Matthew 25:31-46

6. Illustration of the sheep and the goats (25:31-46)

31 But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: 32 and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; 33 and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; 36 naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? 38 And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. 46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into eternal life.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

a.

On what basis of judgment will Jesus separate the sheep from the goats?

b.

How do you harmonize this Scripture's basic message with the teaching of salvation by grace through obedient faith in such verses as John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 2:38, etc.?

c.

List scriptural statements, parables, etc., that teach that following Jesus and being a Christian requires a work, service and fruit-bearing, or that reveal the condemnation of every worthless, fruitless life that simply does nothing. What are you doing about it.

d.

Must we limit the least of these my brethren to the categories named: the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the unclothed, the sick or imprisoned? Who else should be treated with the same loving concern? Or do you think Jesus wanted the list restricted to those named?

e.

What does Jesus-' emphasis on all nations gathered before His judgment throne have to say to the anti-missionary notion that each people has its own god and is happy in its own religion and should, therefore, be left alone as they are?

f.

When we view a needy person, whatever his need may be, how, according to Jesus, are we to react to him?

g.

Jesus implies that all nations will be separated into two groups on the basis of their usefulness in helping others. Does this mean that the Gospel is not really the final standard of judgment, especially for those who had not heard it? Or, does Jesus imply that all the world will have already heard His message, and now is to be judged according to its standards?

h.

Christians must do everything for Christ's sake and motivated by Him. If the sheep represent Christians, how can any real disciple be so completely unaware that he had served Christ by helping the needy, as to ask, When saw we you hungry or thirsty, etc.?

i.

Some believe that the sheep and goats who are judged here are distinguished from Christ's brethren, but nothing is affirmed about a judgment of the brethren themselves. Thus, the judgment in question is only of unbelievers, not of believers. How would you react to this?

j.

Is this picture of final judgment, initiated by the picture of a shepherd dividing sheep and goats, a parable, an allegory, simply an illustration, or what?

PARAPHRASE

When the Messiah returns in His splendor, escorted by all the angels, He will take His seat on His glorious throne. All the people of the whole world will be assembled in His presence. He will then separate people into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those at His right, -You who have my Father's blessing, come take possession of your inheritance, the Kingdom destined for you ever since the world's founding. This is because when I was famished, you gave me some food to eat. When I was thirsty, you offered me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you shared hospitality with me. When I was poorly clad, you furnished me clothes. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me.-'
At this point the righteous will respond, -Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? or thirsty and give you a drink? Or when did we see you a stranger and welcome you into our homes? or ill-clad and clothe you? Or when did we ever see you sick or in prison and take care of your needs?-'
The King will give them this answer: -I can assure you that every time you showed these kindnesses to one of my brothers here, however unimportant he might be, you did it to me.-'
Then the King will turn to those at His left hand, saying, -Get out of my presence: there is a curse on you! Leave for the eternal fire destined for the devil and his messengers. You see, when I am hungry, you gave me no food to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink. When I was a stranger, you did not invite me home. When I was ill-clad, you did not clothe me. When I was sick or in prison, you did not take care of me.-'
At this point they too will ask, -Lord, when did we ever see you starving or thirsty or a stranger or ill-clad or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?-'
The King will then answer, -I can tell you for sure that the extent to which you neglected to do it for one of these most insignificant people, you did not do it for me.-'
Then the damned will leave for their eternal punishment, while the righteous enter into life that is eternal.

SUMMARY

Christ's second coming and judgment will be contemporaneous. His judgment will be universal, involving every human being that has ever lived. He will judge people, not on their Jewishness or any other superficial basis, but on their everyday usefulness and service to others.

NOTES

a. Christ's second coming and judgment are contemporaneous

Matthew 25:31 But when the Son of man shall come in his glory; and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory. This illustration is not a proper parable like those preceding it, but a prophecy rich in parabolic comparisons. We shall better appreciate this concluding section of Jesus-' discourse, if we remember that He said it just a few days before His death. In the face of the worst that Satan could hurl at Him, He calmly sets it down as indisputable fact that He would return in glory to judge!

Son of man come in his glory instantly identifies Jesus as the great subject of Daniel's vision (Daniel 7:9-14). No longer would His glory be dimmed by the real humiliation and weakness of His incarnation (2 Corinthians 13:4). By these simple words He proclaims several stupendous certainties:

1.

Jesus Christ shall triumph at last! His total Lordship over all the world is now ultimately certain. To term Himself the King in Matthew 25:34 harmonizes completely with the Danielian prophecy of His triumph and His own self-designations here.

a.

He shall come in his glory, returning to earth in that splendor that rightly pertains to this regal state and is His because He is God's Anointed.

b.

And all his angels with him, not merely to heighten the effect of His glory by their splendor and multitude, but to execute His will (Matthew 13:41 f., Matthew 13:49 f.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7 f.; Revelation 14:17 ff.).

2.

For Jesus Christ, all history is rolling onward inexorably toward one destiny. It will not plunge farther and farther out of control in a crescendo of moral chaos with no hope of relief. Nor is it grimly whirling in cyclic idiocy, going nowhere, eternally destined to drone on, wearily grinding out the same human follies. Rather, every man and event rolls on toward judgment before our Lord Jesus Christ! There is a time and a place when earth's time-line stops abruptly in front of His throne.

When the Son of man shall come. then shall he sit on the throne of his glory. Jesus-' Second Coming in triumphant glory will bring all earth history to a close and set in motion the Final Judgment of all of earth's people. Every feature depicted here by Jesus underscores the finality of this moment. (Cf. Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 19:11 ff; Revelation 20:11 ff.) Note the relative closeness of sequence: His Return and the Judgment occur relatively close together. The Gospels never intimate the presence of a great interval of time between Jesus-' personal return and the world's end, as if 1000 years must separate the two events. The Millennium of Revelation 20, during which Christ reigns with His saints, must precede His return. (See notes on Matthew 24:30.) Because He calmly sits in judgment on the throne of his glory, the completion and completeness of His victory is expressed. Thus, the battle against sin and the devil are finally over. The throne of his glory may be so described for various reasons:

1.

McGarvey (Matthew-Mark, 220) thinks it is because by the decisions of that day his glory will be exhibited more brightly than ever before. All the obscure things in the past administration of his government will then be made clear.

2.

It is because of the radiant brilliance of Him who sits thereon, a reflection of the true, heavenly splendor of Jesus, that glory of which the Apostles caught a fore glimpse at His Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8 and parallels).

3.

This throne is evidently His heavenly throne, identical with His brilliant white throne depicted in Revelation 20. There, as here, the basis of universal judgment is the same (Matthew 25:35-40; Matthew 25:42 f.; Revelation 20:12 f.).

