Matthew 25:45

The Message

“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’

Cross References

Proverbs 21:13

If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor, your cries will go unheard, unanswered.

Proverbs 17:5

Whoever mocks poor people insults their Creator; gloating over misfortune is a punishable crime.

Acts 9:5

He said, “Who are you, Master?” “I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.”

Proverbs 14:31

You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless; when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God.

Zechariah 2:8

God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the One of Glory who sent me on my mission, commenting on the godless nations who stripped you and left you homeless, said, “Anyone who hits you, hits me—bloodies my nose, blackens my eye. Yes, and at the right time I’ll give the signal and they’ll be stripped and thrown out by their own servants.” Then you’ll know for sure that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission. * * *

Matthew 25:44

“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

Matthew 25:46

“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”