Matthew 25:31-46
‘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. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then 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; for 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, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then 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? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And 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.” Then 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; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I 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.” Then 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?” Then 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.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

Reflection
The Son of Man is a figure from Daniel chapter seven. The Son of Man is the truly human one who comes to set the world to right. But the Son of Man rules with people, not over them.
Last judgment stories are a way to boil down the key values of God. They tell us what is important to the Creator. Simply put, it is recognizing and honoring human beings. When one of us is vulnerable, the rest of us are blessed by God to care for the other. The most vulnerable are those whom God identifies with. This is in stark contrast to the caste system of the Roman Empire, in which God is associated with those with the highest status.
In this parable, Jesus makes no theological, cultural, or traditional test. What the Creator values is how we value each other, especially when we are vulnerable. This is because the Creator values us. I will cover the words “eternal punishment” in a later chapter.
The Kindom of God is the community that values each person and the earth as God does.