4.

It cannot be an earthly, temporal throne reconstructed in a material Jerusalem to be the throne of David. In fact, David himself (Psalms 110) grasped the exalted spiritual character of Christ's reign and located the true throne of David at God's right hand, not in earthly Palestine. Peter (Acts 2:33 ff.) revealed on Pentecost Jesus-' exaltation to the throne of David at God's right hand, forever establishing the true site and significance of His present reign. There is no New Testament text that definitively promises a personal reign of Christ on a temporal throne in a material city of Jerusalem (Kik, Matthew XXIV, 113).

If this language is reminiscent of Matthew 19:28; Matthew 24:30 f. or Matthew 26:64 which, in my view, refer not to the Second Coming exclusively or even primarily, but to Jesus-' full vindication during the lifetime of His contemporaries, this similarity of language may be explained as a historical preview of even greater events. That is, this Jesus, who was so preeminently distinguished by earthly events in His own day (i.e. the fall of Jerusalem by the fulfillment of His prophecies, by the liberation of His Church from Judaism's thraldom, etc.), shall be supremely exalted to glory by His personal return at the Last Day. This is the final, glorious completion of Daniel's prophecy (Daniel 7:13 f.).

b. The judgment shall be universal

Matthew 25:32 Before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats. Before him! Before the humble Carpenter from Galilee shall be arrayed all of the world's religious pundits, political leaders, world philosophers, controllers of communications, sellers of armaments, heads of nations, taxi-drivers, housewives, priests, prostitutes, school childrensaints or sinners allstanding heads bared, dumbstruck, all eyes fixed on the one Figure there on the throne at the center of the universe, our dear Lord Jesus Christ! Racial differences now have no meaning; historic national distinctions are wiped out. All forms of government that ever held sway shall now bow to the King on that throne.

All nations include all those who have ever lived. Even those long dead are now resurrected from physical death to stand before Him (John 5:28 f.; Revelation 20:12 f.). Otherwise, Jesus would merely sit in judgment over those nations that happen to dwell on earth at His return.

But all nations (pànta tà éthnç) must not be confused for a similar Hebrew idiom that refers to Gentiles, as distinguished from God's chosen people, as if no Jews or Christians are meant here. In this intensely Hebrew Gospel, Jesus-' attitude toward the nations (tà éthnç) cannot be anything but highly interesting, because, in contrast to Israel, God's people, the Gentiles were so commonly distinguished by this term, that the nations is ordinary Jewish parlance for the pagans. However, that Jesus is not using these words in this sense is evident from the following considerations:

1.

He says not the nations, but all the nations. Thus, the common idiom is altered by all.

2.

His Hebrew interpreters would not have accepted His words exclusively in the sense of the pagan Gentiles.

a.

No Hebrew could conceive of the righteous (Matthew 25:34; Matthew 25:37) as somehow excluding the outstanding representatives of the Hebrew nation, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and scores, if not thousands of others.

b.

Nor would it be likely that many Hebrews would admit that Gentiles should be admitted to the Kingdom on so rudimentary a test as their good works without Mosaic Law. Remember the struggle in the early Church over this issue (Acts 15:5; Acts 21:20 ff.; Galatians; Hebrews)!

c.

So, from the nationalistic Jewish standpoint, Jesus is talking nonsense, because His Jewish listeners would demand, as an irreducible minimum, that Israel be included as one of the nations to be admitted on the basis of its good works. But to admit Israel destroys the supposed idiom for pagan Gentiles here.

Therefore, our Lord means literally all the nations. In contrast to the foregoing Jewish prejudice, His point is precisely that the godly people whom God welcomes are not merely Hebrews, to the exclusion of the Gentiles, nor even vice versa, but, rather, anyone of any nation who proves himself useful to God on the basis indicated (Matthew 25:35-40). As will be shown, only those who submit to Jesus-' Kingship and who trust Him to know final issues, are finally accepted.

So, speaking originally to purely Jewish Apostles, who might have thus misunderstood Him, Jesus did not predicate final judgment on the basis of national Jewishness at all, but upon any man's real usefulness to his fellowmen, a standard of justice which all men can recognize (cf. Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:9-16).

He shall separate them. Whereas other parables picture His angels as employed to distinguish the righteous from the wicked (cf. Matthew 13:41 ff., Matthew 13:49 f.), here He claims this as His prerogative. This is no contradiction, just a question of emphasis. What He orders His agents to do, He may be said to do for Himself. No angel moves, but at His word. He shall separate them: all the nations are not even to be judged as nations, but broken down into individuals. In Greek, them (autoùs) is masculine gender, whereas its antecedent, nations (éthnç) is neuter. (Cf. Matthew 28:19 in Greek for an analogous construction and concept.) For this last, definitive separation He shall need no last-minute, detailed scrutiny of the relative merits of each one of millions upon millions of human beings all resurrected or transformed live to stand trial before Him. He shall distinguish them into two groups as expertly as an experienced shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, i.e. according to their true character so perfectly well-known to Him who has pastured them for centuries (John 10:14 f., John 10:3 f., John 10:27 f.). Though sheep and goats are commonly pastured together, they do not share a common destiny, because of their different natures. This nicely illustrates how completely human lives are merged here on earth, yet how decisively and permanently they will be parted at judgment. Jesus must remove many from His flock, because He does not recognize them or their claims to belong to Him. Ezekiel developed this sheep-goat allegory further than Jesus does (Ezekiel 34:17 ff.). However, in strong, clear strokes the Lord more simply draws the basic distinction which permanently collects people into two fundamental categories.

Mingled together as one great flock prior to this judgment, the great family of man is difficult to distinguish into the two classes. (Cf. Matthew 13:24-30; Matthew 13:37-43.) But each man will have written his own book (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:2 f.) the contents of which are already well-known to the Judge (John 2:25; Revelation 2:23; cf. Revelation 2:2; cf. Revelation 2:9; cf. Revelation 2:13; cf. Revelation 2:19; Revelation 3:1 c, Revelation 3:8; Revelation 3:15). For Jesus to separate sheep and goats is a matter of no difficulty or delay. In fact, these books are not to be opened to inform the Lord of each man's deeds, but to document for the world the righteousness of His judgments based on what every person had done (Matthew 16:27; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Romans 2:16; Revelation 20:12 f.). Our text (Matthew 25:34-36; Matthew 25:40) will establish an essential criterion whereby anyone may cause his name to be inscribed in the Lamb's book of life even from the foundation of the earth (Revelation 3:5; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:12 ff.; Revelation 21:27; Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Hebrews 12:23). The Lord already knows who are His (2 Timothy 2:19). His practiced eye can distinguish a sheep from a goat every time, even if everyone looks like a cross between a sheep and a goat to us! Even if on earth the race had been thoroughly organized into complicated categories by racial types, styles of government, economic statuses, technological development, cultural advancement, etc., with one simple gesture Jesus shall obliterate these unmeaning distinctions that had seemed so significant before. At the final Day, there will be just sheep or goats, only a twofold division of humanity: the saved and the lost (Matthew 3:12; Matthew 7:23 ff.; Matthew 13:24 ff., Matthew 13:48; Matthew 21:28 ff.; Matthew 22:1 ff.; Matthew 24:40 f., Matthew 24:45; Matthew 24:48; Matthew 25:2; Matthew 25:33), Such a twofold categorization of the race is striking, because great rabbis prior to Jesus had confidently decided that mankind's destiny must be distributed into three sectors: the perfectly just, the completely wicked, and those to be consigned to a Jewish purgatory (Edersheim, Life, II, 440; esp. Append. XIX).

