13Now when Jesus heard [about the beheading of John the Baptist], he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

 

Herod was right in thinking that in Jesus John was back; Herod’s ability to employ the ultimate tool of the secular administration (death) would not be the end of John, or of Jesus, or of the encroaching, persistent Administration they were so insistent on putting an end to.

DIAGNOSIS: Desolation

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): “Send them away.”

“Don’t send them away,” says Jesus, “feed them.” It’s as if he’s in a different world. Doesn’t he know that they cannot possibly feed so many people? Doesn’t he realize that they have nothing to give them –those thousand-some people? This is a desert, not a banquet hall. They have five loaves and two fish, which will make only a paltry supper for the twelve of them, plus one. And neither can they buy the crowd food with the few coins they have among them.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): “Off with his head!”

PROGNOSIS: Abundance

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Okay, Let’s Go There

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Come and Get It!

31He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
44The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51Have you understood all this? They answered, “Yes.” 52And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

 

What is unworthy in us and about us is sorted out at the cross, and by extension, at our baptism, when the bread of life is pressed into our palms, the cup pressed against our lips, and with every confession made and absolution pronounced.

DIAGNOSIS: Downward Spiral

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): The Treasure

Jesus says the item of inestimable worth, the item we would give our all to have, is the kingdom of heaven. We would give our all to have it even if it appears to be only a tiny mustard seed or a little lump of yeast. I fear our eyes are more drawn to the $1.2 million hidden in the field.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Consequences

PROGNOSIS: A Different Reading

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): What If

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Seeking the Treasure

24 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field;  25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.  26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.  27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’  28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’  29 But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.  30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”  37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;  38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one,  39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.  40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.  41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers,  42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

 

Only God knows what any of us might one day yield in the way of produce. Judgment will come one day, but there are sure to be surprises. The fruits of repentance are strange and wonderful, and they can grow from any seed sown where the waters of mercy and forgiveness flow.

DIAGNOSIS: Bad Seed

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Thistle Farm Woes

God must have sown plenty of bad seed at some point, or blown God’s breath into some already toxic soil, although Jesus suggests an alternative theory. While God was sleeping, the Old Evil Foe did a bit of gardening, too, and that’s how weeds have grown up in God’s fields. In any case, God seems oblivious to all this trouble, but we can tell noxious weeds from the plants God wants to grow, so we have brought out our hoes and herbicides. When we take over, those useless cockleburs will be on the first truck out. To hell with the weeds!!! We may not chop them down and literally burn them, but we have the power to make their lives hell. We can mock them, shun them, own them, legally refuse to serve them, and righteously hate them, all the while singing those last six verses of Psalm 139. (Oh, how we hate the haters!)

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Deadly Silence in the Killing Fields

PROGNOSIS: Reigning Rainwater

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Chopping Down the Landowner’s Agent

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): The Gardener’s Water Cans

1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears listen!” 18Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

 

Jesus’ liberal generosity takes purchase in the least likely places but is still rejected by many. Ultimately, he and his generosity are buried; like a seed that falls into soil and dies there. But if a seed falls into soil and dies it becomes something else: new life.

DIAGNOSIS: Bad Seed?

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Sowing for Growth

Considering the condition of three of the soils, we might wonder why the sower sows the seed so recklessly. If you know where to get the growth, and under what conditions growth happens, why sow anywhere else? Jesus’ interpretation of the parable may give us a hint: The sower is spreading the seed even—and maybe particularly—in adverse circumstances: lack of true comprehension, enthusiasm choked out by hardship, worldly concerns that overwhelm. Would it be right for the sower not to sow in those places?

Robert Farrar Capon suggests that this parable is a watershed teaching (in three gospels) that reveals much about the kind of reign Jesus is bringing in. It’s not a might-makes-right reign. It’s God reigning in the heart—not with a sword. For that reign to take purchase it will have to get past lots of adversity—in- and outside the minds and hearts of those invited into it.

In his book, Seculosity, David Zahl writes, “Rest is now just a prelude to more work, not a respite from stress but something else to stress over, another area where you may be falling short, another wrench in the self-justification toolkit.” Rest becomes one more thing by which we measure our worth.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Bad Sower

PROGNOSIS: Good Soil

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Seed Buried in Soil Springs Forth to New Life

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): It’s about the Growth

[Jesus spoke to the crowd saying:] 16“To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
 17‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
  we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
 25At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
 28“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

The rest found in Jesus is not another burden heaped onto our backs. It is gift freely given, intended to remind us that our identities are not bound up in our production.

