Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not.

The vocabulary here is nearly the same as the positive versions ( discussed here and in more detail here). The only difference is that the verb for "visited" is used for both the sick and prisoner, instead of "visiting the sick" and "coming" to the prisoner. Though there are few new ideas here, there is still much more to say.

Did you notice that Christ does not expect us to give bread to those that are hungry but meat? (Apparently Christ was not a vegetarian or vegan.) In his cycle of symbols, seed becomes grain that becomes bread that become flesh. The cycle moves from spirit to mind to body to relationships and back to spirit. In Christ's use of symbols, if we give bread, we are just be meeting physical needs. If we give "meat," we are dealing with emotional needs as well. We are not just feeding people but making them happy.

This idea is important because this verse is not just about caring: it is about leading a productive life. A productive life is measured in how much happiness we can bring to the world.

Throughout the Gospel, Christ is challenging us to be productive. This is clearer in Greek where many of the words have a clear economic sense. For example, the verb usually translated as "to do" in English means "to produce" in Greek. He wants us to make each others lives better, but he realizes that we cannot do this by caring alone: we need to produce things to have anything to share. For this reason, Christ never says anything against any form of business (other than making money out of religion). Indeed, the heros in his parables are rich men, land owners, and people who are being productive in one way or another.

One of the "big lies" that Christ teaches against is the idea that the successful person is one who commands others. In Christ's view, the true success is the one who serves others. He is the person who produces what others value. Productivity does not only come from those who labor (as Marx would have it), but from those who own, develop, and simply manage their money productively, which was the exact point in the prior parable (Matt 25:14). Christ himself accepts that making money is itself a measure of our productivity: people do not voluntarily for things they do not value.

However, while productivity is necessary to lead a worthwhile life, it is not the whole story. We also must be caring. If we make money just to enrich ourselves as opposed to enriching the world, our lives have no real value. This is why Christ mentions a few activities here, visiting the sick and imprisoned, which are pure acts of caring. Our productivity is measured by how much happiness we create, especially among those with whom we deal with personally.

This doesn't seem to be a very demanding standard. Those who are not productive and caring cannot make those around them any happier. Those who are productive and caring must make those around them happy. You cannot make those around you happy if you are unproductive no matter how much you feel that you care. You cannot make those around you happy if you are not caring no matter how productive you are.

"Visited" is from episkeptomai, from which means "to look upon or at," "to observe," "to examine," and "to regard."