Matthew 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Sheep, in Scripture, is a common designation for God's people or Christ's disciples (Matthew 7:15; Matthew 10:16; Matthew 26:31; John 10:2-16, John 10:26 f.; John 21:16 f.; Romans 8:36; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25). These sheep are further described:

1.

They are called the righteous (Matthew 25:37; Matthew 25:46).

2.

They are invited as blessed of my Father (Matthew 25:34).

3.

The kingdom is prepared for (them) from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34).

Among Semitic peoples, goats are highly prized along with sheep. Their hair or wool may be of various colors (Genesis 30:32 to Genesis 31:13), although sheep's wool is spoken of as white or snow-colored (Psalms 147:16; Isaiah 1:18; Ezekiel 27:18 white wool), while goats were generally dark colored (Song of Solomon 4:1? cf. tents of goat-hair, Matthew 1:5?). Since in a nomadic society a person's wealth could be calculated by the size of his flocks of goats and sheep, there would be no natural prejudice against goats as animals. Perhaps Jesus chose goats as the contrary of sheep, simply because they are so commonly associated together in the flocks and are separated by shepherds. They naturally lent themselves to the purpose of Jesus-' graphic presentation of judgment. Helplessness and total dependence on the shepherd characterize sheep, whereas goats are more headstrong and daring. It may be these latter characteristics that suggest the figurative use to describe people.

Set. on his right hand. on the left. This arrangement follows well-established tradition: the right hand signified acceptance and

honor; the left, rejection. (Cf. 1 Kings 2:19; Psalms 45:9; Psalms 110:1; Ephesians 1:20; Matthew 26:64, etc.) This simple act by Jesus instantly indicates the King's final judgment on everyone. Judgment is actually all over at this point. What follows is not the deciding of anyone's fate, but the rewarding or sentencing and His justification in either case.

That Christians shall be brought before Christ in judgment should not be questioned by reference to texts like John 3:18 or Matthew 5:24, when texts like Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10 reveal that we must appear before His tribunal. The former texts correctly affirm that a Christian will not be condemned in court because of his sins, because these shall have been forgiven him for his faith in the grace of Christ. The latter passages picture our appearance before the Judge, without stating our sentence of acquittal. Not one of our sins will be discussed, only our acts of practical helpfulness.

c. The basis of judgment: everyday usefulness and service to others (25:34-45)

Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Ezekiel had depicted God as Shepherd who would care for His sheep and judge them until the time He would establish His Servant David over them to tend them and be their true shepherd (Ezekiel 34:23 f.). This great Davidic Shepherd was also to be Israel's true King (Zechariah 9:9; Psalms 2). So, while it may appear unusual in the Gospels that the Shepherd should also be Judge and King, it is neither illogical nor unforeseen, but most appropriate, because only those who have a true shepherd's heart are fit to be kings or judges over God's people (Ezekiel 34; Zechariah 10:3; Zechariah 11:3; Zechariah 11:5-17). Although Jesus has already appeared in Matthew as king of the Jews (Matthew 2:2) and king of Zion (Matthew 21:5), this is the first and only occurrence of His using this regal title for Himself. To entitle Himself King in this context is tantamount to affirming His own deity. (Cf. 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:13-16.)

Come, ye blessed of my Father. Whether this expression (toû patròs mou) be seen as genitive or ablative, the concept is magnificent: they are blessed because they belong to God or their blessedness originates with Him. (Cf. Ephesians 1:3-14; 2 Corinthians 1:3 f.) When their compassionate mercy toward the needy, the unworthy and those who could not pay them back, is so characteristic of God Himself (Deuteronomy 10:17 ff.), hence shows their true spiritual kinship to Him (cf. Matthew 5:44-48; Luke 6:27-36), should not they inherit who are most kin to Him?! (Cf. Romans 8:16 f.; 1 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:1-3.)

To inherit the kingdom, from the viewpoint of the Hebrew listener, means to take possession as rightful heir of all that Hebrew history had prepared Jewish people to long for, i.e. the perfect, total, eternal government of God in all realms of His world. (Cf. 2 Peter 1:11.) But to the righteous, what is the kingdom to be inherited?

1.

While there is a beautiful sense in which to inherit anything of God's is to be recognized as His child, this does not mean He intends to abdicate in favor of His renewed humanity. It is not His sovereign universal rule of all realms of the universe that they inherit, for He shall continue to be King in this sense (1 Corinthians 15:28; Revelation 11:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:15 f.).

2.

As Plummer (Matthew, 350f.) expressed it, This King not only comes in His Kingdom, but has kingdoms to bestow, which have been waiting throughout all time for their proper sovereigns. (Cf. Luke 12:32; Luke 19:17; Luke 19:19; Daniel 7:27; Revelation 2:26 f; Revelation 3:21; Revelation 5:10; see my note on Matthew 5:10.) In this higher, nobler sense, then, WE shall be the kings and lords over whom Jesus shall reign as King of kings and Lord of lords! (Lenski, Matthew, 990). Before this judgment, we are but heirs of hope (Romans 8:15-25; Galatians 4:6-7; Hebrews 6:12; 1 Peter 1:4). However, because of this judgment, we really inherit all that the Lord promised. (Cf. 2 Peter 1:10 f.) This does not mean we were never in the Kingdom before (Colossians 1:13). Rather, we come into full possession of that for which we have spent our life (Acts 14:22), the new heaven and new earth wherein dwells righteousness (2 Peter 3:13), where God is sole Ruler, sin is forever banished and all things are subject to Him (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

3.

Because it is to be a kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,

a.

