onsequently we had need of such assurance of
obtaining the appointed inheritance as that which is given by his
partaking with us of life, death, and resurrection (see what is said on
this part of the subject in p. 29). Besides this, the sympathy of
Jesus Christ with human suffering, which was also shown by his miracles
of healing, is specially a reason for giving _practical_ proof, by acts
of benevolence and mercy towards our fellow men, that we partake of the
same spirit. It is with reference to such _outward_ evidence of faith
and righteousness, that the decision of the Judge, given {69} in the
passage above quoted, is pronounced. It seems, too, from the questions
put to the Judge by the company of the righteous, and the answer they
received, that their acts of kindness and mercy, done in humility and
faith, were accepted by the Judge, out of his sympathy and community
with the sufferers, as done to himself, although the doers had not had
previous knowledge or expectation that their good deeds would be so
accepted.

The sentence pronounced on the unrighteous, and the reasons for it, are
thus stated in _vv._ 41-45: "Then shall he say also to them on the left
hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the [oe]onian fire (_to pur to
aionion_, i.e. the fire of judgment in the future _aion_) prepared for
the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat; I
was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me
not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye
visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them,
saying, Verily, I say to you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not to me." It should be noticed that the
terms of this award are the exact contraries of those of the award to
the righteous. On the one hand, the King says, "Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit {70} the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world;" on the other, he says, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into
the [oe]onian fire prepared for the devil and his angels;" and the
account of what the Judge further says to the unrighteous, and of what
they say to him, although somewhat briefer than that relating to the
righteous, is made up of exactly opposite particulars. On this
principle, since the decision res