Christ the King

How do we know Jesus is here and where is he? Jesus is present in Holy Communion in each of us and around us. We see Jesus in the poor and needy. We are giving to Jesus we give to the least of these among us--those who are in dire need. The Judgement of the Nations 31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.” 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” 44Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ Let us look at the criteria that are not there for Judgement. That is what is not being considered to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven--eternal life.

• Wealth--Social power and social position.
• Doctrine
• Gender
• Looks and Ethnicity
• Family and Ancestry
• No State forms or requirements
• Faith--not having to say I believe in Jesus or adhering to a Creed.
• Intelligence/Education
• Sex and sexuality
• What we eat.

It is easier to say I believe in Jesus but much harder to believe Jesus by living out the faith. Keeping the faith in practice is harder than it is to say that we believe.

So what is being Judged must be really important. We see this Genesis 1 when on the last day of creation humanity is created. This is not to be confused with Adam and Eve in chapter two, which is a separate story with a completely different message. In Genesis 1 all of humanity is given dominion over all creation. Humanity is given the fruit of the land to eat for nourishment. They ate fruits and vegetables. There was no war because everybody had enough. Gandhi said it best when he stated that there is enough in the world for every one's need but not enough for every one's greed.

Greed enters in as the separating factor for those who are left eternal punishment. They did not share what they had with those who were in need, the least of these, because of greed. They wanted to keep everything for themselves. We hear their reasons from the greedy people around us today. They won't share with those of different backgrounds or the poor who have too many children. They have their excuses for not sharing.

This parable isn't the end all be all of how we are to live. It certainly shows that loving one another and taking care of the least among us is very important. We know that Jesus taught us much more than this and we know that we are to grow up and do the right things because we can and we know better. Remember in Genesis 1 everything is shared. All creation belongs to God and is given to us, not as ownership but to possess and use and not abuse. We take possession held in trust.

The better translation of perfect in the Sermon on the Mount is mature. We are to grow up and be mature which means taking responsibility for our actions and taking care of those who we can.