It is not of recent date. Jesus affirmed, In my Father's house ARE many mansions already destined since the world's founding for God's children (John 14:2). But, if He Himself subsequently affirmed, I go to prepare a place for you, how, then, is everything fully ready since before man's creation? Before creating man, God purposely designed such a Kingdom as would be suitable for man. But its pure character demanded that the conditions be established whereby sinful man could enter into it. Thus, without Christ's part there could be no place for unredeemed sinners. So, His atonement, forgiveness and intercession prepare a place for us with God. By establishing the real, spiritual basis of this Kingdom, Jesus simply carried out all God had projected since before the world's foundation.

b.

It fits our needs. This kingdom was designed specifically for God's people, in contrast to the fate of the wicked which was really reserved for someone else, the devil and his crowd.

c.

What begins on this world's Last Day, therefore, is but the successful completion of the personal eternal purpose of our sovereign God. The Kingdom we are to enjoy is no makeshift, contingency plan. Our future rule is but the realization of the unalterable, ultimate goal of the sovereign Lord of the universe (Matthew 20:23; John 17:24; Ephesians 1:3 ff.; 1 Peter 1:19 f.; 1 Corinthians 2:9 f.).

Is it just possible, therefore, that the kingdom we inherit is that original sovereignty for which God created us (Genesis 1:2; Psalms 8:3-9)? Will He place us once more in His Paradise where there shall be no more curse, crying or death, where He shall live with man forever and man with Him in perfect communion? (Cf. Revelation 2:7; Revelation 2:11; Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 3:21; Revelation 21:3-4; Revelation 21:6 f.; Revelation 22:1-5.) Is it thinkable that the original kingdom wewere designed and created to inherit shall finally be ours? If so, adore Him who can turn Èden episode with its aftermath of sin and death, into a proving ground for His saints and a battleground on which to defeat Satan! Worship Him whose program could not be defeated, despite a seemingly interminable interlude of several millennia!

Love, the True Test of Discipleship to Jesus

Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; 36 naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me; I was in prison and ye came unto me. This is the standard of values that justifies the sentence just pronounced upon the righteous. This norm is so strikingly simple that some commentators incline to apply it also to men totally ignorant of Christ. They assume that the unconsciousness, with which the righteous did their deeds of love, proves that their motivation was natural, as opposed to revealed, religion, and that Jesus here welcomes their love which prompted their deeds in lieu of intelligent faith in Him. But may it be correctly supposed that ANYONE, who does not know Jesus-' grace or the power of His Spirit, could do consistently what is described here for any prolonged time without eventually faltering and failing? Where is the moral power in paganism to meet even this standard of justice which apparently all nations could recognize? Where, apart from God's Spirit, are men stimulated and empowered to love so consistently as Jesus pictures here?

Jesus-' point is not that, in the case of anyone ignorant of Christ, sentence will be given on the basis of good deeds, but, rather, that judgment is based on usefulness to God and man, rather than on national Jewishness or any other sectarian superficiality. Although He addressed a Jewish context, saying what well-versed Hebrews could have expected Him to say, the surprise is that racial Jewishness is so far from being a prime requisite that it is not even a peripheral consideration!

Such a standard is easily justified. This kind of thoughtful usefulness to others and open-handed generosity proves our likeness to God. (Cf. God's argument in Deuteronomy 15:1 ff. and Jesus-' restatement in Luke 6:30-36; Matthew 5:42-48.) Such steady, unstinting concern for the unfortunate, the little people and for those unable to pay, is proof of our similarity to Jesus Himself who so magnanimously mingled with and lifted the fallen (Luke 15! Matthew 9:9-13; 2 Corinthians 8:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:6-8). Bearing one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2) links us with the great Burden-bearer (Isaiah 53:4-6). Such openhearted liberality proves also how much we really trust our heavenly Father to provide our own needs and how much we actually believe He can always make us rich enough to be generous (Matthew 6:19-34; 2 Corinthians 9:8-11). This generous spirit toward our fellow servants illustrates just how clearly we have understood the grace we have received from our own gracious Lord and King (Matthew 18:21-35). Even though those who were hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick and in prison put themselves in debt to us by accepting from us food, drink and spiritual refreshment, we have really learned to forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12; Matthew 6:14 f.). Only thus can anyone obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7). Grace is for the grateful and the gracious, not for the hard-hearted and tight-fisted. So, why should not a salvation by grace through faith be measured by the reality of the very deeds that prove this faith real (Romans 2:6; Matthew 16:27; 1 Corinthians 3:8; 2 Corinthians 5:10; James 1:27; James 2:14-26; 1 John 3:14-18; 1 John 4:20 f.; Revelation 22:12). Only by the acid test of DEEDS of humble usefulness and daily mercy are our faith, love and appreciation of grace proven real (John 13:35; 1 Corinthians 13). The contrary is also demonstrated by their absence. (See on Matthew 25:42.)

Jesus could not have added, I was ignorant and erring, and you instructed me and led me to repent, and I was forgiven, lest we misunderstand His purity, true identity and consequent authority. However, had He done so, it would have been marvelously appropriate with respect to every one of His brethren here. Our own brotherly intercession for them, pleading with them to repent and our sacrificing self for them, proves how much we grasp and appreciate His perfect High-priesthood (Hebrews 4:14 to Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 7:26 f.).

Noteworthy is the peculiar character of these deeds. Rather than highlight some great, newsworthy accomplishments like prophecying, casting out demons or miracles (Matthew 7:22), Jesus underscores simple, common deeds of kind helpfulness that even the most insignificant, least known disciple could do for someone else.

For many whose prime religious life-emphasis is attention to the smooth functioning of ecclesiastical machinery and the construction of imposing institutional structures, the great surprise is Jesus-' stunning lack of interest in most of our statistics thought so significant: how many miracles wrought, how many demons cast out, how many pages of prophecy penned, how many bodies present in our religious meetings, how much money given, how much our buildings are worth, how many prayers said, sermons preached or Bible verses memorized. The only finally important question is: how can I successfully serve a Lord who longs to help the lonely and the needy, unless I show Him that I love Him by seeking to serve those very unfortunates that He loves and died to save and serve? (Cf. Galatians 4:19; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 3:16 f.) So, the final aim of all growth in piety is to make us more like God, to put the mind of Christ in us and to cause us to act as He did (1 Peter 2:21 ff.; 1 John 4:17-21; Romans 8:29).

How very easy, then, it is for ANYONE however great or small, to please Jesus! All one must do is love perfectly, doing the things that anyone could do to provide the needs of common people we meet everyday. If this seems simplistic, recall what Jesus thinks is required to love perfectly. (See notes on Matthew 5:44-48; Matthew 7:12.) Such unpretentious, unstinting altruism does not spring from non-Christian philosophy, but is the natural expression of a new creature, empowered by a new Spirit and possessed with a new love. So, mere humanistic charity without faith in Jesus has no hope of final justification on the basis of our text.

