Knowing and Loving Your Neighbour
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Introduction
Introduction
One of the realities of human nature is that we can often seek to justify, rationalise, excuse or explain away our behaviour. By our very human nature, we seek to make ourselves look better than we are. We want others to think of ourselves as better than we are. And when we are confronted by our true selves through a mistake that we’ve made, or when there’s been some kind of failure, we’re quick to come up with all kinds of reasons why we’ve failed. When we know that certain things ought to be done by us, but we don’t really want to do them, we will easily come up with a good number of excuses as to why we’re not going to be able to do what ought to be done.
Dear friends, this is the sinful human nature in everyday life. And it didn’t begin with us. Recall back in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit in the Garden? When confronted with their sin, they blamed each other - anything to take the focus off of them and their responsiblity.
Recall Aaron, when Moses was up on the Mount of Sinai, receiving the law? When Moses came down the mountain and saw the people worshiping this golden calf, Aaron’s response was to blame the people! You know these people, he said to Moses. You know how sinful their hearts are! And when they gave me their jewelry and threw it into the fire, out came this calf.
All kinds of stories. And they don’t end there. They have continued down through the ages, are to be found wherever we find people.
Well, this is the situation in our text this morning. An expert in the law, one who knew God’s law well, seeking to justify himself. He was seeking, at the very least, to minimize as far as possible his responsibility in the world, and so to elevate his own acceptance before God. This was his desire. But Christ would allow him no such wiggle room. Instead, he would be confronted with his own inadequacy.
Notice with me firstly from this passage...
1. The Great Commandment Acknowledged (vv.25-29)
1. The Great Commandment Acknowledged (vv.25-29)
As we come to this particular passage, we note that Jesus is approached by a man that has a question that he poses to Jesus. It’s difficult to know the precise context within the Gospel of Luke, in terms of when this actual event took place. But the emphasis and the weight of Christ’s teaching is what is of greatest importance for us.
We see firstly in terms of the acknowledgement of the great commanment...
1.1. The Confrontation (v.25)
1.1. The Confrontation (v.25)
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The first thing we note is that the person now speaking to Jesus is “an expert in the law.” This was a man that had trained extensively in, and was extremely knowledgable in the law of God - that is the Old Testament Scriptures. He knew the law well, and so he comes to Jesus with a question, even as one who was exceedingly knowledgeable in terms of what he would be asking.
But we must see that this man’s motives were less that noble. Our text tells us that this man came to test Jesus. He was putting Jesus to some kind of a test to see how well he would answer his question. And we will see that he seeks to justify his own position before God in terms of his manner of life, as one who knew the law of God well, and sought to live by it.
As he approached Jesus, we find that he spoke most respectfully. And he almost brings across his question in a manner so as demonstrate that he was coming with noble intentions. Firstly, he refers to Jesus as “teacher.” This in itself was a sign of respect. With he himself being an expert in the law, there weren’t many people that you’d refer to as “Teacher,” certainly not from a point of seeking advise. You were usually the giver of the advice.
But even his question seems to be a good one, a very noble one. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This was not an uncommon question. Many people would have wondered about this question, and its answer. Even the Rabbi’s of that day would often ask this question, and then give their own answers. But the answers that they gave were usually in terms of something that they needed to do. It was focused on living a good life, and being moral.
Even as this expert in the law approached Jesus, his question relating to eternal life was asked in terms of what he was to do in order to inherit that eternal life.
Now, I would suggest to you that the question that was asked is an important one. And I would also argue that this is a burning question for most people, even for those who would deny their concern with eternal matters. Ecclesiastes 3:11 speaks about God having set eternity in our hearts.
Many are searching for the answer to this question - how can I gain eternal life?
But having posed the question to Jesus, we must see secondly under this first main point...
1.2. The Confession (vv.26-28)
1.2. The Confession (vv.26-28)
Instead of responding directly to the question, Jesus rather decides on this occassion to ask the expert in the law what he thinks is required. Notice the way that his question is phrased.