DIAGNOSIS: Dying to Rest

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Mean to an End

In our production-oriented society, where work is a measure of worth, we may be given rest as an order. Articles and books are published with titles like, “How Resting More Can Boost Your Productivity” or “Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less.” These titles sound wise and intelligent and are quickly distributed among human resource departments and leadership seminars. Although, when rest is prescribed because it will produce some result, it hardly feels restful.

In his book, Seculosity, David Zahl writes, “Rest is now just a prelude to more work, not a respite from stress but something else to stress over, another area where you may be falling short, another wrench in the self-justification toolkit.” Rest becomes one more thing by which we measure our worth.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): R.I.P.

PROGNOSIS: Invited to Rest

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): And I Will Give You Rest

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): An End in Itself

40 Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.

The power and grace of God has a track record of bubbling up wherever and whenever we least expect, and in the most unexpected and unorthodox apostles who nonetheless pronounce Jesus’ forgiveness to us and to others whether we ask for it or not. Jesus is persistent in his promise that we will not “lose our reward.”

Author’s Note: Verse 40 seems to establish the underlying principle of this lection, that the one who is sent represents the full presence (or power) of the sender. However, verse 41 doesn’t seem to have a Synoptic parallel and it is unclear as to exactly who such “prophets” and “righteous persons” are. So, I take a “prophet’s reward” or “reward of the righteous” to signify what one might receive from the sender’s own self. Therefore, Jesus would need to imbue the disciples with his same powers, for example to heal or to forgive sins, to then send them out in his own name. So then, who are the “little ones” in verse 42? If the verse is an adaptation of Mark 9:41, then we might consider “little one” to highlight the degree to which an emissary might even pale in comparison to their sender. Hence, I suggest that Jesus’ ending phrase “none of these will lose their reward” might be better translated as something more like, “fail to gain what they expect or anticipate” (as my lexicon suggests). In other words, we may not think someone could or should pronounce absolution in Jesus’ name (i.e., they don’t deserve to do so), yet it remains efficacious. As Jesus advises, “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40).

DIAGNOSIS: Expecting the Worst

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Unqualified Ministry

Grounding: The disciples will certainly encounter expectations from those whom they meet. Of course, the disciples are only human. They will face failure, like failing to cast the demon out of a boy (Matt. 17:14-20), whose father then reaches out to Jesus to fix what the disciples couldn’t. Though they have successfully cast out many other demons with Jesus’ authority (Mark 6:7-13), here they may be fully discredited and dismissed—perhaps because they have no second chance to make a first impression. Jesus himself knows how this feels by failing to live up to Messianic expectations, as when John’s disciples ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Luke 7:20). No wonder he asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27).

Tracking: We’re exacting. When our expectations aren’t met, we’re unwilling to extend grace or a second chance. Perhaps we’ve been disappointed and burned so much that we’re desperate to guard our hearts and not take risks; we convince ourselves that such action is wise or discerning. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” If we judge the book by its cover that’s just proactive. Why even risk disappointment at all? Why not avoid change and stick with tradition as much as possible?

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Lost Rewards

PROGNOSIS: Receiving the Harvest

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Persistent Promises

Grounding: Jesus further testifies that God’s grace breaks forth in even the most seemingly trivial acts, even in giving “a cup of cold water to one of these little ones.”

Crossing: Jesus’ unrestrained grace and forgiveness purposely catches us in unguarded moments. In turn, we find ourselves transformed by a faith that is determined to give us a taste of the same grace by whatever means available. So, in hope, we give the benefit of the doubt and extend the same graciousness to others than Jesus shows to us. We’re no longer hounded by fear of mistakes, the burden of responsibility, or a nagging sense that we need to strive for extraordinary acts of holiness or devotion. We finally recognize a true gift for what it really is.

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Unearthed Hospitality

24“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! 26“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. 37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

 

Jesus shows no fear toward Jewish officials who disagree with his ministry.  He shows no fear toward the many demons that he finds enslaving people as he goes about his ministry.  Even the tempter does not have him shaking in his boots.  But losing his chance to connect people to the kingdom of heaven?  That is his one fear, and he puts it to rest by dying the one death that leads to resurrection for all and giving his victory to the lost sheep of every house (28:18-20).

Author’s Note: The community to which Matthew writes is going through something that undoubtedly includes strong partisan emotions.  This text is surrounded in chapter 10 on the one side by the commissioning and the sending of the disciples “like sheep into the midst of wolves” (in Matthew, only “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”), and on the other side by a short, pithy statement about what kind of welcome they should get (in contrast to the one they are likely to get).  The Jesus we get from the writer grates a bit.

Of course, later in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gets his comeuppance from the Canaanite woman (15:22-28) for his exclusionary edict, and in the end the ministry of Jesus was widened to include all people.