That there should be striking verbal parallels between Jesus-' words here and the pre-Christian Testament of Joseph Matthew 1:5 f., should occasion no surprise. Rather, more surprising would have been Jesus-' ignorance of the literature of His own people. But the Lord turned that language upside down, since Joseph credits God with helping in each case, whereas Jesus the Lord Himself credits common, generous people with assisting Him in His need.

Ye took me in, though a stranger. (Cf. Judges 19:18; Hebrews 13:1 f.) This warm hospitality welcomes the stranger into our own family circle, sharing whatever is needed (3 John 1:5-8; 3 John 1:10; Titus 3:13 f.). In prison and ye came unto me, in context with predictions of Christian persecutions, calls believers to identify with the imprisoned (Hebrews 10:32 ff; Hebrews 13:3). But with respect to non-Christians incarcerated for crimes, His people may labor within existing prison systems to bring them Christ's love and message.

Self-forgetful, Utterly Humble Service

Matthew 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? 38 And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? How could any informed Christian, whose every deed and attitude should be expressed out of his love for Christ and in conformity to His will, ever be so surprised as to ask this? Some assert that no one who has ever known a personal relationship to Jesus could ever say what is recorded here. Consequently, they decide that the righteous here are not Christians, adducing the following reasons:

1.

Their award is based on works, not expressly on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ.

a.

However, Christians too will be judged as believers on the basis of what their deeds reveal about the reality of their faith (James 2:14-26; Romans 2:6-11; Matthew 16:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

b.

To consider pagan unbelievers who have never heard of Christ as saved specifically because all their deeds of love had been done to and for Christ, even though they did not so intend them and only discovered it at this tribunal, is to show extraordinary laxity quite out of harmony with the general trend of New Testament doctrine. (Cf. Romans 3:10-18; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 11:32.) No interpretation of this text can be true that undermines the three mainsprings of Christian evangelism: the conviction that (1) all men indiscriminately are really sinners and damned; (2) that Jesus Christ is their only God-appointed Savior; and (3) that Christian evangelism is the divinely appointed means for bringing the really lost to the only Savior (Romans 10:9-17).

c.

Further, are pagans so really well-known for the kind of continuous, unselfish hospitality and generosity Jesus pictures as having been done for Him? (Cf. notes on Matthew 11:5.) Or, is it, rather, the pagans themselves who comment on the remarkable Christian open-handedness unknown among the unconverted?

2.

These words (vv. 37-39) cannot be the language of humility because Christian humility cannot be thought of as devoid of consciousness (Biederwolf, 357, citing Olshausen).

a.

But are Christians really as conscious of their every act as, ideally, they should be or would desire it? Are we really unfailingly aware that every needy person we confront represents Jesus Christ to us? Is it impossible that on that Last Great Day we could (in Alford's words) be overwhelmed at the sight of the grace which has been working in and for us? Is there no room for true surprise at just how much eternal good we actually shall have done as the fruit of Christ's Spirit in us or how far-reaching our influence for good shall have been?

b.

Is there no room for genuine, child-like amazement that our common, lowly deeds of human sympathy, which in the course of our earth-life seemed only the right thing to do, should be exalted by the King of heaven and treated as having been done to Him personally? Can there be no happy astonishment that the many tiny favors, now long-forgotten, which were but the natural fruit of the maturation of Christ's life in us, should suddenly reappear as Jesus-' reason for welcoming us home?

So, the supposition, that the righteous here could not be Christians, is less well-grounded than originally thought, and it becomes unnecessary, with McGarvey (Matthew-Mark, 221) to obviate the problem by considering this conversation in Jesus-' story as something that could not occur at judgment, or to think that most Christians will have already learned the lesson here taught. The genuine astonishment of the Christians is completely comprehensible under the following conditions:

1.

THE TRUE ABSENCE OF CHRIST FROM THE WORLD AND THE OMNIPRESENCE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. In the pressure of everyday life it is easy to forget that we really serve Christ. So, when the plight of another human being comes to our attention, perhaps we may not perceive the image of Jesus in them. Our decision to help them may come simply from our loving awareness of their need and our desire to minister to them. The figure of Christ is often quite obscured by the nitty-gritty realism of their need, so our kindness in meeting it really reflects the natural, spontaneous reaction of a godly, loving heart. Rather than calculate how much eternal reward we pile up by serving Jesus directly, we simply act out the true instincts of our Christ-like graciousness by serving the other human being simply for the sake of helping him. This sets the stage, however, to be surprised that such long-forgotten, spontaneous service should be considered as rendered to the King Himself.

2.

OUR IMPOSSIBILITY TO DO SERVICE DIRECTLY TO JESUS AND HIS IDENTIFICATION WITH HIS PEOPLE. The Christ reigns from a heavenly throne. No mortal can approach Him with gifts of food, raiment or gems. None can serve Him, unless He should consider every service of our lives, however apparently insignificant they seem to us, as done to Himself. Only thus can we find service and recognition where, before, we dared not dream it possible. So, because of His kindly identification with every one of His creatures, our King graciously attributes this service to us. (Cf. Acts 9:1-4; Acts 9:13; John 15:18 to John 16:4.)

3.

THE GREAT DISPROPORTION BETWEEN THE SERVICE RENDERED AND THE REWARD GIVEN. When Christians depend on God's grace all their lives and merely respond to it in gratitude by serving others, suddenly find themselves endowed with abundance exceeding all they could ask or imagine, such magnificence seems a disproportionate reward for so very little done for God during their lifetime. So they stand frankly embarrassed to realize that Jesus is serious in granting them infinite, eternal glory on the basis of what they supposed was insignificant to Him.

No wonder, then, that Judgment must occur, in order to reveal to everyone what is now utterly unperceived by the majority and only dimly grasped by a few, i.e. the actual character and influence of men's lives and the extent to which each truly harmonized or contrasted with God's will for each one. No wonder, too, that only Jesus Christ Himself is qualified to decide on the relative significance of our small kindnesses, because only He can know how truly our conduct toward others really served His great purpose, how far-reaching our Christ-likeness influenced others to further godliness and how much the world was made a better place because of some apparently insignificant deed we did years ago. No wonder, too, that His evaluation of men's conduct is so radically different from the estimate that both the good and the evil place on their own deeds.

