Then they too will answer and say, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve you?”
This saying portrays the self-justification of the unrighteous on the day of judgment. They try to defend themselves by expressing surprise and ignorance, yet these words do not come from humility but from self-righteousness. Their answer reveals their spiritual blindness: they do not realize that by rejecting the needy person, one rejects God Himself. In this way Christ reveals the justice of the judgment: no one can say that he did not know, because God’s love and the call to mercy have from the beginning been placed in every person’s heart. This saying reminds us that on the last day, not ignorance but indifference will become the cause of condemnation.