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
In this respect, Christ is showing much respect to the Law of God that this expert was so well grounded in. He directs the Scribe back to the Old Testament law that he was so well educated in. And in essence, Christ affirms that God’s law contains answers, even in respect to this question.
Note, there could be no charge against Jesus from the side of the religious leaders, claiming that he undermined or rebelled against God’s law. He simply didn’t do that. Instead, he directs the expert in the law to articulate how he reads the law of God with respect to this question on how one may inherit eternal life.
And as we consider the response of this expert in the law, I must say, he gives an exceedingly good answer. We can hardly fault the man in terms of his response.
27 He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
This expert in the law succinctly summarizes the requirements of God for mankind. He essentially quotes two distinct Old Testament Scripture references, and combines them to summarize the requirements of the law.
The first section is quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5. The context of this command is that Moses reiterated the 10 commandments in Deut 5, and then proceeded to urge the Israelites to live in obedience to those commands. If they were going to have life go well for them, then it was essential for them to obey God and his commandments.
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
In essence, the expert in the law picks up on the summary from Moses, and recognises that if he is going to live a life pleasing to God, it must flow out of this love for God.
The Scribe then goes on to add a small portion of Leviticus 19:18. If you go across and study Leviticus 19, you will find that there were a number of laws and regulations that were given by which the Israelites were to live their lives. Particularly, within those commands, you find a number of commands that have to do with how the people of Israel were to relate to one another, and how they were to treat one another. And so that is the context of the laws in Leviticus 19. In terms of relationships with others, Leviticus 19:18 ends with these words...
18 “ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Now, we need to recognise that by this time, the experts in the law had so wrestled with Scripture, and with God’s law, that they had come to the point of being able to summarize the law of God. Even the 10 commandments, in their minds, were directed at the importance of loving God (the first 4 commandments) and loving neighbour (the second 6 commandments).
In this sense, what the expert in the law has done is that he has summarized the requirements of God in terms of love for God, and love for neighbour.
What is very interesting to consider is the response of Jesus.
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
Notice that Jesus doesn’t deny what the man says. In fact he agrees with him. It’s really quite simple. Love God fully, and love your neighbour as yourself, and then you will live.
What Christ was saying was that if you fully obey and keep the law of God, you will inherit eternal life. I would suggest to you, that the same applies to us today. If any one of us, on a daily and perpetual basis, for the entirety of our lives, was to keep the commands of God completely, we would inherit eternal life. Why? Because we show ourselevs to be perfect.
Now, when Jesus responds, he does so from the very law that this man held to. In other words, when Jesus said, “Do this and you will live…” he was speaking from the law itself. In the law of the OT, it was written...
5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.
11 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them.
Even within the Old Testament Law, and within the Old Testament prophets, it was written that if a man were to obey the law of God, then through that obedience, they would obtain life.
But the problem, of course, is that it is impossible to obey the law of God, because the heart of man is sinful.
This expert in the law was approaching Jesus with the intention of demonstrating himself to be justified, because he was keeping the law. And yet, was there not something eating away at this man, this expert in the law.
It’s clear from our passage that even this expert in the law knew within his own heart that he was not living up to this command. That is why he goes on, as we see in the next verse, to seek to justify himself.
This leads us to consider...
1.3. The Cop-Out (v.29)
1.3. The Cop-Out (v.29)
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
This expert in the law was already having his conscience pricked in terms of his own obedience to the very laws that he claimed could lead him to obtain eternal life. That’s why he needed to justify himself. He knew he didn’t live up. And so what does he try to do? He tries to find a way to reduce his responsibility in terms of the law of God and the requirement that it placed on him.
Keep in mind that when the command to love neighbour was given in Leviticus 19:18 it was given as part of the law governing the conduct of the Israelites. It came out of a context of laws governing how Israelites were to treat one another as they conducted their lives together as a nation. And while there certainly were laws in place that governed how they were to treat those from outside, and the alien among them, the real point of the law was how they were to treat one another and interact with one another. And so we can, in one sense, have some measure of understanding with the perspectives of this Expert in the law.
In terms of the various positions held by the Jews in terms of who their neighbour was, William Hendriksen provides some further insight in his commentary. He remarks..
