Come, you who are blessed by my Father.

 

Thursday, November 23, 2023


Psalms 54; 55:1-12

2 Kings 21:1-18

Matthew 25:31-46


Observances: Clement of Rome, bishop and martyr (d. c. 100); Ember week (Prayers for the ordained ministry of the church are appropriate this Ember week)


Come, you who are blessed by my Father.


When the Son of Man comes in His glory – when, not if. The Lord Jesus will return. There is a day coming when the veil between heaven and earth will be lifted, and Jesus will appear with all His angels. This is the mystery of faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again, and we joyfully proclaim it every week at the table of the Lord.


This day will be like nothing else. The prophet warns us not to long for the day of the Lord (Amos 5:18), and for the goats, it will indeed be a day of darkness.


But for the sheep, those of the flock of the great Shepherd Jesus, that day will mark the vindication of our labours here in this life. All the sweat poured out in our prayers for others; all the callouses on our hands from helping our fellow humans; all the sores on our feet from announcing the gospel of Jesus: we will know for sure that it has all been worth it.


For those who follow Jesus – to follow all the Law and the Prophets, which hang upon the commandments to love the Lord our God and to love each other – we will hear the voice of thunder and lightning, of fire and ocean, and it will be the sweetest melody. “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” The decision will not be made on that Day. No, God made this decision since the creation of the world. That was when the kingdom was prepared for us, and the names of the citizens were inscribed in the kingdom’s records at that time, too.


Our salvation in Jesus Christ that effected our transformation from goats to sheep was known to God before we were even born – before anyone had been born. We know Jesus has prepared a place for us. Now our Lord commands we do something before we are called home, and by following this command, we will have our salvation confirmed for us. Search out the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. Feed them, give them something to drink, welcome them, clothe them, look after them, visit them. In those faces we will see the face of the Lord Jesus. The same Lord Jesus who will come at the end of time and say to us: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father.”


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