Introduction
One verse before Jesus' famous identification with 'the least' (v. 40), the righteous ask, baffled, when they did any of these things to Him. Their humility itself is the mark of the sheep.
Historical Context
Visiting the sick and prisoners was costly in the ancient world — disease and incarceration were both contagious socially. The righteous did it without recording it.
Original Language Insights
'Saw' (eidomen) — the perfect of perception. They never noticed they were serving Christ; they only saw a sick neighbor, a prisoner.
Theological Significance
True righteousness is unselfconscious. The goats catalog their service; the sheep cannot remember theirs. Grace works that way — the deeper it goes, the less it is noticed by the one doing it.
Practical Application
Stop scoring your good deeds. The service Christ counts most heavily is often the service we have already forgotten.