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\(^{40}\)And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

\(^{45}\)Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ \(^{46}\)And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Jesus is reiterating and extending the message he gave in chapter 18 where he said “whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” and warned against leading children into sin. Jesus here again identifies so strongly with the hungry and thirsty, the stranger the naked, the sick and the prisoner that he counts how we treat those people as how we treat him. I think this tells us how much God loves everyone. When someone we love is treated well, we’re glad, but when they’re neglected or mistreated we’re hurt and angry. God is the same but not just with a handful of people, but all people.

It’s startling how God’s love takes on a fearsome aspect. In Hosea 13:8 God likens himself in his judgement to a bear robbed of her cubs. The thought of standing before God as judge with him being angry about what you failed to do for those he loves is pretty frightening.

Teachings like this are a stark reminder that as James puts it

”…faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26)

God isn’t looking for mere intellectual knowledge or assent. People matter to God so much that he counts how we treat them as how we treat him.

The flip side of this is that it means that we have it in our gift to bless God. God who needs nothing can actually be blessed by our acts of kindness towards others, especially towards those most in need.