Ready or Not
When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Matthew 25:38 · Berean Standard Bible
They keep asking — when did we welcome You as a stranger or give You clothes? They truly had no idea.
Jesus highlights two deeply personal acts of kindness: opening your home to someone unfamiliar and covering someone's vulnerability with dignity.
The righteous continue questioning the King, still unable to connect their compassion with serving Him.
These good-hearted people are replaying their memories, searching for the moment they met Jesus among the strangers and the exposed — and they simply cannot find it.
The righteous continue their astonished inquiry, citing hospitality to strangers (xenos) and clothing the naked (gymnos) as acts they did not associate with serving Christ.
The paired acts of welcoming strangers and clothing the naked echo prophetic imperatives from Isaiah 58:7, linking Jesus' teaching to Old Testament ethical commands.
The righteous continue their incredulous response to the King's commendation.
Their bewilderment deepens as they list further acts of mercy, unable to recall encountering Christ among the vulnerable and displaced.
36I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
37Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?
38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
40And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
Read all of Matthew 25 — Ten bridesmaids, three servants, and a flock of sheep and goats. Jesus paints the final judgment in vivid, unsettling detail.
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