On this point there was a wide variety of opinion among the Jews. There were those who perverted the command of Lev. 19:18 into meaning: “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” Jesus refutes this interpretation in Matt. 5:43–48. A widely accepted view seems to have been, “Love your neighbor, the Israelite.” The Pharisees, however, narrowed this down even more, namely, to “Love your neighbor, the Pharisee.” They reasoned, “But this rabble that does not know the law, accursed are they” (John 7:49). And the Qumran people were declaring that anyone who did not belong to their little group was “a son of darkness” and should be hated. [Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke (Vol. 11, pp. 592–593). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.]
The point is clear. It was easy for groups of people to consider themselves to be better than others, and so to apply the law to love only to those who conform with their own standards, rather than to apply it to everyone.
Friends, we need to keep in mind that this manner of justifying ourselves is something that we have little difficulty in doing ourselves. We have such a natural inclination to reasoning our way out of things that we don’t feel like doing, or that we think is a little extreme.
We’re hardly much different to this man.
But something else that I think is worth noting here is that the expert in the law seemed to be more concerned about ensuring his love for neighbour was up to standard, by limiting the application of the command.
In other words, it’s highly unlikely that he saw his love for God as being deficient. He could easily say that he loved God very deeply. He was probably very devout in terms of religious obedience, in terms of obeying the laws of God. In his own mind, he would have been confident that he demonstrated his love for God well.
But what we must see is that the second command (to love neighbour) can never be separated from the first command. At the point where the expert in the law sought to justify himself, this was precisely the point at which he was showing himself to be lacking in love for God as well.
You will note that my point headings relate to the “Great Commandment,” rather than the “Great Commandments...”
What I’m saying is that to the extent that we show love for neighbour, we demonstrate our love for God. Scripture is clear on this…
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
In fact, when Paul writes to the Galatian believers, he says this...
14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
You see, it’s easy to say that we love God, because it’s quite difficult to evaluate tangibly the extent of that love. But when we understand that love for God is evidenced in love for neighbour, and that the manner of our love towards our neighbour is showing the manner of our love for God, then it becomes quite something to actually live out our love for God.
If the way in which I’m treating my neighbour, the way in which I’m treating my wife, or my children, or my collegues at work, is a practical demonstration of the extent of my love for God… well that’s convicting.
But the Scriptures clearly teach that love for neighbour is critical.
The only question then that remains to be answered is, who is my neighbour? This is the question that this man is asking. Who is my neighbour?! Perhaps I can get away with a reduced application, so that I can get this eternal life that I want.
And that’s what we turn our attention to under our second main point…
2. The Great Commandment Applied (vv.30-37)
2. The Great Commandment Applied (vv.30-37)
In the verses that now follow, Jesus will do two things. On the basis of the attempted copout on the part of the expert in the law, he will proceed to show, firstly, that a neighbour is anyone in need.
But he will also show, secondly, what the right question is that ought to be asked. In other words, even as the expert in the law was attempting to justify himself through his question to Jesus, we will find that the question itself was faulty.
In order to convey these things, Jesus immediately begins to tell a parable. The first thing we note concerning the parable is...
2.1. The Casualty (v.30)
2.1. The Casualty (v.30)
In verse 30 of our text, we read the words of Jesus…
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
Just a few comments on this verse. Firstly, although it is not explicitly stated, we must understand that the man that is spoken of here would have been a Jew. If he had not been a Jew, Jesus would most certainly have said so.
This Jew was then going from Jerusalem to Jericho. This was a journey of roughly 30km, but it was through some very mountainous and rocky terrain, and the journey itself was known to be quite dangerous.
But beyond just the dangers of the route itself, this man, according to the parable that Jesus tells, was attacked by a group of robbers along the road, and they robbed him of literally everything that he owned. According to the original langauge here, it was a group of robbers that surrounded him. There was no escape for the man. Literally, they stripped him down, they beat him severely, and they took all that he owned, leaving him for dead on the side of the road.
Here was a man with no hope. He could not help himself. He had nothing - it’d all been taken away. Thankfully, he wasn’t dead… but he was well on his way there.
