Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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 took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
Matthew 25:34-36
BSB
Read Matthew 25 in a modern translation BSB
Read the whole chapter (Matthew 25)
I was hungry
Jesus names six needs: hunger, thirst, being a stranger in a foreign land, having no clothes, being sick and being in prison. Later a seventh was added, from the book of Tobit: burying the dead. That is how the seven works of mercy came about.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam owns seven panels by the Master of Alkmaar from 1504, painted for St Lawrence's Church in Alkmaar. They show the seven works in a Dutch town of that time, among ordinary people. For centuries, this saying was a call to act in your own street. And Jesus says that for such people the kingdom has been ready since the foundation of the world.
Question for today
Which work of mercy comes my way this week?
Prayer
Lord, you have prepared a kingdom for us. Give me willing hands for those who are hungry, sick or alone. Amen.
My prayer
With your own thought · only on this deviceOne of the 491 words of Jesus on this site, from the temple to Revelation. See all the words in order →