Christ The King

³¹ ‘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. ³² 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, ³³ and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴ 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; ³⁵ 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, ³⁶ 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.” ³⁷ 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? ³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” ⁴⁰ 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,^[a] you did it to me.” ⁴¹ 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; ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ 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.” ⁴⁴ 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?” ⁴⁵ 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.” ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

A prayer

God our Father,

help us to hear the call of Christ the King

and to follow in his service,

whose kingdom has no end;

for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, one glory.

Some thoughts

The story of the last judgement can have a strong hold on our inner thoughts.

Many people worry that at their own death – or at the end of the world – there will be a judgement. Will I be judged? What will the result be? It can cause us anxiety perhaps even fear

Perhaps we judge ourselves. Am I alright? Am I a good person or a bad person? What about that thing I did in the past?

Perhaps we compare ourselves with others, well I’m not as bad as him, and at least I’m better than her!      Or on the other hand, I wish I could be like him or her.

Some obvious points. 

Don’t judge others. We don’t know the whole story, we don’t know the circumstances that cause people to act as they do, we don’t know what happened to them as they grew up. We don’t know what it was like for them in their family, in their school, in their relationships.

If we judge ourselves ,don’t forget that none of us is perfect, remember that whatever you have done, God is a God of forgiveness and that the God who made you is a God of love.

In the meantime, forgive others, ask forgiveness for the things you have done wrong. Show kindness and love in your dealings with your neighbour, and trust in the God that loves you.