Is not this paragraph motive to love, praise and serve Jesus forever? Our generous Lord considers as headline news the many little kindnesses we have done for years and totally forgotten as not worth mentioning! He erects an eternal monument to commemorate a glass of cold water, a flat tire changed for a handicapped person, a tear dried on the face of a child, additional time to pay offered a family strapped by unemployment, and countless other deeds! This simple declaration of Jesus tests our discipleship to the core: do we believe His world real? Dare we admit the hidden Christ in the ragged need of our neighbor? Can we confess the riches of the invisible Christ to be greater wealth than all the pleasures of indifference to our neighbor's needs? Can we live as if we could see Him who is invisible? (Cf. Hebrews 11:25-27.)

Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. Our concept of this wide-sweeping criterion is influenced by two factors: (1) how do we identify these my brethren?and (2) why utilize this principle of judgment? These my brethren must be someone present in the great judgment scene, indicated perhaps by a sweep of the King's hand. But who are they?

1.

Some commentators assume that three groups are contemplated by the Lord: the sheep, the goats, and these my brethren. This trichotomy then forces them to identify each group somewhat as follows:

a.

The sheep are fleshly Israel (the lost sheep of the house of Israel), the goats are unbelievers, and these my brethren are the harassed Church of Christ.

b.

These my brethren are Israel according to the flesh (Romans 9:5), the sheep are the Church who had been kind to Jews in distress, while the goats are unbelievers who had not.

c.

These my brethren are the elect of God, the Church of both Testaments, while the sheep and goats become two different classes of people outside the pale of either covenant.

However, Jesus was not necessarily coining terminology for a tight eschatological system. He was speaking popularly to Hebrew listeners expected to understand Him. This tri-partite division leads to confusing and contradictory conclusions, hence the simpler solution is that of Jesus, the twofold division of humanity, the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:32 f.).

2.

The King's sweeping gesture toward these my brethren even these least, then, must include ANYONE of the entire human family who had need, whether Christian or not.

a.

It can be validly argued that Jesus-' true brethren are only those who do the will of His heavenly Father (Matthew 12:46-50). Jesus said so, and that settles it.

b,

On the other hand, our section began with Jesus-' great Messianic title: the Son of man (Matthew 25:31), which focuses attention on His authority to judge as well as on His true identity (Daniel 7:13 f.; John 5:27). Even though He is THE Son of man par excellence, yet, by virtue of His human birth, HE IS BROTHER OF EVERY MAN WHO EVER LIVED. (See notes on Matthew 8:20.) From this point of view, then, there is no exclusiveness or pride in Jesus, because He is not ashamed to call even the worst sinner of the race brother.

So, Plummer (Matthew, 351) was right to affirm that Christ's claiming the poor and needy as His brethren is quite in keeping with His character as the Son of Man and the Son of God. His calling any man brother expresses His love for every human being to whom He willingly claims kinship. What psychologically powerful motivation He provides us in that act: by claiming kinship to everyone, whatever their need, He endears them to us! Anyone who is a brother of Jesus is a brother of mine to love and help just as He would! He urges, The least of these my brethren are your brothers too.

How apply Jesus-' words? By doing good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Galatians 6:10). Would our generous Master withhold His praise, should we show kindness to some unbeliever? Can the Savior of every man, who gave Himself without limit to win the heart of each, somehow not be sympathetic to the cry of the overlooked and despised who hurt, or fail to notice when any of His own people stops and stoops to lift the fallen and relieve their affliction, when the Heavenly Father does this every day (Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:27-36)?! So, when any believer helps anyone in the great family of man, God's promise to Abraham, In you and in your children shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, finds surprisingly wider fulfillment (Genesis 22:18).

Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. Why adopt this standard that sounds as if deeds alone are the determining factor in the salvation or loss of each man? Standing before a people for whom orthodox faith is paramount, why does Jesus emphasize deeds? Is it that faith in the correct doctrine is somehow less important than deeds? No, belief in the right teaching or hearty acceptance of the true revelations of God, is evident only in the life that acts in harmony with those revelations to express confidence in Him who told us what to believe. These deeds, then, reflect a person's attitude toward God, and are the acid test of his belief or unbelief (Matthew 7:21; James 2:14 ff.; 1 John 2:9 ff.). Hence, the Lord will render to everyone according to his deeds (Matthew 16:27; Matthew 10:32 f.; Romans 2:6 ff.). Here is why:

1.

There is absolutely no way anyone can serve God directly. He does not dwell in temples made by men nor is He served by men's hands (Acts 17:24 f.). He does not use or need our gifts (Psalms 50:9-13). Our very materiality defeats our best efforts to do service to Him who is spirit (John 4:23 f.). Therefore, some other way must be found, if man is to serve Him at all.

2.

Therefore, God has chosen to send us His representatives to substitute for His royal Person: the needy, the ill, the alienated, the least of these His brethren. This is the finest test of our true character, because, were Jesus to appear on earth in His kingly glory, too many would hastily mask their true personality, show Him smiling deference, spare no pains to do Him honor and deny Him nothing. Were He to send the great, we would suppose that their importance gives value to our service or that we could later benefit from their position. Contrarily, the least are indicated, because they cannot repay. Serving them does not advance our position socially. (Cf. Luke 14:12-14.) The inclination to show them generosity would be practically nil in self-pleasing societies, but it would demonstrate our true character.

3.

Hence, to serve people is to serve Jesus Christ. To abuse or persecute them, or simply to turn a deaf ear to their pleas, is to treat God in the same way. (An ancient concept: Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Psalms 22:24; Proverbs 19:17; Proverbs 14:31; Ecclesiastes 11:1 f.; Isaiah 63:9; Zechariah 2:8; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8; Hebrews 6:10.) The richness of our generosity with people is the measure we give to Godeven if it is service we render our earthly superiors (Colossians 3:18 to Colossians 4:1; Ephesians 5:21 to Ephesians 6:9; Matthew 7:2; Luke 6:37 f.).

4.

Therefore, in Jesus-' name we identify with others in their need (Hebrews 13:3; Romans 12:13; Romans 12:15-16; Romans 12:20 f.; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Ephesians 4:28; Ephesians 5:1-2; Philippians 2:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-15).

In the final analysis, then, everyone will be rewarded on the basis of his similarity to the Judges (Matthew 5:44-48; Luke 6:32-38). While our text intimates that our Lord will surprise the world by the startling basis on which the judgment of each turns, this verdict will harmonize perfectly with the moral sense, experience and judgments of the world as it estimates others, i.e. not merely on the basis of the opinions held, but especially on the basis of deeds and character. So, God utilizes our commonest standard of judgment to deal with everyone on that Last Day.

ARE ALL GOOD PAGANS SAVED?

