Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
If you believe that Jesus is the Way to God and the Way of Life, then you might also believe that the Way of the Cross, is a reality...If this is reality and Jesus did die on the cross for each of us and our sins, then suffering is a Way of Life...Then we should expect suffering in life, if the Way of God is through the Cross and His Son dying on the Cross for our sins...Jesus suffered on the cross and is now a part of a believer's life...Suffering therefore has a Divine Meaning, and has made us more human for Jesus is the Perfect Human...God has infused suffering with life and life's meaning...So when on suffers we that human kind has been redeemed by a Perfect Man who is our Savior...Life has a purpose because hope in infused with suffering and the human condition...
Suffering tries to shake us and make us doubt...But it is God's Way to see that He allows suffering to take place for the Greater Good, as Job found out...God has consistently moved toward the meek and needy throughout history and the Bible...And even though we want to question and sometimes be mad at God, let us be like Job and have a faith that trusts God even in the midst of not understanding...
Author Philip Yancey writes this about suffering in life...“Unlike many television evangelists, the apostle Paul seemed to expect from the Christian life not health and wealth, but a measure of suffering...He told Timothy, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”...“Those who suffer can respond to the call of the gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.”...“There’s something unique about having only God to lean on in times of trial.”...“One East European Christian observed, “You Western Christians often seem to consider material prosperity to be the only sign of God’s blessing...On the other hand, you often seem to perceive poverty, discomfort, and suffering as signs of God’s disfavor...In some ways we in the East understand suffering from the opposite perspective...We believe that suffering may be a sign of God’s favor and trust in the Christians to whom the trial is permitted to come.”...“As Christ’s body on earth we are compelled to move, as He did, toward those who hurt...That has been God’s consistent movement in all history.”...“Because of Jesus, I can never say about a person, “She must be suffering because of some sin she committed”; Jesus, who did not sin, also felt pain.”...“God does not “keep” His people...He LOVES us, gives Himself to us, and eagerly awaits our free response...God wants us to choose to love Him freely, even when that choice involves pain, because we are committed to Him, not to our own good feelings and rewards...He wants us to cleave to Him, as Job did, even when we have every reason to deny Him hotly...That, I believe, is the central message of Job...Satan had taunted God with the accusation that humans are not truly free...Was Job being faithful simply because God had allowed him a prosperous life?...Job’s fiery trials proved the answer beyond doubt...Job clung to God’s justice when he was the best example in history of God’s apparent injustice...He did not seek the Giver because of His gifts; when all gifts were removed he still sought the Giver.”...“Faith like Job’s cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.”...