Matthew 25:40 (NKJV)
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.’
Bible Commentary
In Matthew 25:40, Jesus is explaining to His disciples what will happen when He comes back, and why He chooses those who will inherit the kingdom of God.
Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden for a moment. Before Satan came into the picture, Adam and Eve had the full protection of God. They were clothed with His glory because there was yet no sin to separate them.
They were living under the authority and protection of God the Father in the place that He had created for them. It was only when they chose to disobey God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that the separation occurred.
When they chose to believe Satan instead of God, they forfeited their rightly inheritance to follow after their own. Like Satan, they wanted to be their own god. Because of that, God banished them from the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. They had entered death and the curse.
Therefore, since Adam and Eve we have been living under the authority of other gods, namely Satan, also called the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). Jesus calls Satan the father of lies (John 8:44). That’s exactly how he was successful in getting Adam and Eve to sin against God. He lied to them.
So then, they listened to the wrong father.
Father God vs the Father of Lies
Before we can be invited into the Kingdom of God, we must recognize where we are and which father we have chosen to follow. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 25:31-36.
“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. 32 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. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 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: 35 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; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Matthew 25:40 says 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.’
So then, whatever we have done (or not done) unto others, we have done (or not done) unto the Lord.
It’s imperative that we prepare to inherit the kingdom prepared for us before Jesus returns. We must acknowledge the truth of how we’ve rejected God, repent and come out from under the devil’s authority. He and this world are not our inheritance. Jesus and the kingdom of God is.
We have all been taken captive by the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 2:1-5). What Satan meant for evil God meant for good. The Lord forgives and uses it for His glory (Genesis 50:20).
We are set free in Jesus Christ. Leave the wrong father to embrace the Righteous One Who died for you on the cross. He forgives you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Prayer of Repentance
