The Righteous Man’s Reward is the blessing Jesus promised to the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person.
It stands beside the prophet’s reward in the same saying: welcome given for the sake of what a person is in God’s sight will not be forgotten.
The reward is not a wage that purchases salvation; it is the Lord’s recognition of those who honor righteousness because it belongs to Him.
To receive the righteous for righteousness’ sake is to take the side of the King and to share in what He gives His own.
In Matthew 10 Jesus sent the Twelve and then taught the cost and the welcome of that mission. Whoever receives them receives Him. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. The one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. Even a cup of cold water given to a little one because he is a disciple will not lose its reward. The righteous man in this saying is the person who belongs to God and walks in His ways. To receive such a person “because he is a righteous person” means the welcome is given for the sake of that righteousness, not for advantage, status, or return. Scripture has always joined the righteous with reward—not as merit that earns standing with God, but as the fruit and recognition that the Judge of all the earth does what is just. Those who stand with the righteous stand with the Lord who calls them righteous in Christ and who will not overlook love shown for His name.
- The righteous man’s reward is promised to those who receive a righteous person because he is righteous.
- The motive is decisive: the welcome is for the sake of righteousness, not for gain.
- Receiving the righteous is bound to receiving Christ, who sends His people.
- God does not forget work and love shown to the saints.
- The saying sits with the prophet’s reward and the cup of cold water as one principle of divine remembrance.
- Righteousness here is not self-made virtue but the life of those who belong to God.
- The final reward of the righteous is inheritance in the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world.
- Receive Because He Is Righteous – The welcome is given for what the person is before God.
- Share in Their Standing – Those who honor the righteous share in the recognition God gives them.
- Receive Christ – Whoever receives the sent ones receives Jesus and the Father who sent Him.
- Love Shown for His Name – Serving the saints is love shown for the name of the Lord.
- Not Lost – Even the smallest act done for a disciple’s sake keeps its reward.
- Present and Future – God remembers now; He will openly reward at the coming of the Son of Man.
- Kingdom Inheritance – The righteous inherit the kingdom prepared for them.
- Matthew 10:41-42 – “The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
- Matthew 10:40 – “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”
- Matthew 25:34, 40, 46 – “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’… ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’… And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- Matthew 13:43 – “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
- Psalm 58:11 – “Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’”
- Proverbs 11:18 – “The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.”
- Proverbs 13:21 – “Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.”
- Hebrews 6:10 – “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.”
- Hebrews 11:6, 26 – “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him… He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”
- Luke 14:13-14 – “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
- 1 Corinthians 3:8, 14 – “He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor… If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.”
- 2 Timothy 4:8 – “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
- Matthew 5:6, 10-12 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied… Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven… Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”
- 3 John 1:11 – “Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.”
- 1 John 3:7 – “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.”
- Romans 3:21-22 – “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law… the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”
- Philippians 3:9 – “…and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
- Psalm 37:25, 29 – “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread… The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.”
The one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. Jesus placed this promise next to the prophet’s reward and the cup of cold water. God sees the welcome given for righteousness’ sake. He does not overlook love shown for His name in serving the saints. Receive the righteous because they belong to Christ. Stand with those who walk in His ways. The smallest kindness done because a person is a disciple will not lose its reward. And the righteous themselves will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The Judge of all the earth does what is just. He will not forget.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.