<p>25:40&nbsp;<em>And the King</em>- The day of judgment was an important theme with the Lord. There is an element of unreality in the way he speaks of the King as being the judge (Mt. 25:40); the implication is that our judgment will be an extremely important event; the King himself is the judge (actually, the King of heaven and earth). This indicates that the Lord wishes to put before us the picture of those who have been called to the Kingdom but reject His offer.</p><p><em>Shall answer and say to them</em>- They answer to Him (:37), and He likewise to them.</p><p><em>Truly I say to you, inasmuch</em>- The Greek suggests an exact correspondence. Whatever is done to the Lord&rsquo;s brethren is done to Him. This is the point of the Lord&rsquo;s teaching. He is not simply saying that if we do good practical works we shall be saved, and if we don&rsquo;t, then we shall not be. He is saying that it is what is done or not done&nbsp;<em>to Him</em>&nbsp;which is significant. So the point of the teaching is an appeal to recognize and serve His brethren, rather than to simply do good works. The rejected of Mt. 7:22 &ldquo;<em>did</em>&nbsp;many wonderful works&rdquo;- and the same word is used here, &ldquo;you&nbsp;<em>did it</em>&nbsp;unto one of the least of these my brothers&rdquo;. It&rsquo;s not so much works that are being appealed for, as recognition of the Lord in His brethren. It&rsquo;s the same word used in :16 for the faithful man who &lsquo;made&rsquo; talents for his Lord. The making of talents is therefore parallel with serving the Lord&rsquo;s brethren. It&rsquo;s also the word used in 24:46 which introduces the parables of chapter 25- the watching servant will be found &lsquo;doing&rsquo; care for his brethren.</p><p><em>As you did it to one of these my brothers</em>- This word may seem superfluous until we realize that &lsquo;one of the least of these&rsquo; is an invitation to look at the group of sheep and focus upon any one of the faces. This is a unique insight into the day of judgment. We are enabled to imagine ourselves there. The Lord is inviting us to imagine the colossal importance of perceiving Him in His brethren, and treating them as Him. If only this principle were understood in church life now, the church would be a beacon of light in this world&rsquo;s darkness. All rejection, spitefulness, hard speaking against other believers&hellip; would disappear. We are to treat others in Christ as if they were Him. And that is the basis of our acceptance or rejection.</p><p><em>Even the least, you did it to me-&nbsp;</em>See on :34&nbsp;<em>Then</em>. The &lsquo;little ones&rsquo; in the Lord&rsquo;s earlier teaching are believers in Him (10:40-42; 18:6,10,14). 10:42 is strikingly similar: &ldquo;And whoever gives one of these&nbsp;<em>little ones</em>&nbsp;even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple; truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward&rdquo;. The least of the Lord&rsquo;s brethren refer to His disciples, and not to needy humanity generally. The purpose of the parable is to continue the theme of watchfulness which began at the end of chapter 24. There the Lord taught that watchfulness and readiness for His return will be achieved by feeding the household, and here that is defined in terms of practical care for His brethren. Careful reflection on the parable surely indicates that the Lord doesn&rsquo;t condemn people for not doing acts of kindness; that would be salvation by works. Rather is the basis of their condemnation whether or not they perceived the Christ in the least of the Christ&rsquo;s brethren. The Lord&rsquo;s point is that things were done or not done&nbsp;<em>to Him</em>. If He meant &lsquo;If you feed the hungry, you&rsquo;re a sheep; if you don&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;re a goat&rsquo;, He would have expressed it otherwise. He&rsquo;s not teaching salvation by works, but rather the crucial importance of perceiving Himself in His brethren and not denying their connection with Him. This lifts the whole issue to a far more personal and demanding level than doing a few acts of kindness to needy folks.</p><p>The &lsquo;least&rsquo; of the Lord&rsquo;s brethren are those who are spiritually weak. The &ldquo;least in the Kingdom&rdquo; are those who break commandments and teach others so (5:19 s.w.); Paul felt &ldquo;the least of the apostles&rdquo; (1 Cor. 15:9 s.w.), &ldquo;the least of all saints&rdquo; (Eph. 3:8 s.w.). The parable describes those on whom the righteous expend effort as sick, hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, in prison:&nbsp;<em>every one of which</em>&nbsp;is a description used elsewhere in Scripture concerning our spiritually weak state. Therefore the parable is teaching that one of the grounds upon which we will be rejected or accepted relates to how we have treated spiritually weak brethren. The wondrous, wondrous thing is that the Lord of glory identifies himself with the spiritually&nbsp;<em>weakest</em>&nbsp;of his brethren: and structures his judgment seat around how others have behaved towards them. Yet the description of &ldquo;the least&rdquo; brethren exactly match the Lord&rsquo;s own experience in His death- one who is imprisoned (Mt. 26:50), sick (Mt. 27:26), naked (Mt. 27:35), thirsty (Mt. 26:29; 27:48), friendless like a stranger (Mt. 26:56). In responding to &ldquo;the least&rdquo; of the Lord&rsquo;s brethren, we are responding to His cross. For our brethren, in their poverty, nakedness and imprisonment, are fellowshipping the sufferings of their Lord.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>As He says &quot;Of these&quot;, we imagine a nod towards the crowd of sheep, with an invitation to focus upon &ldquo;one&rdquo; of those faces. There will be a public element to the judgment process. This is why the rejected shall walk naked and have their shame seen by others (Rev. 16:15). The purpose of judgment is to teach us all, to prepare us for eternity together as we behold each other&rsquo;s lives revealed and perceive the same patterns of God&rsquo;s amazing grace. This is why hypocrisy is pointless; we shall then be revealed for who we really are before all.</p>