This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King: 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’

The list of hardships and the response to them is often considered only lightly as attention is given to the response of the righteous: “yes we did those things, but when did we do them for you?” Yet the list of hardships can be viewed several different ways. The list covers many of the most basic human needs – see the similar but shorter list in Isa 58:7,10. The hardships are not specific to any one group or one time. Considering the state of the developing world in our time, as contrasted to the western nations, the list of hardships may well represent common experience. Some have argued that The only items in the list which might be thought to indicate a particularly Christian element are being a foreigner and being in prison, if these are understood as some of the occupational hazards faced by those who traveled and incurred opposition as preachers of the gospel. But Christians have no monopoly on such experiences, and in the mobile and politically volatile world of the Roman Empire there would be many others who shared them.

The acts of kindness listed were expected on the basis of the duty of hospitality as it was and still is honored in Middle Eastern society, but no doubt performance did not always match up to expectation. The only act which might seem to go beyond the normal call of duty is the visiting of a prisoner, particularly if they were not a member of the family, and in Heb 10:34 this is mentioned as a mark of Christian love shown toward persecuted fellow-Christians (cf. Heb 13:3). But it is questionable whether that particular scenario is the only one to explain these words. Prisons, for whatever reason one was put in them, were places of misery, where survival often depended on someone visiting and supplying the basic needs to food, warm clothing, and medical supplies.

The “sheep” are now described as “righteous” in anticipation of the final verdict in v. 46. If “righteousness” in Matthew is doing the will of God the term is well applied to these people who have given practical expression to Jesus’ basic summary of the law, by treating others as they would wish to be treated themselves (7:12; cf. also 22:39–40). Their surprise when the king/Son of Man himself claims to have been the object of their action seems to be in contrast to their notion they were merely meeting human need.

Solidarity. 40 And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ The words “Amen, I say to you,” here and in v. 45 emphasize the principle of solidarity. Whether they knew it or not, the people they helped were associated with Jesus, to such an extent that they could be said to be Jesus. The more general principle of Proverb 19:17 that “Whoever cares for the poor lends to the Lord” is specifically applied to Jesus and his people. The terms used in this verse strongly reflect language used earlier in this gospel to describe Jesus’ disciples as “these little ones” (10:42; 18:6, 10, 14) and as Jesus’ “brothers and sisters” (12:50; cf. also 28:10). Jesus has spoken in 18:20 of being present where his people have come together in his name. Here his identification with his people goes further: their experiences are his experiences, and what is done to them is done to him – see, e.g., 10:40, ““Whoever receives you receives me” and 18:5, “And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.” This passage thus expands on the message of 10:40–42: how people respond to Jesus’ representatives is both a sign of their attitude to him and the basis for their reward. This sense of solidarity between Jesus and his people will be creatively developed by the author of Hebrews when he explains how it was necessary for the Savior to share the experiences of those he saves, so that he rightly calls them his brothers and sisters (Heb 2:10–18).

Image credit: Jacob Adriaensz Backer: Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-33), National Museum in Warsaw, PD-US