Matthew 10:42 And whoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you… 1. Because they often have great results. A cup of cold water is mentioned here; we can hardly mention a service which one would more naturally think of as a little service, than the giving of a cup of cold water; and yet it may be great in its results. It may allay the fever, and drive away the coming madness of the man who is consumed by thirst — there may be life in a cup of cold water. The fainting traveller in the desert, where the greedy sun has licked all the water up, would die but for the cup of cold water which a provident pilgrim brings to him. Many a castaway on the ocean, drifting on his raft — many a wounded soldier, writhing among the heaps of the smitten on the battle-field — has spent his last breath in crying for a cup of cold water; and a cup of water given at a critical moment would have saved life. 2. When they are the best a man can render. 3. When they are truly rendered to Him. The giving of the cup of cold water, you observe, acquired its character of moral worth from its being given "in the name of a disciple" — given for Christ's sake. It is possible to work in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and not serve Christ at all. A soldier may go out in his country's wars, and make for himself, by his courage and success, an imperishable name, and yet never really serve his country or his king, but only himself; his one impulse throughout may be not loyalty, not patriotism, but the desire of fame, the desire of power, a motive which never takes the man out of himself. (A Hannay.) Parallel Verses KJV: And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. |
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