My Brethren?

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy 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 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 to 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 clothed You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'" Matthew 25:31-40.

The above section of God's Word has been shared from pulpits repeatedly with the theme of, We as Christians are our brother's keeper and we should help in any way we can the poor, the widow and the orphan. Certainly, this is one interpretation of Matthew 25:31-40 but there is another which is often overlooked.  

The past couple of years I have studied the book of Revelation with commentary by four different authors. The two commentaries I valued the most were written by Messianic Rabbis from a Hebrew perspective and by Dr. Raymond Culpepper who was a Pastor for 25 years and then General Overseer of the Church of God. 

What was different and extremely important about these commentaries? Chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew illustrate Jesus talking with His disciples after they asked Jesus in Chapter 24:3, "What will be the sign of Your second coming?" Matthew 25:35-38 shows Jesus telling His disciples that you fed Me when I was hungry, you gave Me drink when I was thirsty, you clothed Me and took care of Me when I was sick.

This confused the disciples and they wondered  and asked when did we see You in these conditions? Jesus answered in verse 40, "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." The key question here is, who is Jesus calling My brethren? Jesus' brethren is Israel! 

This whole section of God's Word is titled, "Judgement of the Gentiles." At the Great White Throne Judgement described in Revelation 20, seven judgements by Jesus will take place. One of these judgements will be for the nations and will raise the question of how have they treated the nation of Israel? The answer to this question given by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will determine whether that nation enters the Millennial Kingdom. 

We have just received a very important message from our Lord and Savior. The question now is, "How Do We Respond?"

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Every Day,

Frank