Seeler ---your quote ------ In the story Jesus tells his followers that when we show kindness and help onto ‘the least of these’ it is as though we were doing it onto Jesus.
unsafe says -----This is the parable you speak of here below-----verse 40 is the verse you single out here -----in order to get the real sense of the meaning of verse 40 here ---we must first understand who Jesus is speaking to and who are the sheep and who are the goats -----This parable is all about the last judgment ----Jesus coming to separate the Sheep and the Goats -----
The sheep belong to Christ and help others in His Name which gives the Glory to God ---they help others out of their love for Christ seeking no personal Glory ----
the goats only think they belong to Christ by doing their Good Deeds and help others to puff themselves up --get credit and brag giving themselves the glory-----their hearts are not with Christ -----as the scripture says ---they honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me ------ Matthew 15:8 ----Many today are honouring God with their Lips only -----Saying they are True Christians ---This is verse 45 from the Parable below ----45 Then He will say to them, ‘For sure, I tell you, because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
unsafe says ----Here lies the Problem ----we take one piece of scripture and use it our of context and make our own Doctrine out of it ------We are not all God's Children ------We are God's Creation ----We are only God's Children by one way under the New Covenant -----by receiving
Jesus as our Lord and Saviour -----Jesus in this parable is speaking here of the future when He will come back and separate the flock -----
Matthew 25 (NLV)
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His shining-greatness, He will sit down on His throne of greatness. All the angels will be with Him. 32 All the nations of the earth will be gathered before Him. He will divide them from each other as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on His right side, but the goats He will put on His left side.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right side, ‘Come, you who have been called by My Father. Come into the holy nation that has been made ready for you before the world was made. 35 For I was hungry and you gave Me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave Me water to drink. I was a stranger and you gave Me a room. 36 I had no clothes and you gave Me clothes to wear. I was sick and you cared for Me. I was in prison and you came to see Me.’
37 “Then those that are right with God will say, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? When did we see You thirsty and give You a drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and give You a room? When did we see You had no clothes and we gave You clothes? 39 And when did we see You sick or in prison and we came to You?’ 40 Then the King will say, ‘For sure, I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of My brothers, you have done it to Me.’
41 “Then the King will say to those on His left side, ‘Go away from Me! You are guilty! Go into the fire that lasts forever. It has been made ready for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry but you did not give Me food to eat. I was thirsty but you did not give Me water to drink. 43 I was a stranger but you did not give Me a room. I had no clothes but you did not give Me clothes. I was sick and in prison but you did not come to see Me.’
44 “Then they will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger? When did we see You without clothes or sick or in prison and did not care for You?’ 45 Then He will say to them, ‘For sure, I tell you, because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go to the place where they will be punished forever. But those right with God will have life that lasts forever.”