阅读经文 

耶稣使用绵羊和山羊的比喻教导我们，祂身处在贫穷、患病、坐牢的、客旅、被遗弃的和其他可能处于不利地位的人当中。祂紧密地与这些人认同，甚至视任何做在他们身上的善行，就等同于做在祂身上。而看顾这些人的需要所获得的奖赏就是得蒙神欢迎进入祂的国度中。

这个比喻有一个奇妙的特色，就是当绵羊听到蒙神欢迎的好消息时感到的惊愕。这真是出乎他们意料之外。当王告诉他们，透过看顾这些人，他们就已经是给祂吃、给祂穿和探望祂了，他们感到惊愕。我们什么时候见祢饿、赤身露体或渴呢？这就意味着，当我们见到别人有需要时，便甘心乐意服侍他们，单单因为他们是有尊严的人，而不是认为这样做能带给我们任何奖赏。我们这样做，因为这是我们应该做的事。

在另一方面，山羊也同样感到惊愕。他们听到他们不能得到产业，是因为他们忽视了有需要的人。他们的反应显示，他们在那些人中看不见王，所以他们便认为那些有需要的人不配得到他们的看顾和关注了。

凡以爱心、食物、衣服和其他方式来祝福那些贫穷的、被遗弃的人、同时又不期望以此换取奖赏的人有福了。

Jesus’ parable about sheep and goats teaches us that he is present among the poor, sick, imprisoned, strangers, outcasts, and others who may be disadvantaged. He identifies with these people so closely that an act of kindness done to them is one done to him. And the “reward” for caring for these people is to be welcomed into the kingdom of God.

A wonderful feature of this parable is the absolute surprise of the sheep when they hear the good news of their welcome. They don’t expect it. When the King tells them that by caring for these people they have fed, clothed, and visited him, they are astonished. When did we see you hungry or naked or thirsty? In other words, we only saw other humans in need and were happy to serve them simply because they were human, not because we thought it would bring us any reward. We did it because it was the right thing to do.

The goats, on the other hand, are equally surprised. They hear that they will not receive their inheritance because they neglected the people in need. Their response suggests that because they did not see the King among those people, the poor and others in need were not worthy of their care and ­attention.

Blessed are all who bless the poor and outcast and all others in need with kindness, food, clothing, and more without expecting to be rewarded.