Matthew 25:37-40b (part 1)
Humility Is Attractive
Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall
Matt. 25:37-39 (Holman) Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord,
when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give
You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger, and
take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see
You sick, or in prison, and visit You?"
Those who helped were not famous, nor were the ones they helped. Most of the deeds that were done for the needy were deemed unworthy of human acclaim. No newspapers or other media outlets reported them.
Even the Christ-followers who helped others could hardly remember they had done anything good. They ministered gladly, and then forgot it.
I love their winsome humility. Even as Moses, when he descended from the mountain after his encounter with YHWH, did not know his face shone, these believers had no idea the love they showed to others with their hands were advertisements of an inner love they had for God in their hearts.
A spirit of lowliness, of downplaying our sense of self-importance, makes our lives attractive. Self-oblivion makes our behavior beautiful.
"A saint loses his sanctity when we see that he thinks himself saintly" (Bridgeman). We should shine unconsciously. Love does not make a big deal of the sacrifices it makes. It almost blushes when praised.
Humility is not only winsome; it is also the prime virtue prerequisite to all other virtues. Humility alone enables us to forsake self-dependence, and yield to the power that comes only from the Holy Spirit. What we do for God's sake has to be done by God's grace, by depending on Him. He rewards us as if we do kindnesses on our own strength, but the action is pure grace.
The helpers were humble to the point of being utterly astonished. I like the Old English word sometimes found in the KJV--"astonied". They were astonied, bewildered. Their innocent surprise was a breath of fresh air.
I know Heaven will be full of surprises; many of them will be happy ones. In this lifetime, Christ-followers must be lowly, but we are sometimes too harsh in our self-analysis. We tend to second-guess even our best deeds.
We fear our motives may have been wrong. Often we feel no matter how much we did, there was much more we could, and should, have done.
When we minister to others, we should celebrate this attribute about ourselves. Our outward actions of voluntary, self-forgetting love ought to give us evidence we had proper motivations within us. Our kindnesses reveal true self-sacrifice because we know the needy cannot pay us back.
We do kindnesses not for reward, but because Jesus did them. We feel honored to walk in His footsteps. Christ's life was beautiful. He went about doing good, living a helpful life: encouraging, relieving, comforting, uplifting, healing, and feeding. We want to imitate His attractive life.
The Holy Spirit has given Christ-followers, through the new birth, an inner compulsion to imitate Jesus. We imitate our Master not because some law or obligation forces us to, but because the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in us has made us want to do so.
The sheep in this parable did practical benevolence because they enjoyed doing it. They felt gladly driven to help. They could not not do it. The new born-again nature drove them. They could not stop themselves.
Their outer deeds displayed an inner reality. Why do Christians feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, receive the immigrant, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit prisoners? Because something—yea Someone—beautiful inside us is compelling us, joyfully driving us forward.
Matt. 25:40a And the King will answer them, "I assure you: Whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, . . ."
People have long debated Jesus' words: "these brothers of Mine". Did our Master want us to do kindnesses for all people or only for believers?
As believers, our first focus, for sure, must be fellow Christ-followers. Paul the Apostle wrote, "As we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10b). Our Master told His followers, "By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).
No doubt, our practical benevolence is to begin with believers, but it must never end there. Helping our own is a springboard, an experimental lab, serving as our steppingstone to help the lost. Cold-heartedness is never excused because the person in need is an unbeliever. A heart of compassion never draws a hard and fast dividing line. Jesus healed many who were not believers, and who may have never followed Him, including the Canaanite woman and her daughter. He ministered in the regions around the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon, and in the heathen cities of the Decapolis.
The moment we begin to discuss helping believers to the exclusion of unbelievers we create an icy atmosphere of "better than thou" pride. This decision cannot help but convey the notion we are more special than they are. This prejudice can lead to an out and out spirit of discrimination that actually seeks to justify neglecting unbelievers.
Matt. 25:40b (part 1) " . . .you did for Me."
This statement is the burning core of the parable. It shocked both sheep and goats. They were unconscious of this searing reality. They did not know Jesus was somehow personally present in the neediest, most obscure, the least known, last ones considered, and the lowest in the eyes of others.
Jesus was saying the ones who are not able to help, who are the hungry, thirsty, naked, strangers, sick, and criminals are not prohibited from His smile because they are unable to serve others. In this parable, Jesus had previously identified Himself with the givers; now He did so with the receivers. They too are identified with Jesus, connected with Him directly.
Lazarus, who had nothing to give and no way to help others, was seen reclining in Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22). Jesus will someday for sure come in His glory followed by dazzling angels, but His primary focus will be beggars, lepers, the blind, aged, orphans, immigrants, poor, prisoners, etc.
The undergirding driving piston of Christian benevolence is; Jesus identifies Himself with the disenfranchised, the marginalized. Here is the chief consolation of the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the immigrant, and the prisoner--in their lack, Jesus is their counterpart.
Fellow Christ-followers, the best and most compelling motive for doing practical benevolence is found in our doing it for Jesus. When did we last do something for someone while we as it were blocked that person from our minds and thought of Jesus instead? After the instant Jesus spoke these words, from this moment on, self-forgetfulness and others-forgetfulness in contemplating Jesus was to be our principal motivation in helping others.
Posts
