A Visit With Mrs. G

Guest (Male): Here we are.

Guest (Female): I hope she's home.

Guest (Male): Can I ring the bell?

Guest (Male): May I ring the bell?

Guest (Male): But I want to.

Guest (Male): Well, somebody better, or we'll miss our visit with Mrs. G.

Mrs. Kitty Griffiths: Hello, I'm glad to see you. I was listening for you. Come on in.

Guests: How about some stories?

Mrs. Kitty Griffiths: Stories? Yes, I've got some specially for you.

Jesus' words had stunned them into silence that late afternoon. Andrew, Peter, James, and John were still sitting with Jesus under a fig tree on the Mount of Olives facing Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Perhaps they had their eyes on the temple itself. Right now, its impressive silhouette stood out against the magnificent splendor of the afterglow of sunset.

And yet, one day all Jerusalem's glory would be just a heap of rubble. Terrible times lay ahead: disasters, persecution, suffering. Jesus had just said so. As the Passover campers cooked their suppers, wood smoke from the fires got into the disciples' eyes. As the hour grew later, more little fires blazed up around them, puffing more wood smoke.

Andrew, Peter, James, and John were really on their way to Bethany with Jesus to spend the night. But the four disciples had asked Jesus a question on the way, a question that wouldn't keep: When would the dreadful things Jesus spoke of take place, and what signs would warn that they were about to happen?

So Jesus had taken a seat beneath a fig tree on the Mount of Olives. There he had told his disciples something of the terrible times that were coming and how they needed to stand firm and keep on the alert. And he had illustrated what he said with a story. What a solemn story it had been.

Ten girls had been eager to go to a marriage feast, but only five got in. The other five were not ready when the bridegroom came. "Too late, too late, too late," had been the cry when finally the five unprepared girls banged on the bridegroom's door. That story had given the disciples something very serious to think about.

Andrew, Peter, James, and John looked as if they were thinking about it. They were stunned into silence. Around them in the olive trees and sycamores which dotted the mountain slope, owls hooted. Tired birds that had been on the wing all day, now as evening fell, added their sleepy cheeps.

Among the Passover pilgrims camping out on the slopes, there was laughing and talking and even some shouts as they ate their cookout suppers. A few passersby walked past the fig tree where Jesus sat with his friends as they headed for their holiday lodgings. And you could hear what animals were still left in the market at the foot of the mount, though they too were quieter now. For one more night, they would sleep in peace before being offered to meet the law's demands on behalf of their purchaser.

Guest (Male): When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all the angels, he will sit on his glorious throne, and all the nations of the Earth will be gathered before him. And he will divide them just as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

Mrs. Kitty Griffiths: At almost every turn in the road and certainly at every little farm, a mixed flock of sheep and goats could be seen. Some flocks bigger, some flocks smaller. In the daytime, the sheep and the goats went to pasture together. But at the end of the day, the shepherd divided them, and the sheep entered one fold, the goats another.

And this was the picture Jesus used to describe the judgment to come. The sheep will go to the shepherd's right, and the goats to the left. But let's listen with Andrew, Peter, James, and John to what Jesus is saying.

Guest (Male): Then the King will say to those on the right hand, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the time the world was made. For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me."

Guest (Male): Then the righteous will say, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you? When did we see you naked and give you clothes? When did we see you sick and visit you, or in prison and come to you?"

Guest (Male): And the King will tell them, "When you did it for one of the poorest of my brethren, you did it for me."

Mrs. Kitty Griffiths: Was Andrew thinking of the time when Jesus sent them all out to preach? Then Jesus had said, "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me. And whoever gives you a cup of water because you are a follower of Christ will not go unrewarded." How important it is to respond warmly to those who bring the gospel news, for the way we treat Jesus' messengers is the way we treat him.

Perhaps John was struck by Jesus' picture of the righteous who were kind without even remembering what they had done. That's what happens when you really love people, John may have thought. Then you give them what they need without even thinking about it. Only the King will know.

James may have been thinking how important it is that we really put our faith into practice, otherwise it's useless. It doesn't do any good just to wish people well who don't have clothes or food. We have to give them what they need. That's the only faith that's real. Thoughts like these may have flickered through the disciples' minds. But Jesus hadn't finished.

Guest (Male): And the King shall say to those on his left, the goats, "Go away, you cursed ones, into eternal punishment. Go to the place prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. I was naked and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me."

Guest (Male): Then they will answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and not help you?"

Guest (Male): Then the King shall say, "Truly I tell you, since you did not do it for one of the poorest of my brethren, you did not do it for me."

