Mark 9:41 For whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, truly I say to you… Here is an act, a motive, and a reward, calling for thought. As to the act, it is both suggestive and comprehensive. A man may live without food for many days; but he cannot exist without water for the body's cooling and circulating fluids. So there is a moral life that is kept up by the interchange of little acts; the kind salutation, the smile, the "kiss of charity," the word "fitly spoken and in season," which cost nothing to the giver, but are invaluable to the receiver. So the little acts of giving, the "mites" of poor widows, the full carrying out of Paul's universal appointment, "let every one of you lay by him in store as the Lord hath prospered him" — it is these gathered drops that fill the exhaustless reservoirs of worldwide Christian charities. The motive, too, like that which sees in a child the lineaments of an esteemed parent, that recognizes in the livery the servant of a liege lord, it is this recognition of Christ in His disciple that at once honours the Master, and which permits Him to honour the service. The reward, too, is in keeping with the act and its motive. The little badge a prince bestows is more than a life estate. To find true what Jesus declares shortly after (Matthew 25), that the rewards of the final judgment turn on these little acts and their motive, that Jesus will say of forgotten trifles, "Ye did it to Me," the realization of this fact, so as to make it the rule of everyday life — this is to learn the lesson of giving a "cup of cold water" in the name of Christ. (G. W. Samson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. |
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