That’s the context. The next thing that we see from Christ’s parable is...
2.2. The Calloused (vv.31-32)
2.2. The Calloused (vv.31-32)
As it happened, Jesus says that there were various other people travelling this same road. In verse 31, Jesus says,
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
Now, Jesus is very careful as he develops this story to make the truths of the parable sink in for this expert of the law. Here was a man that was well respected within the Jewish society. He was a priest. He was one that ministered in the temple, offering up service to God. Anyone would have seen that this man was devout, and that he had a deep love for God… or did he? If anyone would stop, surely it would be the priest.
As this priest is traveling along the road, he saw the man lying on the side of the road, probably naked, beaten half to death, and in desperate need of help. But instead of helping the man, he crossed over the road, and continued along on his way.
Now, the priest was on his way from Jerusalem, where the temple was. Thus he was not avoiding the man because he was afraid of making himself ritually unclean.
The issue here is one of the heart. Particularly, the heart attitude towards a person who very clearly was in deep need of help and assistance.
As a priest, he would have known the requirements of God.
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
But the priest, according to the parable of Jesus, had no concern for this man. He lacked compassion towards the man that was in deep need of help and mercy. And instead of troubling himself, he simply crossed over to the other side of the road, and went on his way.
Christ then goes on to talk about another man that was traveling along the way. Verse 32…
32 “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
The Levites were also among the religious establishment. They were those that were descended from the tribe of Levi. Just to clarify, all priests that were to serve within the temple were chosen from the tribe of Levi. So all priests were Levites. But not all Levites became priests.
But nonetheless, here is a Levite. This is one from the religious establishment. Once again, this is a man that was chosen from among God’s people to perform various duties within the dwelling place of God.
But he too, like the priest, sees the man in need, and crosses over onto he other side of the road, and simply passes him by.
Here were two men, who ought to have been setting the example in many respects for the people of Israel, but they showed no love or care or concern whatsoever. Instead, they demonstrated that their hearts were calloused. They were not living for God, and they were not demonstrating a love for God through their actions. No matter what their position or title was in Israel, no matter how it may have looked to the people of Israel who were watching them perform their duties in the Temple, their hearts were far from God. They failed to love.
This leads Jesus to bring in another character in his teaching parable. And so we consider next…
2.3. The Compassionate (vv.33-35)
2.3. The Compassionate (vv.33-35)
Verse 33 reads…
33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
Jesus introduces this man - a Samaritan.
I think we’re mostly familiar with the kind of contentious relationships that existed bewteen the Jew and the Samaritan. I won’t delve into that again this morning. We looked at that a couple of weeks ago as we considered that the Samaritan town refused to receive Jesus when they heard that he was traveling to Jerusalem.
But just by way of summary, let me say that the Samaritans and the Jews had it in for each other. They were not on friendly terms. They were in opposition to one another. One commentator says...
So great was Jewish and Samaritan hostility that Jesus’ opponents could think of nothing worse to say of him than, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” (John 8:48; cf. also 4:9) [Stein, R. H. (1992).]
If any of the travelers on the road would be expected to ignore this Jewish man lying half-dead on the side of the road, it would be the Samaritan.
But in the parable of Jesus, in order to show what it means to truly love neighbour, Jesus will use the Samaritan in order to show this expert in the law just how far he yet had to go in terms of living up to the standards of the law of God.
Notice the extent of the mercies and the love of the Samaritan. Firstly, in verse 34, we read...
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.
As the Samaritan sees the man lying helpless on the side of the road, he goes to him, and begins to treat this man. He pours on the man’s wounds, oil and wine.
The wine in tihs case was used as a disinfectant and antiseptic treatment for the wounds.
The oil was used in order to provide a measure of soothing to the pain of the wounds. And then he bandaged him up. Given the extent of the wounds that Jesus describes in this parable, it would have taken some time to do this. But the Samaritan takes the time out of his traveling schedule to provide much needed help to the man.
Further, he puts the man onto his own donkey. This shows us again the extent of the man’s injuries, that he was unable to walk and move on his own. And so now the Samaritan man, unable to ride his own donkey, walks along side as his donkey carries the man to the nearest town. But notice that this Samaritan doesn’t just arrive at the inn and leave the man there.