DIAGNOSIS: Ministry in Our Hands and by Our Whim

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Ministry Neglected

Underneath the inevitable divisiveness lies misplaced fear.  We live in darkness, which Jesus is desperately trying to pierce (v. 27).  In the dark, we conjure up all sorts of imaginary threats.  Our imagination fills in the blanks if no one else will.  Is there someone out there who can destroy both our body and our soul in hell (v. 28)?  That is the one who should be feared, but instead we conjure enemies who threaten us physically (when we are not waging war to defend our bruised egos, that is), but cannot threaten our soul.  The world seemingly does not have to threaten our soul, because we are too eager to abandon it in pursuit of our cultural or political wars.  Our value to God (vv. 29-31) is lost on us because we are so caught up in the divisive rivalries that swirl in our world.  We love our tribe more than we love Jesus (v. 37), even though the tribe is frayed (vv. 35-36) and falling apart.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Nothing to Acknowledge before the Father

PROGNOSIS: Ministry in the Hands of God through Us

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Jesus Is Our Good Acknowledgement

If you were a disciple of Jesus in Matthew 28, would you want to place yourself above your teacher (v. 24)?  Of course not!  We would not consider it. Moreover, in the darkness that still engulfs our world, we have amazing news to shine our light on (v. 27) and to share openly.  The blessing of the resurrected Jesus for restoring lost sheep to God is now a message that is entrusted to us.  It is a message we can trust about ourselves and each other because it comes from the one who defeated sin and death. Our body and our soul are safe in the resurrection of Jesus. Through that resurrection, we see that our Father in heaven truly does value us (v. 31).

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Ministry Embraced

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

10Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

God cures the sick, raises the dead, cleanses the lepers and casts out the demons, without taking any payment. That this response is God’s final response is seen when Jesus takes on our sins on the cross, dies, and is resurrected by God. No more does the cycle of sin, disease and death rule.

DIAGNOSIS: Harassed and Helpless

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Not Enough Hands

But why aren’t there enough people? It’s not a numbers issue… there are lots of humans around. But there aren’t enough people willing to help. The crowds feel “harassed.” The crowds feel “helpless.” In some cases, they don’t know how to help. In others, they lack the drive and the aim to help.

They are aimless.

Today we still see this same phenomenon. People lack the direction and the drive to help, even with solvable problems. Zoomers get a lot of blame for this too—some are accused of sarcasm and nihilism. They feel helpless.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Dying of Sickness and Disease

PROGNOSIS: Comforted and Empowered

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Curing the Sick, Raising the Dead

Jesus breaks the cycle by giving the disciples purpose. How do they help? He gives them authority and clear instructions. This is received through the disciples’ faith in Jesus, and his ability to give them authority over the forces that beleaguer God’s people. Their faith gives them purpose. As a result, they are no longer aimless.

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Enough Hands

9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

18While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Jesus is Jesus, not a list of requirements.  He is God’s mercy in human form, he is God’s welcome with no entry fee, he is the doctor from God who cares for the sick, not those who are well.

DIAGNOSIS: We Use Requirements

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): There Are Requirements

Grounding:  That list of requirements is not just a list.  It is a god in that it becomes the thing that we fear, love, and trust for our worth.  That list is to be trusted, followed, adhered to.  It is all that matters.  So if your daughter dies, you have failed.  If you are hemorrhaging, you have failed.

Tracking:  That list of requirements is what makes us say, “We’re just following the rules.”  It does not matter if the rules prevent help from being given or if following the rules hurts someone.  “Sorry, we’re just following the rules.”  The rules are obeyed, trusted, as if the rules are god.  So if we can’t get help, if no one has time to help us, then we don’t matter.  We have failed to meet the requirements.  And everyone thinks that’s just fine.  Everyone trusts the false promises that accompany the list of requirements.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Requirements Fail, We Fail

PROGNOSIS: Jesus Gives Us the Power of His Mercy

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Jesus’ Failure on a Cross Is Our “It’s for Us!”

Grounding:  The woman who touched the fringe of Jesus’ cloak was healed by Jesus because, as he said, “Take heart, daughter, your faith (in me) has made you well.”  And the faith of the father whose daughter had just died is also the reason Jesus said that she was not dead but sleeping; so he took her by the hand and she got up.

Crossing:  Jesus’ rising from the dead is his promise to give us life with God. He does this by forgiving our sin sickness. We, like the woman and the father, are made well before God by our faith in Jesus.  Jesus eats with us, welcomes us, and is the physician who heals us from all the false promises we have trusted.

