The reason (γαρ,
v 35) the sheep are blessed with the reign is that they served Jesus himself in
accord with the way that Jesus not only served those in need but taught and
empowered his disciples to serve those in need:
1) That “I
was hungry and you gave (εκωκατε) me to eat (φαγειν)” (v 35) means the sheep have done for Jesus what Jesus himself
commanded his disciples to do for the hungry crowds when he commanded them, “You
give (δοτε) them to eat (φαγειν)” (14:16). After he miraculously increased an insufficient amount
of food twice (14:17; 15:34), he empowered his disciples to feed those who were
hungry as he gave (εδωκεν in 14:19; εδιδου in 15:36) the food to his disciples who in
turn gave it to the crowds.
2) That the
sheep received the reward of the reign because “I was thirsty and you gave me drink
(εποτισατε) (v 35) accords with Jesus’ teaching the disciples that “whoever
receives you receives me” (10:40) and whoever gives a drink (ποτιση)
of cold water to one of these little ones simply because he is a disciple will
surely not lose his reward (10:42), the eschatological reward of the reign.
3) That “I
was a stranger and you welcomed me” (v 35) means the sheep have imitated Jesus,
who welcomed strangers with mercy (9:13) when he shared the hospitality of
table fellowship with estranged public sinners (9:9-13; 11:19) and when he
healed foreigners (8:5-13; 15:21-28). Jesus’ teaching of love of enemies
(5:43-48) embraces the hospitable welcoming of strangers.
4) That “I
was naked (γυμνος) and you clothed (περιεβαλετε) me” (v 36) means the sheep have
served Jesus by emulating his compassion (9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34) in accord
with his teaching to love one’s neighbor as oneself (22:39; Lev 19:18), especially
as it is expressed in Isa 58:7 (LXX): “Share your bread with one who is hungry and
bring the unsheltered poor into your home; if you see someone naked (γυμνος),
clothed (περιβαλε) him, and do not disdain your blood relatives.”
5) That “I
was sick (ησθενησα) and you took care of me” (v 36) means the sheep have ministered
to Jesus in accord with his authoritative command and empowerment for the disciple
to heal the sick (ασθενουντας) (10:8). They thus share in and
extend the compassionate healing ministry of Jesus himself, who “took on our
sickness (ασθενειας) and bore our diseases” (8:17;
Isa 53:4).
6) That “I
was in prison (φυλακη) and you came to me” (v 36) means the sheep assisted Jesus not
only as one in critical need but in the way that, as the audience knows from
the previous narrative, disciples should assist their master. The disciples of
John the Baptist assisted him after he was handed over (4:12) and put in prison
(φυλακη) (14:3, 10). They served intermediaries between John and Jesus
(9:14; 11:2) and after John was beheaded in prison (14:100, they took away his
body and buried it (14:12). (John Paul Heil, “Final Parables in the Eschatological
Discourse in Matthew 24-25,” in Warren Carter and John Paul Heil, Matthew’s
Parables: Audience Oriented Perspectives [The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Monograph Series 30; The Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1998; repr.,
Eugene, Oreg.: Pickwick Publications, 2023], 202-4)
In the explanation
of the parable of the weeds (13:36-43) the disciples and the implied audience
were invited to see themselves as the righteous (δικαιοι)
who will shine like the sun in the reign of their Father (13:43) in contrast to
those disciples who do lawlessness (13:41) and are excluded from the reign
(13:42). The righteous are those who do the righteousness (δικαιοσυνην)
(5:20; 6:1, 33), the will of Jesus’ Father, that enables them to enter the
reign of the heavens (5:20; 7:21). According to the parable of the fish net
(13:47-50) the angels will separate the evil ones, the rotten fish/people
(13:48) that Jesus and his disciples will collect as “fishers” of people, from
the midst of the righteous (δικαιοι) (13:49), the disciples themselves as well as the righteous people,
the good “fish” (13:48), they will gather in their ministry (4:19). Now the
disciples and the audience are invited to see themselves as the sheep, the
righteous (δικαιοι), who have served the Jesus they now address as “Lord” (Κυριε)
(v 37), just as they were to identify themselves in the preceding parables as
the fruitful and wise servant of their absent Lord (κυριος,
2:45, 46, 48, 50), as the wise maidens of the bridegroom addressed as “Lord,
Lord” (Κυριε κυριε, 25:11), and as the servants who doubled the talents of the one
they address as “Lord” (Κυριε, 25:20, 22).
But the
righteous sheep are surprised that it was Jesus himself whom they had served.
Their three questions addressed to the “Lord,” each introduced with the same
words of incredulous astonishment that it was “you,” repeat the compassionate
conduct that gained them the reign: “When did you see you (ποτε σε ειδομεν
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you
(ποτε δε σε ειδεμεν)
a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and clothed you? And when did we see you
(ποτε δε σε ειδομεν)
or in prison and come to you?” (vv 37-39).
Jesus as the
king adds to the surprise not only by identifying himself with the needy whom
the righteous have helped but by designating the needy as members of his new
family: “Amen I say to you, inasmuch as you did it for one of these least
brothers of mine, you did it for me” (v 40). Not only are the disciples who do
the will of the Father in heaven the mother and sisters and brothers (αδελφοι)
of Jesus (12:49-50), but now even the lowliest among the needy belong to the family
of Jesus’ brothers (αδελφων) (v 40). Not only is each disciple, “one of these little ones” (εωα των μικρων τουτων, 10:42; 18:6, 10, 14), who humbles himself like a child and
believes in Jesus as member of Jesus’ family, but now each “one of these least
brothers of mine” (εωι τουτων των αδελφων μου των ελαχιστων,
v 40), each needy one, is likewise a member of Jesus’ family. Jesus has thus
expanded his family to embrace not only the “little ones” (μικρων)
but even the “least ones” (ελαχιστων).
This surprising
designation of the needy “least ones” as members of Jesus’ family opens the
comparison to an additional level of meaning. Now the disciples and implied
audience are to see themselves not only in the righteous sheep who take care of
the needy but also in the needy “least ones” themselves, since both the
disciples as “little ones” are the needy as “least ones” are part of Jesus’s family.
Just as Jesus identified himself with “these least brothers of mine” so that
whatever is done to them is done to him (v 40), so Jesus identified himself with
his disciples when he sent them out on their mission with the words, “whoever
receives you receives me” (10:40) (Ibid., 204-5)