Alford (I, 256) describes those, who are judged righteous here, as decent pagans:

(They) know not that all their deeds of love have been done to and for Christthey are overwhelmed with the sight of the grace which has been working in and for them, and the glory which is now their blessed portion.. It is not the works, as such, but the love which prompted themthat love which was their faith,which felt its way, though in darkness, to Him who is love, which is commended.

In a similar vein, Bruce (Expositor's Greek Test, 306) taught

The doctrine of this passage is that love is the essence of true religion and the ultimate test of character for all men Christian or non-Christian. All who truly love are implicit Christians. For such everywhere the kingdom is prepared. They are its true citizens and God is their Father.

Others might urge that, if God wants to save a person who never heard of Christ, but whose treatment of his fellows reveals that practical love to which God aimed in all His decrees, will not that pagan's unbaptism be considered baptism, his unconversion become conversion? After all, is not the very purpose of the Judeo-Christian tradition to make men over in the likeness of God? Could not this purpose be achieved by someone who never heard about Jesus?

This thesis, however well expressed, is only hypothetically possible but not juridically probable nor sustained by the mainstream of Scripture. None has ever been good enough to be redeemed by his own mere goodness, even though it be goodness to his fellows (Romans 3:10 ff., Romans 3:23). To affirm the contrary denies that God has consigned all men alike to the category of sin with its consequences (Romans 3:9; Romans 11:32; Galatians 3:22).

Now if God wishes to save pagans who never heard of Christ but simply on the basis of their practical love which stands in the place of faithsince they could never have any faith in a Jesus of whom they never heard (Romans 10:14-17)that is His business. He is Lord. Nevertheless, the only information He has revealed about His plans indelibly underlines the deadness, darkness and doom of those living outside the pale of the Judeo-Christian faith. The principle purpose of Romans, for instance, is to convince Jews that lost Gentiles can be saved on the same ground of faith as any Hebrew. Ephesians 2:2 ff. describes the destiny of death programmed for the disobedient. objects of wrath like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:11 ff. sweepingly indicts the entire Gentile population of earth as separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. having no hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 4:17-19 categorically declares that Gentiles live in the futility of their minds. darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardening of their heart. Peter too condemns as former ignorance and futile the traditions of one's tribe or race as something from which men must be redeemed (1 Peter 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18; 1 Peter 4:3 f.; cf. Colossians 1:21). John announced that it is uniquely the Son of God who has come to give us understanding and the opportunity to know Him who is true, the true God and eternal life, while all the rest are idols (1 John 5:20 f.). Can anyone, Jew or Gentile, be saved in his idolatry? He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son has not life (1 John 5:12). Will our covenant-keeping God act inconsistently with these revelations of His own intentions?

The Opposite Verdict

Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus unflinchingly reveals the following characteristics of this punishment:

1.

The punishment of the wicked is no blessing, but a curse, suited to those cursed by God. This filthy place of horror, desolation and death all over again is a place where God's patient love and forgiveness is not. (Revelation 20:14 f.; 2 Thessalonians 1:9 exclusion from the presence of the Lord.)

2.

Their chastisement separates them from Jesus: Depart! (cf. Matthew 7:23; Matthew 25:46; Luke 13:27 f.; cf. outside: Matthew 8:11 f.; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:10 ff., Matthew 25:30; Revelation 22:15). This deprives them of all the joy of His presence.

3.

Their penalty involves being cast into the eternal fire. Some question the eternality of hell on the assumption that the wicked shall be tormented so many years and then extinguished by annihilation, But since the devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet will be tormented day and night for ever and ever, (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10; Revelation 20:14 f.) it is no surprise that those demons and men who follow Satan should share his fate (Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:24; Luke 8:31; Revelation 20:14 f; Revelation 14:9-11). Such a prospect offers little hope for a merciful reprieve through later annihilation.

Further, this unquenchable fire is eternal fire, because it is prepared, hence, not necessarily like any other fire known to man. Consequently, it is not subject to the logical deductions that some base on scientific knowledge of elements in our present universe. If the Lord Himself provides the fire, who can debate its reality or character, if He terms it unquenchable or eternal? (Cf. Isaiah 33:14; Isaiah 66:24; Matthew 3:10-12; Mark 9:43-48; Jude 1:7; Revelation 20:10; Revelation 20:14 f.; cf. Revelation 19:20; Revelation 21:8.) Such fire, then, must be worse than all our present experiences of literal, earthly fire. (Cf. Deuteronomy 32:22; Psalms 11:6; Psalms 18:8; Psalms 21:9; Psalms 97:3; Psalms 140:10; Jeremiah 4:4; Nahum 1:6; Malachi 3:2; Malachi 4:1.) On eternal, see Matthew 25:46. Sodom's fate is but a grim preview (Jude 1:7, NIV).

4.

Their punishment is prepared for the devil and his angels, a fact with two ramifications:

a.

Hell is no afterthought for God. Satan's revolt did not catch God unprepared to deal with his rebellion. God is prepared either way. For those who share His holiness, He prepared a realm of eternal happiness. For those who share Satan's proud, rebellious spirit, He has ready a place of unending punishment (Matthew 13:41 f., Matthew 13:49 f.; Matthew 18:8 f.; Luke 16:19-31; Jude 1:7).

b.

Hell was not originally planned for man whose high destiny was established at his creation to rule over all the works of (God'S) hands (Psalms 8). But when man determined not to realize the glorious purpose for which God created him, he damned himself to spend eternity with those who likewise rebelled against the benign purpose of God.

The Justice of the Sentence

Matthew 25:42 For I was hungry, and ye did not, give me to eat; I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink; 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison, and ye visited me not (Hebrews 13:16). Why should it be true that, regardless of all other considerations, the sin of neglecting to bless the needy with required refreshment is sufficient to justify an eternity of punishment? Because one's indifference to people proves how he understands grace and shows that, in his view, when anyone is in need of mercy, it should not be granted (James 1:22; James 4:17; Luke 12:47). So, none is granted to him (Matthew 5:7; Matthew 18:32 f.). Lack of positive, out-going love that actively ministers to people is the denial of all that is fundamental in religion (Matthew 22:34-40). God's love simply does not dwell in the selfish (1 John 3:17). God feels responsible for the unfortunate, and acts accordingly. There can be no praise for an inactive orthodoxy (James 2:14-26).

But why did Jesus not mention those other sins that men consider far more heinous, as the basis of His unquestionably right verdict? Surely murder, adultery and idolatry are still sins, still culpable. ? His piercing analysis here intends to reveal the terrible criminality of what are only apparently the least of sins. He does this for two reasons. By condemning the unimportant sins, He simultaneously pronounces His judgment convincingly against all others thought far more serious. (See note on Matthew 25:30.) Further, by condemning this indifference to our fellows which is expressed in these petty omissions, He attacks the selfishness behind all the more important sins. Again, He condemns what men's attitude toward Him would have been, had He personally approached them in the guise of their needy fellowman. It is as if they had said no to Jesus Christ in every single situation. Should they not be rejected for this? Can the Lord welcome the uncompassionate?