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): We Have Mercy to Live By

TWO WAYS NOT TO SEE THE JUDGE
Matthew 25:31-46
Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
(Christ the King Sunday)
analysis by Bob Bertram

31Jesus said to the disciples: “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 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 the 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.”

---

NOTE: This programming of the pericope has undergone several revisions. It is quoted here by permission of its author, Robert W. Bertram. THEME: Neither the goats nor the sheep had “seen” Christ the Judge in their needy neighbors. What is the difference in the two ways of not seeing him? One way ignores him, the other way trusts him; one way overlooks even the needy neighbor, the other way concentrates on the neighbor; one way is cursed, the other way is blessed.

---

DIAGNOSIS: The way of cursed judgment

Step 1-Initial Diagnosis: Neglect of the needy
Members of the Christian community are neglecting their own needy (maybe also the needy outside the Christian community) even in such basic bodily needs as hunger and illness and imprisonment, which Christians should hardly have to be Christian to “see” as needs and to respond to. [Notice, this Matthean story is not about non-Christians who have never heard about Jesus Messiah until they first encounter him as judge on the “glorious throne.” Although they come from “all the nations,” these are the same “all nations” to which the resurrected Christ has previously sent his missionaries to teach “all that I have commanded you” (28:19-20). Both the “sheep” and the “goats” — like the “wheat” and the “weeds,” all in the same “field” where the “good seed” had been sown (13:24-30, 36-43) — are all, until the Last Analysis, members within the Christian community. Likewise “the righteous” in this story who feed the hungry are not pious pagans but Christians, knowingly followers of Jesus, like the woman with the ointment “in memory of” whom Jesus compares caring for “the poor” with caring for “me” (26:6-13). And the “least of these” to whom Jesus is “Brother” are also probably Christians (10:42; 12:49-50; 18:35; 23:8; 25:40; 28:10). The whole story is about the same ones to whom it is addressed, present company, the church.]

Step 2-Advanced Diagnosis: Not Seeing as Unfaith
What is worse, these uncaring “Christians,” who ought to know better, are not only uncaring but unbelieving. Being faithless they do not “see” in their needy neighbors their awesome Judge, Jesus Son of Man. So they spurn not only the King’s kin bu the King. [Notice, it is not a matter of indifference whether Judge Jesus is “seen” in the needy neighbor or not. Else why would this story take such pains to demonstrate that it is he who is hungering, thirsting, etc.? True, there is a healthy way not to see him in the needy — the way of faith. But there is also a hellish way, the way of unfaith.]

Step 3-Final Diagnosis: Seen as Condemned
Worst of all, these “Christians” who during their lifetimes have not cared for the needy ones, and so not for the needy ones’ big Brother either, Jesus Son of Man, should not be surprised when in the Last Analysis they get their way and are separated from him permanently, and from the Christian “sheep” whom they have so long goated and butted and crowded out at the feed-trough.

PROGNOSIS: The way of blessed righteousness

Step 4-Initial Prognosis: Encountering the Dependent One
The solution is not just that there is a Son of Man who finally “comes in his glory” to judge, even though he does judge favorably n the case of those who cared for his needy sisters and brothers. The solution is rather that, long before he comes as awesome judge, he comes in a “real presence” which is utterly unitimidating, as a human dependent who hungers for our food and drink and longs for our company, as one of “the least of these;” that he dignifies our service to them as service to himself; that he cheers us on by this Good News; that he promises to share his own dominion with us as junior deities forever.

Step 5-Advanced Prognosis: Not seeing as faith
What is more, his presence and his promise do not depend on our “seeing” him — that is, seeing him as eventually we shall see him, as awesome judge who assigns reward and punishment, bliss and curse. For now we have that only on his Word, by the hearing of faith, not yet — thank God — by sight. For if that were the sight of him to which we were already exposed, we would surely be preoccupied instead with ourselves and would lose sight of our needy neighbors. Our need is for the not-seeing of faith. [Note: There is, as we said, a kind of not-seeing Christ the Judge which is “righteous:” not the not-seeing which blindly disregards his judgment but the not-seeing which shades his judgment behind what we do not see, his nearness in lowliness and in his Word. That is the not-seeing of faith, undistracted by rewards and punishment and surprised when rewards do come.]

Step 6- Final Prognosis: Promising presence to the needy
Best of all, because of believers who do not yet “see” Christ as judge except as he is mercifully filtered through merely humans like themselves, consequently there are needy ones who are already being fed and clothed and visited and healed. For now, to all appearances, this is still a goat’s world. But even prior to the victims’ final liberation from their goatish oppressors, they are enjoying Big Connections and are being honored accordingly, of all things by “the terrible meek,” these nearsighted sheep.