What does Matthew chapter 25 verse 40 mean?

Answer 1

Matthew 25:40 - 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.' [NKJV]

Jesus says this in the midst of a teaching that begins in verse 31 and continues through verse 46.

Simply put, it means that the way one treats other people is seen by Christ as the way they treat Him.

An extremely significant aspect of the overall teaching is that one's treatment of others weighs heavily on the criteria by which they'll be judged. All the "religion" in the world won't amount to a hill of beans unless its practice results in service to others.

Mark 10:45 - "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

James 1:27 - Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

James 2:26 - For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

[Quotes from NKJV]

Answer 2

In the closing section of this chapter, Jesus shows that a servant manifests his true character by how he behaves in view of his Master's return. The wise servant is the one who is found caring for God's people. Such a one will be honored with vast responsibility in the kingdom. The master will make him ruler over all his goods. But not all who profess to be Christ's servants are genuine.

The word servant could refer to Christians in general but more likely it refers to believing Israelites.

Answer 3

Mark's Gospel had prophesied the end of the world within the lifetime of the present generation - Mark 13:2, 'And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou those great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.' Jesus went on later to tell the disciples that they would personally experience social turmoil and persecution, there would be earthquakes and 'But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken and then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.' He concluded by saying, 'Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.'

By the 80s of the first century, this was becoming unlikely - the generation had already passed - and the author of Matthew had to change the emphasis away from an impending end of the world, if he was going to use this material from Mark. He changed the position of the sentence about "this generation", relative to the destruction of the great buildings, so that it referred to something else altogether. He added, and emphasised, material where Jesus told the disciples that the end is not yet, and that no man knows when the end of the world will occur. Then he added, in chapter 25, an elaborate description of the last judgement. Verse 31, reflecting verse 13:26 of Mark, begins a pericope in which Jesus comes in his glory and judges the people of all nations, setting the 'sheep' on the left and the 'goats' on the right, for eternal punishment or reward.

Answer 4

As we know God and jesus is the same person. So this scripture is explaning to us that homelessness has an affect on half the people in the world.

Hope this helps :)