages. Today’s reading from Matthew, Jesus’ Parable of the Sheep and the Goats and the Final Judgment, would be a prime candidate for such an explanation.
With this passage, three questions arise. The first concerns its audience. Is it meant for just the disciples, or is it intended for a much wider audience, that is, to everyone? I would suggest that it is for the former, that is, that is addressed to just His disciples. In chapter 24, verse 3, Jesus is described as speaking to His disciples in private and in chapter 26, verse 1, the text says ‘when Jesus had finished teaching.’ And so, it seems that His warnings about the end times and His parables about the wise and foolish maidens and the parable of the talents are entirely addressed to His followers. But even so, our present parable forces us to reconsider this, for it says that ‘the people of all nations will be brought before him’ (verse 32).
Surely, that implies that everyone, regardless of who they might be, becomes liable to His judgment.
The second question concerns the subjects of these loving acts. Here’s where it gets interesting—and confusing. My present translation, the Contemporary English Version, describes them as ‘my people’. The Good News Bible (TEV) translates this as ‘the least important of these brothers of mine’ (or, ‘these least important ones’, and the NRSV has ‘the least of these who are members of my family’ (or, ‘the least of these’.). These would suggest that Jesus is talking about deeds done toward His own followers. But then, as if to muddy the waters, Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, The Message, reads ‘someone overlooked or ignored’, which would open it up entirely once again. This, then, would argue for acts of caring, acts of kindness, being bestowed on pretty well everyone. Jesus was asked by the legal expert, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 29-37), ‘Just who is my neighbour?’ (The lawyer, presumably, was seeking to limit his liability, his responsibility). Jesus’ answer, ‘Go and do thou likewise’, just like Peterson’s rendition, would open it up to everyone.
We are to love and care for everyone.
But then there is one final question, perhaps the most important one of all. It appears that Jesus is espousing a kind of ‘works righteousness’, that is, that we are saved on account of our actions here on earth. In other words, it doesn’t matter whether we have faith in Jesus Christ or believe and trust in Him or not. (This conclusion, of course, is based on just one text among many that would suggest otherwise, which contradicts one of the primary rules of Bible interpretation.)
Anyway, how might we deal with this rather thorny question? I like an idea suggested by C.S. Lewis’ book, The Last Battle. There Lewis has a similar action of sorting the one from the other. There we find two dynamics at play. Firstly, the sheep, the ‘chosen ones’, are those who have deliberately and consciously loved Aslan, the Christ figure, during their earthly lives. And secondly, they are those who served Him, loved Him, even unknowingly. And so, their actions cannot be seen in isolation, but rather are an outgrowth of their love for Jesus. If we love Jesus, then we will just naturally love and care for our fellow human beings, whether in the church or not. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “When was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” (verse 39).
“God has blessed me with an interesting career and life arc: first, I served as a public defender, then as a domestic violence advocate, and finally, as a priest. I have spent a lot of time in courtrooms, jails, and hospitals and witnessed the anguish of the people in those places. I will always be haunted by the time a judge unexpectedly revoked a man’s probation, and that man’s child shrieked, ‘Daddy! Daddy! DADDY!’ in terror as his father was led away in handcuffs.
“When I walked into a common area of the jail to meet with a client, I was often swarmed by people desperate for help from a lawyer.
“Jesus compels us to care for the sick and those in prison. All too often, these human beings feel completely forgotten. And yet, they are beloved children of God, made in God’s image, and we are called to love and care for them, too, as Jesus loves and cares for all of us.”
Moving Forward: “What assumptions have you made about incarcerated people? What judgments have you made about people who need medical care? Could they be inaccurate?”