Keep in mind, they were deep within Jewish terrotiry here. The inn would most certainly have been under the ownership and supervision of a Jew. But the Samaritan himself takes responsibility for the man’s care, even beyond what he’s already offered.
35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
Even as the Samaritan man has to leave (perhaps to continue on his journey as a business man) he continues to take responsibility, and to offer to cover all the costs needed to allow this man to stay at the inn and recover. It’s been suggested that the amount that he paid up front would have sufficed to keep the injured man there for at least several days. But if needed, he would cover more of the costs.
In other words, the Samaritan said, charge it to me, not to him!
This leads us to our final thing to note under this main point...
2.4. The Conclusion (vv.36-37)
2.4. The Conclusion (vv.36-37)
It is a convicting conclusion!! Jesus now puts it to the expert in the law...
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
Now, the first thing that should strike us from this very question is the manner in which Jesus turns the question of the expert in the law on its head.
The expert in the law had asked Jesus, “who is my neighbour.” Jesus comes to the end of the parable, and says to the man, the real question is, are you being a neighbour to those that the Lord puts in your path.
You see, to ask the question, “who is my neighbour,” (as the expert in the law did) is to seek a means to avoid responsibility for taking care of those you don’t want to take care of. On the other hand, if you ask, “am I being a neighbour,” then you necessarily are asking if you are treating all those around you in a neighbourly manner, according to their needs. In other words, are you showing the love and care that God has commanded you to show to those around you.
For the expert in the law, there was no option but to acknowledge the truth of the passage…
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
The expert in the law rightly recognised that there was only one man in this parable of Jesus that acted in a manner that was appropriate - it was the one that had mercy, even on his enemy. This was the neighbour. One author wrote:
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Who Is the Good Neighbor?
“Neighbor is not a concept to be debated or defined, but a flesh-and-blood person in the ditch waiting to be served. You can’t define your neighbor in advance; you can only be a neighbor when the moment of mercy arrives.”
But notice how Jesus then exhorts this man in light of his response. He says, “Go and do likewise...”
Keep in mind that the context of the parable was the question by the expert in the law as to how he may inherit eternal life. When it was agreed that the law of God stipulated that love for God and love for neighbour was required, the expert in the law was quick to attempt to place limitations on the extent of the requirements of that love.
Jesus’ parable says to this man, you cannot place the limitations that you so desire in order to justify yourself and your lack. He tells the man, now go and do likewise.
Was Jesus here saying that the man could achieve his own salvation? Clearly, from the context as a whole, and from the example given in the parable, Jesus was demonstrating just how far above this man’s standard the actual standard of God was.
If Christ was doing anything for this expert, he was showing him that he would not be able to keep the law, he would not be able to justify himself, as man so readily seeks to do.
Application/Conclusion
Application/Conclusion
Firstly, I want us to notice that we are unable in our own strength and ability to “keep the law of God.” The law is a tutor. It shows our inability.
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”
We need to recognisee our need of the Saviour, the one that loved God perfectly, and that loved His neighbour perfectly. In fact, he loved those who despised him, and came to save them.
There are some words from a song a particular group that convey this beautifully…
See Him there upon the hill
Hear the scorn and laughter
Silent as a lamb He waits
Praying to the Father
See the King who made the sun
And the moon and shining stars
Let the soldiers hold and nail Him down
So that He could save them
See Him there upon the cross
Now no longer breathing
Dust that formed the watching crowds
Takes the blood of Jesus
Dear friends, Christ performed what was required perfectly on our behalf. He demonstrated practically what this means.
But secondly, we must nonetheless, in light of Christ’s great mercy for us, seek to love God, and love neighbour. And again, these are one command. We cannot separate them. They belong together.
The question that we must ask ourselves is, are we being a neighbour to ghose around us?
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
May we trust fully in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
And may His great love and mercy for us so captivate our hearts, that we are driven to joyfully love our neighbour, and show mercy to those in need, even as Christ works this in us.
Amen.