[Jesus speaking]
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”
The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬-‭12‬
[John the Baptist speaking]
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John the Baptist prophesied about who Jesus was and what he would do. He even, in our parallel verses here, prophesies about his power to save and to condemn at the end times.

The analogies are different, but similar in their purpose: The wheat was the more desirable part of the grain, the chaff, back then, was typically discarded. The sheep offered wool and lamb is typically a better meat. This is compared to goats, who do not offer wool and whose meat is tougher.

Jesus is looking at who among the inhabitants of the earth followed him with a faithful heart. Those are mentioned here as with the analogy of sheep. They are humble. They seek perfection in loving others and obeying God’s commands. So much so, they don’t even realize how much their good works done in a pure heart matter to God.

He says here, “whatever you have done unto the least of these, you have done unto me.” This is a very powerful statement, very interesting to consider.

How do I treat the poor, the destitute, and the abandoned in life? Do I treat them as I would Jesus?

Lord, this is such a convicting passage. You call me to greatness and I want to rise to the occasion. Help me to see others as you see them. Help me to serve in difficult ways to help the least of these!