. Respecting Matthew 25:31-46, there are many who attempt to apply this to ‘the poor’. That is, they will claim that Yeshua is identifying with individuals and/or collective poor people! And while it is certainly true that, in other places, the Jewish Bible (consisting of the Jewish Older Covenant and the Jewish Renewed Covenant) does indeed tell us about individuals and the poor, and how to treat them; this is definitely not the case here (in Matthew 25:31-46). Here Yeshua is plainly identifying Himself with His Own brethren (i.e., His Own Jewish people). And it is equally plain that, when He refers to goats and sheep, He is not speaking about individuals … but rather that He is talking about the Gentile “NATIONS” (as clarified beginning with the 32nd verse). And the judgment that Rabbi Yeshua is pronouncing upon those “NATIONS” ... is based on how they (i.e., the Gentile “NATIONS”) treated His Own Jewish “BRETHREN” (i.e., the Jewish people and the Jewish nation of Israel … in their time of need). To wit: THE JEWISH MESSIAH JUDGES THE GENTILE NATIONS “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of Hi glory. And all the NATIONS will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of 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 drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me’. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to see You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of THESE MY BRETHREN, you have done it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they will also answer Him, saying, ‘Lord when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46) [emphasis mine]. .
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 01:43:20 +0000
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