Mrs. Kitty Griffiths: And Jesus said that these people will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous shall enter eternal life. By this time, the Passover moon, now almost full, was riding high in the sky. The five friends got up from under the fig tree and started on their way back to Bethany. The disciples walked in silence. They had so much to think about.

As Peter looked up at the moon, memories must have flooded his mind. Many a night in his fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, Peter had been alone with the moon. Sometimes his brother Andrew had been with him. As the moonbeams had played on the dark surface of the waters, Peter had often seen the shape of another familiar boat, the boat from which John and James were fishing too. Often, all night long under that same moon, the four friends who were walking towards Bethany now with Jesus had fished together on the Sea of Galilee.

That was where Jesus had found them. It was some time ago now. Peter and Andrew, his brother, had been just about to toss their net into the sea to catch fish. But Jesus had walked by, and he had called out, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." And they'd left all and followed him. Then he had called James and John while they were working on their nets, and they too had followed Jesus. What wonderful times had followed. Oh, it hadn't always been easy, but just seeing how Jesus had gone about and done good to so many people—oh, it had been wonderful.

Peter thought of the picture Jesus had just used to describe the judgment day ahead: the sheep and the goats. How like Jesus that story had been. The righteous people, the sheep, were those who cared for the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, the sick, just like Jesus. Yes, Peter thought, just like Jesus. Jesus had fed the hungry. Peter had seen him feed thousands on two unforgettable occasions. The disciples, Peter himself included, would have sent the crowds away to buy their own food. But Jesus wouldn't have any of that. He had multiplied a few loaves and fishes to feed the hungry crowds. Peter smiled as he remembered.

Had Jesus given drink to the thirsty? Oh yes, he had. Peter smiled again. How affronted he and the other disciples had been when they found Jesus speaking with a sinful woman at Jacob's Well in Samaria. That woman who was avoided by everybody, but not by Jesus. Jesus gave her living water that was not from the well. And then there was the time at the Feast of Tabernacles, at the water pouring ceremony at the temple. Jesus had called out, "Whoever is thirsty, let him come to me. Whoever believes in me, let him drink." What an uproar that had caused. Peter chuckled quietly. Oh yes, his master Jesus had cared for the thirsty.

Had Jesus welcomed strangers? Oh, he most surely had. Tax collectors, sinful women, lepers, Samaritans—others kept away from them, but not Jesus. The friend of sinners, Jesus' enemies called him, and for once they're right, Peter thought to himself. Jesus is the friend of sinners. And had Jesus clothed the naked? Peter thought back. Yes, now he remembered. There was Mr. Legion, the poor man tormented by demons who lived naked amongst the tombs. That was before he met Jesus. Then Jesus healed him. And how astonished people had been to see Mr. Legion sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind.

And the sick? Oh, how Jesus had healed the sick: the blind, the dumb, the deaf, the lepers, the crippled, those with fevers. Peter smiled as he remembered how Jesus had healed his dear mother-in-law after synagogue service one Sabbath. Why, Jesus had even raised the dead more than once. Yes, Jesus had cared for the sick. And Jesus talked about caring for the poorest, the least of his brethren. Peter blushed when he thought of the time when he and the other disciples had argued about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus had picked up a small boy, set the little fellow on his knee, and said, "Whoever welcomes a little child like this welcomes me." Yes, Jesus had cared for the little people.

And he always will. Peter remembered Jesus' words just now: the Son of Man will come in his glory. All the people of the Earth will be gathered before him. He will divide them into sheep and goats. And the sheep will be those who cared for the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the strangers, just as Jesus had cared. "When you did it for one of the poorest of my brethren, you did it for me." Yes, Peter thought to himself, that's just the way Jesus has been, and that's just the way we his followers should be too. The disciples walked on with Jesus. They were nearly home now. There was Bethany ahead of them, lying still and peaceful in the misty, mysterious moonlight.

Guest (Male): Thank you for visiting Mrs. G today. God's word, the Bible, has hundreds of stories, and you can find many of them retold by Mrs. G. When you visit our website at www.biblestoriesalive.org, you can download audio of these stories and also find them on CDs and in books. You can also read copies of our newsletter or help us send Bible stories to the rest of the world free of charge.

That address again is www.biblestoriesalive.org, www.biblestoriesalive.org. Mrs. G's Bible stories are also available from Trans World Radio in several languages including Arabic, Mandarin, and Spanish. Visit our website for more information at www.biblestoriesalive.org. Until next time.

Mrs. Kitty Griffiths: Goodbye, and God bless.