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.’”

Well known to most Christians, this passage lays the foundation for Christian social responsibility. Adherents of the so-called, “social Gospel” find much here to support their thinking, that meeting humanitarian needs is more important than securing eternal salvation for the future. In fact, they say that the criterion for determining our ultimate disposition before God above is our good works toward the disadvantaged here below. However, this is a superficial view of Jesus’ teaching here. A few observations are in order.

Jesus continued here the illustrative teaching about the final judgment, separating the sheep from the goats. He addressed the sheep first, who represent those in the good. They will be blessed and will inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared from the beginning. We are told elsewhere in Scripture that, “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). God’s kingdom is to do His will, and thus He taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). His ultimate expectation is for us, who are created in His image, to tend not only to His creation (Genesis 1:29, 2:15), but also to look out for our fellow human beings. The answer to Cain’s primordial question is that yes we are our brother’s keeper (Gen 4:9)!

Why is this so pivotal in the great judgment? Humans, as opposed to animals and plants, are created in God’s image. When we show care for others, we show care for Christ Himself. This is particularly so when we care for other followers of Christ, for He calls us, “my brothers” (see Matthew 12:50, Hebrews 2:11-12, Galatians 6:10).