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Quotes & Notes on:
Matthew 25:40
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Proberbs 19:17:
He that hath pity upon the
poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him
again.
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John Wesley's Notes:
What encouragement is here to assist the household of faith? But let us
likewise remember to do good to all men.
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The Fourfold Gospel:
(No comment on this verse).
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
* the King. Mt 25:34; Pr 25:6,7
* Inasmuch. Mt 10:42; 2Sa 9:1,7; Pr 14:31; 19:17; Mr 9:41; Joh 19:26;
21:15-17 1Co 16:21,22; 2Co 4:5; 5:14; 8:7-9; Ga 5:6,13,22; 1Th 4:9,10
1Pe 1:22; 1Jo 3:14-19; 4:7-12,20; 5:1,2
* the least. Mt 12:49; 18:5,6; 28:10; Mr 3:34,35; Joh 20:17; Heb
2:11-15; 6:10
* ye have done it unto me. Ac 9:4,5; Eph 5:30
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Robertson's Word Pictures:
Ye did it unto me (emoi epoięsate). Dative of personal interest.
Christ identifies himself with the needy and the suffering. This conduct
is proof of possession of love for Christ and likeness to him.
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William Burkitt's Notes:
(No comment on this verse).
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Family Bible Notes:
Have done it unto me; expressive of the intimate and endearing union of
Christ and his people. Jesus Christ considers himself to be treated by
men as they treat his known disciples. And from the manner in which we
treat them, we may learn the manner in which we treat him.
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1599 Geneva Bible Notes:
(No comment on this verse).
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People's New Testament Commentary:
(No comment on this verse).
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Albert Barnes' Commentary:
One of the least of these. One of the obscurest, least known, poorest,
and most despised and afflicted.
My brethren. Either those who are Christians, whom he condescends to
call brethren, or those who are afflicted, poor, and persecuted, who are
his brethren and companions in suffering, and who suffer as he did on
earth. See Heb 2:11; Mt 12:50. How great is the condescension and
kindness of the Judge of the world, thus to reward our actions, and to
consider what we have done to the poor as done to him!
{l} "Inasmuch" Pr 19:17; Mr 9:41; Heb 6:1
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Jamieson-Faussett Brown:
And the King shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, &c.--Astonishing dialogue this between the King,
from the Throne of His glory, and His wondering people! "I was an
hungered, and ye gave Me meat," &c.--"Not we," they reply. "We never did
that, Lord: We were born out of due time, and enjoyed not the privilege
of ministering unto Thee." "But ye did it to these My brethren, now
beside you, when cast upon your love." "Truth, Lord, but was that doing
it to Thee? Thy name was indeed dear to us, and we thought it a great
honor to suffer shame for it. When among the destitute and distressed we
discerned any of the household of faith, we will not deny that our
hearts leapt within us at the discovery, and when their knock came to
our dwelling, our bowels were moved, as though 'our Beloved Himself had
put in His hand by the hole of the door.' Sweet was the fellowship we
had with them, as if we had 'entertained angels unawares'; all
difference between giver and receiver somehow melted away under the
beams of that love of Thine which knit us together; nay, rather, as they
left us with gratitude for our poor givings, we seemed the debtors--not
they. But, Lord, were we all that time in company with Thee? ... Yes,
that scene was all with Me," replies the King--"Me in the disguise of My
poor ones. The door shut against Me by others was opened by you--'Ye
took Me in.' Apprehended and imprisoned by the enemies of the truth, ye
whom the truth had made free sought Me out diligently and found Me;
visiting Me in My lonely cell at the risk of your own lives, and
cheering My solitude; ye gave Me a coat, for I shivered; and then I felt
warm. With cups of cold water ye moistened My parched lips; when
famished with hunger ye supplied Me with crusts, and my spirit
revived--"YE DID IT UNTO ME." What thoughts crowd upon us as we listen
to such a description of the scenes of the Last Judgment! And in the
light of this view of the heavenly dialogue, how bald and wretched, not
to say unscriptural, is that view of it to which we referred at the
outset, which makes it a dialogue between Christ and heathens who never
heard of His name, and of course never felt any stirrings of His love in
their hearts! To us it seems a poor, superficial objection to the
Christian view of this scene, that Christians could never be supposed to
ask such questions as the "blessed of Christ's Father" are made to ask
here. If there were any difficulty in explaining this, the difficulty of
the other view is such as to make it, at least, insufferable. But there
is no real difficulty. The surprise expressed is not at their being told
that they acted from love to Christ, but that Christ Himself was the
Personal Object of all their deeds: that they found Him hungry, and
supplied Him with food: that they brought water to Him, and slaked His
thirst; that seeing Him naked and shivering, they put warm clothing upon
Him, paid Him visits when lying in prison for the truth, and sat by His
bedside when laid down with sickness. This is the astonishing
interpretation which Jesus says "the King" will give to them of their
own actions here below. And will any Christian reply, "How could this
astonish them? Does not every Christian know that He does these very
things, when He does them at all, just as they are here represented?"
Nay, rather, is it conceivable that they should not be astonished, and
almost doubt their own ears, to hear such an account of their own
actions upon earth from the lips of the Judge? And remember, that Judge
has come in His glory, and now sits upon the throne of His glory, and
all the holy angels are with Him; and that it is from those glorified
Lips that the words come forth, "Ye did all this unto ME." Oh, can we
imagine such a word addressed to ourselves, and then fancy ourselves
replying, "Of course we did--To whom else did we anything? It must be
others than we that are addressed, who never knew, in all their good
deeds, what they were about?" Rather, can we imagine ourselves not
overpowered with astonishment, and scarcely able to credit the testimony
borne to us by the King?
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Spurgeon Commentary on
Matthew:
Christ has much more to do with his brethren's sorrow than we sometimes
think. Are they hungry? He puts it, "I was an hungered." Do they thirst?
He says, "I was thirsty." The sympathy of Christ is continuous, and all
down the ages he will perpetually incarnate himself in the suffering
bodies of his tried and afflicted people. Hence the opportunity of doing
him service so long as we are here
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Spurgeon Devotional
Commentary:
How this ennobles charity! "He that giveth to the poor lendeth unto the
Lord." Who would not show kindness to his Redeemer?
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Adam Clarke's Commentary:
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these my brethren] The meanest follower of Christ is
acknowledged by him as his brother! What infinite condescension! Those,
whom many would scorn to set with the dogs of their flock, are brothers
and sisters of the blessed Jesus, and shall soon be set among the
princes of his people
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Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:
(No comment on this verse).
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