Jesus Christ · On the Last Things
Rewards
Jesus talked about reward far more freely than His church usually dares to. He promised it for enduring slander, for praying in secret, for loving enemies — and, in the saying this page centers on, He built a whole economy of it around hospitality to His people: a prophet’s reward for receiving a prophet, a righteous man’s reward for receiving a righteous man, and a promise sworn with His strongest oath-formula over the smallest gift a poor person could give — one cup of cold water. Nothing done for His sake, however small, falls out of the accounting.
The Chain of Reception
— Matthew 10:40-42 — and the reward that travels back down itTHE ONE SENT
“He that receiveth you receiveth me”Matt 10:40areceive a prophet in the name of a prophet — receive a prophet's reward
THE ONE WHO SENT HIM
“and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me”Matt 10:40breceive a righteous man in the name of a righteous man — a righteous man's reward
THE SMALLEST POSSIBLE LINK
“a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple … he shall in no wise lose his reward”Matt 10:42the floor of the scale: one cup, permanently on record
He that receiveth you--entertaineth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me--As the treatment which an ambassador receives is understood and regarded as expressing the light in which he that sends him is viewed, so, says our Lord here, "Your authority is Mine, as Mine is My Father's."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on Matt 10:40
The Lord when He sends forth His disciples to preach, teaches them that dangers are not to be feared, that natural affection is to be postponed to religion—gold He had above taken from them, brass He had shaken out of their purses—hard then surely the condition of the preachers! Whence their living? Whence their food and necessaries? Therefore He tempers the rigour of His precepts by the following promises, that in entertaining the Apostles each believer may consider that he entertains the Lord.
Jerome· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (420), on Matt 10:40
A Prophet's Reward
— Matthew 10:41 — sharing a reward you did not earnThe saying’s strangest mercy: the person who receives a prophet because he is a prophet — who cannot preach, prophesy, or plant churches, but opens a door and sets a table — receives the prophet’sreward. Reward in Jesus’s economy is not indexed to gift or office; it attaches to whose side you took, shown by whom you welcomed. The widow of Zarephath fed one prophet and shared Elijah’s miracle; the same logic here is thrown open to anyone.
He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”He that entertaineth a prophet - That is, a preacher of the Gospel: In the name of a prophet - That is, because he is such, shall share in his reward.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), on Matt 10:41
(See Joh 3:5-8). and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man--from sympathy with his character and esteem for himself as such shall receive a righteous man's reward--for he must himself have the seed of righteousness who has any real sympathy with it and complacency in him who possesses it.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on Matt 10:41
The Cup of Cold Water
— Matthew 10:42; Mark 9:41 — the floor of the scaleThen Jesus lowers the threshold as far as it will go. Not a banquet — a cup. Not heated — cold, the kind that costs no fuel, the kind the poorest hand in Galilee could offer. Jerome saw exactly what the detail removes: every excuse. And Mark preserves the saying with the condition that gives it its weight — because ye belong to Christ. The act is small; the allegiance it expresses is not, and the promise over it carries Jesus’s solemn “verily I say unto you.”
Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.'because ye belong to Christ' — the clause that turns water into record.
That none should say, I am poor and therefore cannot be hospitable, He takes away even this plea by the instance of a cup of cold water, given with good will. He says cold water, because in hot, poverty and lack of fuel might be pleaded. And whosoever shall give to drink to one of the least of these a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
Jerome· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (420), on Matt 10:42
Whosoever shall give you a cup ... - How easy it is to be a Christian! What is easier than to give a cup of cold water to a thirsty disciple of Jesus! But it must be in his name - that is, because he is a Christian, and therefore from love to the Saviour. This is very different from giving it from a mere motive of common kindness.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869), on Mark 9:41
God never asks his servants to do what is impossible. The love and goodness of his Godhead is revealed as richly available. It is poured out like water upon all. God furnishes to each person according to his will the ability to do something good. None of those seeking to be saved will be lacking in this ability, given by the one who said: "whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward."
Gregory of Nyssa· On the Christian Mode of Life 8.1 (395), on Mark 9:41
What kindness is done to Christ's poor, must be done them for his sake, and because they belong to him; for that is it that sanctifies the kindness, and puts a value upon it in the sight of God. This is a reason why we must not discountenance and discourage those who are serving the interests of Christ's kingdom, though they are not in every thing of our mind and way.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Mark 9:41
Reward Is Not Salvation
— the distinction the whole teaching assumesThe reward sayings sit inside a gospel of grace, and the New Testament keeps the two registers distinct: salvation is given, never earned (Eph 2:8-9); reward is recognized, and can even be lost while the person is saved — Paul’s picture of the builder whose work burns while “he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Jesus’s own reward-language honors the same line: the Beatitudes promise “great reward in heaven” to people already blessed, and Matthew 6 warns that reward can be forfeited by collecting it early, in applause.
his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.saved, yet so as by fire — reward lost, person kept.
“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.reward can be spent early — in applause.
Where the fuller reward doctrine livesdoors, not restatements
The storing-up teaching — treasure in heaven, the eye, the two masters — has its own page, doored above. The Beatitudes’ “great is your reward in heaven” for the slandered and persecuted lives with the Beatitudes. And the judgment where the believer’s works are weighed — the judgment seat of Christ, with its crowns — belongs to the site’s last-things estate, where it is treated in the order of coming events.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.the reward-word in the Beatitudes' own mouth.
Where It Points
— a God who keeps records of waterThe doctrine under the reward sayings is a doctrine about God’s character: He notices, He remembers, and He is — in the writer to the Hebrews’ exact words — “not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love” (Heb 6:10). A faith that expects nothing from God for faithfulness is not humbler than Jesus; it is arguing with Him.
Closing
A chain that runs from a doorstep to the Father’s throne, and a promise sworn over a cup of cold water. In the Kingdom’s bookkeeping nothing done for Christ’s sake is small enough to be lost — He said so with an oath.