Some five hundred years before the arrival of Emmanuel, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that Emmanuel would come: “ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
Pinturicchio: Borgia Apartments, Annunciation. Image from The Vatican archive via Huffpost. The image depicts Mary, wearing a blue mantle, kneels on the right and offers a humble gesture of greeting to the angel, who approaches her from the left holding a lily.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her (Luke 1:26-38).
English: An image showing Ovis aries in field with goats. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The parable of the sheep and the goats that Jesus told in Matthew 25:31-46 seems to convey a simple message. And why not. Jesus was and is known to make things simple. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Jesus used this parable to clear up any ambiguity in an earlier point that He made: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
As you read through the parable (the sheep and the goats), you will notice that as Christians and as a society in general, we are charge with the responsibility to care for the less fortunate. Further, according to the parable, every crying voice for help that we ignore will be held against us when we stand before the righteous Judge.
Matthew 25:31-46
New International Version (NIV)
The Sheep and the Goats
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, He will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“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 invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Who is my neighbor? Many Christians struggle with this question. We know the answer, yet it is difficult for us to accept anyone outside of our family, religious, political and social circles as neighbor. Still, this backward thinking is not a new phenomenon. As a matter of fact, that is exactly how the religious leaders of Jesus’ time felt. They were wrong then, and you are wrong now.
Jesus was and is the ultimate teacher. He knows how to break things down so ordinary people can understand. Hence the reason He used the parable of the Good Samaritan to answer an expert in the Mosaic Law, when he asked: “Who is my neighbor?”
Here is how Luke describe the encounter: Luke 10:25-37, “25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus said to him, “What does the law say and how do you interpret it?”
27 The lawyer answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 And Jesus said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to prove himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Every reasonable human being will admit that we are living in perilous times. And those of us who strive to walk in Jesus’ footsteps can sense that the end is near. Still the Bible tells us: “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).
That we do not know when the end comes should motivate us to be ready like the five wise virgins were, unfortunately, that is not the case. Many Christians continue live their lives as they did on the other side of the Jordan.
Brothers and sisters, now is the time for those of us who have lagged behind in our Christian life to step up the pace. We should do this, whether we think the end is near or not. It is the right thing to do. There is no telling what tomorrow brings. Proverbs 27:1 states: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day brings”.
Life is a Marathon, and you do not know how long you will be able to run it. ” Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).
Life is short, and many people do not realize how short it is until it is too late. Just as a runner trains and prepares for a race, so must every human being prepares for eternity.
What if you die today?: Where would I go? Heaven or hell?
Friends, according to Matthew 7:13-14, you have two choices. You can choose the narrow gate which leads to heaven or the choose the wide gate with all its glitz and glamour and end up in Hell.
I urge you to, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it”.
Jesus said in John 14:6, ““I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.
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