We’ve been looking at Advent stories from Jesus in these last days. Remember, Jesus is in Holy Week. He is in his last days before he is betrayed, arrested, and crucified. And today’s gospel passage is his last teaching to the disciples, which began back in Chapter 24, before he is arrested. In his last days on earth, Jesus tells us what the last days will be like for the nations of the world.
When the Son of Man comes in glory, all the nations will be gathered before him. He will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, with the righteous being led to eternal life, and the unrighteous being cast out into eternal punishment.
And with that in mind, I’m going to ramble for a bit here.
According to Jesus and the rabbis of the day, the two greatest commandments of the Law are 1) love God, and 2) love your neighbor. The rest of the law is just various aspects of how we do that.
Other commandments showing how we do that include the provision that farmers leave produce behind for the poor and aliens to gather for food. Aliens are to be treated as citizens. The seventh day is a day of rest. Every fifty years debts are to be forgiven, property returned, and slaves set free. Widows, orphans, and strangers are to be protected and cared for.
All these laws, and others, show how God cares for those on the bottom of society. All of these laws show us how loving God translates into loving our neighbor, and how loving our neighbor translates into loving God.
Earlier in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says to do to others as you would have them do to you. He talks about the narrow gate and the hard road leading to life, but the wide gate and easy road will lead to destruction. This is followed by a discussion of proper living, not correct beliefs. In all the gospels he heals and feeds without exception. He is filled with compassion and reserves his attacks for the religious and political leaders, as well as the wealthy.
Elsewhere in the New Testament we are given examples of God’s inclusivity, the need to love and care for others, to live in peace without retaliation, and the ultimate goal of God to restore humanity to right relationship with each other and with God.
I say all this because over and over Scripture makes clear that we are to love, care for, feed, clothe, and shelter those in need. Well, maybe “makes clear” isn’t exactly right. The problem is that you actually have to read Scripture. You actually have to do the hard work of reading in context and see how God is speaking to address all these things.
It’s easy to find passages that indicate whom you should hate, or who is to be cast out. It’s easy to find passages that support your own biases, or your own reasons for why you should exclude others, or determine who should submit to whom.
For instance, many people have used the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as punishment for men wanting to have sex with other men. But Ezekiel tells us that Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed because they didn’t aid the poor and needy, even though they had an excess of riches. Or how many women have heard, “Wives, be subject to your husbands,” without the husband ever reading further to see how he is supposed to treat his wife?
People will claim they believe every word of the Bible, or that they believe the Bible is the literal, inerrant word of God until kingdom come; but those same people will then give a multitude of reasons why the homeless can’t be housed, or why the poor can’t be offered living wages, or why the hungry should only receive a limited amount of free food. Those same people will easily find verses to support their prejudices and hate.
And that is the wide, easy road that leads to destruction. Finding reasons to exclude and hate is easy. Finding reasons to call for the elimination of groups you don’t like is easy. Finding support for your biases is easy. But finding reasons to love and help others is much harder.
These calls for righteous and caring behaviors are not just directed at individuals, they are also directed at the nations of the world. This is because salvation is not only focused on individuals, but is also focused on community. Which brings me back to today’s gospel.
Jesus the King has gathered all the nations before him where he separates the people one from another. Although it seems the people are separated individually, they are actually separated in groups. Jesus the King addresses both the sheep and the goats as a whole. This is not an individual interview where people must answer for their individual actions. Instead, this is a blessing and condemnation for each community and each nation.
Jesus the King says, “Come you that are blessed,” giving his blessing to the overall population. The answer of those blessed is not an individualistic, “When did I see you . . .?” but a communal, “When did WE see you . . .?” Just as those blessed are blessed communally, those condemned are also condemned communally.
What we do individually is important, but it’s equally important to what we do as a community and as a society.
There are many religious people who claim to take the Bible literally. There are many religious people who claim that certain people can’t be helped and deserve what they get. Those are the people who are willing to take the wide, easy road of exclusivity, scapegoating, and proof texting. Those are the people who, when confronted with the very words of Jesus the King in this chapter, will jump through all kinds of hoops and mental gymnastics to point out why this passage doesn’t mean what it says.
I take the Bible too seriously to take it literally. Scripture tells us to love God and love neighbor. Scripture tells us that God overwhelmingly is concerned for the downtrodden, the poor, the sick, and the outcast. Scripture tells us to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, and clothe the naked. And it will be to our detriment – individually, communally, and nationally – if we make excuses as to why we didn’t or why we won’t do those things.
On this Christ the King Sunday, may we do the hard work the King has charged us with doing. Because if we don’t, we will be cast out into the outer darkness and eternal punishment.
And that is the Gospel Truth.
Amen.
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