The Self-righteous Rebuttal

Matthew 25:44 Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Their ignorance of any contact with Jesus is precisely like that of the godly, since neither group actually saw the Son of God Himself. Nevertheless, although the form of their surprised question is identical to that of the righteous, it is motivated by self-deception. They suppose that they would have been hospitable, had they actually met Him. So, in their self-justification, the ungodly haughtily challenge the King to name the time and place where they were faced with the opportunity to serve Him and failed to do so. Their self-deceived argument is, Had we been granted the privilege to serve you, we would have been more than glad to do so. But we never met anyone that even closely resembled youjust miserable wretches whom it was useless to befriend, a shabby old woman, a waif too skinny to adopt,all situations too trifling to take seriously, you understand.

The King's Defense

Matthew 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. Just how closely Jesus identified with His suffering people is illustrated by His charge that Saul of Tarsus, by persecuting the Church, had attacked Him personally (Acts 9:4 f.). Further, how closely Jesus identifies with the entire human race, despite its sinful unbelief,-' culpable ignorance and moral hardening, is indicated by His concern that men who never heard one Gospel sermon, be fully human and humane. But they fail even this rudimentary test. Their wisdom is futile, their understanding darkened. Separated from the life of God because of their ignorance which is due to spiritual self-hardening and having lost all sensitivity, they plunge into every other form of indulgence, ever greedy for more (Ephesians 4:17 ff.). Thus, they become less than human, like unreasoning animals (Jude 1:10). To be fully human means to glorify God as God and treat His creatures accordingly. (Contrast Romans 1:18-32.)

d. The results of the judgment will be permanent (25:46)

Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. Some insist that Bible texts are rare that assert the eternality of God's punishment of the damned. Granted, but HOW MANY TIMES DOES JESUS HAVE TO SAY A THING FOR IT TO BE TRUE? When correctly interpreted, just once is sufficient. Linguistically, the punishment of the rejected will endure as long as the joyous happiness of the saved, for the word, eternal, is the same used to define both (kòlasin aiònion. zôèn aiònion). Nothing could be less defensible that to affirm that eternal punishment must be of shorter duration than eternal life. The larger Biblical context describes the wicked's sentence of punishment as endless. (See notes on Matthew 10:28; Matthew 18:8; Matthew 3:12; Matthew 25:41; cf. Isaiah 33:14; Isaiah 66:24; Jude 1:7; Jude 1:13; Revelation 14:11; Revelation 20:10.)

Contrary to the supposition that truly eternal punishment must imply some kind of everlasting life for the wicked, it is more exact to say that the Scriptures eternalize all human spirits, whether good or bad, saved or damned.

1.

At death the spirit returns to God (Ecclesiastes 3:21; Ecclesiastes 12:7). If man's breath alone were intended, what is there to commit to God (Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59)?

2.

Therefore, the wicked dead as spirits are now alive and undergoing punishment (Luke 20:38; Luke 16:19-31; 1 Peter 3:19; 2 Peter 2:9). Christians, too, survive death and are alive with the Lord before the resurrection. (See notes on Matthew 22:32-33; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23.) The death of the body is not equal to the death of the spirit, because all men, apart from the resurrection, survive their separation from the body (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4 f.; Luke 23:43; 1 Corinthians 15:18; Revelation 6:9 ff; Revelation 7:9?).

3.

That the second death (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:8) does not imply annihilation is proven by its Biblical definition as the lake of fire. So, whatever is affirmed of the fire is true also of the second death. Further, as its name implies, it is death all over again for the wicked dead who were resurrected to face judgment. But, since the first death, which is the basis of the comparison, was not the end of man, since he survives the separation from the body in physical death, the second death clearly cannot imply annihilation. It implies but the separation, not from the continuation of God's goodness during earth-life, but from the eternal blessedness of His goodness during the next life.

Jesus considered eternal life and eternal punishment as proper antitheses. However, the quality of life He means cannot be bare existence, for which non-existence would be the true opposite. Rather, His life connotes an existence enriched by abundant joy, peace and reigning (John 10:10; Romans 5:17). Punishment, its true opposite, connotes an existence marred by unending misery. While eternal existence marks each destiny, how completely different is their quality!

Further, how could punishment be eternal, as Jesus says, if the punished were somehow annihilated before the termination of that suffering which He Himself declares shall be as eternal as the life of the blessed? In such a case, eternal punishment would be a contradiction in terms. But, because it is not, may it not be concluded that the punished are as eternal as the punishment for which they are destined?

That eternal punishment is neither unjust nor unworthy of God, is evidenced by the unexpected appropriateness of God's permitting the righteous and the wicked to realize their last dream, that goal to which their whole moral life tended. Is it not evidence of God's final mercy to all that each is granted the unchangeable privilege of loving or hating Him forever, of living with Him or apart from Him forever? The impenitent continue to insist until, at last, because they will not accept what God offers, the Judgment grants them what they desired. But to their endless chagrin, they discover too late that their desires were self-destructive and horribly mistaken. So, because they shall have eternally what they desired, it shall be eternal punishment. Consequently, God would be giving sinners what they had always wanted, they would be endlessly punished, and He would be perfectly just.

Therefore, is not the self-chosen misery of the wicked also appropriate? Punishment here implies that the pain caused is not spiteful brutality or purposeless cruelty on God's part, but rather a discipline imposed by the wise plan of a good God in harmony with the nature and needs of the impenitent themselves. Either they learn in this life to live with God and enjoy it, or they shall be granted the fearful privilege and awful responsibility of living without Him and of suffering all the eternal consequences their free choice entails.

But that God already considers their love so cold, their conscience so dead, their intellect so darkened and their will so hardened that none could ever desire to return to the hated Judge who sentenced them to eternal torment, is evidenced by the fact that the wicked dead are even now being punished (2 Peter 2:9). The permanence of their isolation from the righteous is beyond dispute (Luke 16:26; Matthew 13:41 f., Matthew 13:49 f.). Not one statement of Scripture suggests any possible future reversal of the judgments announced on the Last Day. Today is the day of salvation! After this life there remains only judgment (Hebrews 9:27; Hebrews 10:26-27).

Plummer (Matthew, 346) saw the incalculable risk and folly involved in wistfully hoping that eternal punishment does not mean just what it implies:

Although in the story of the five foolish virgins. we are told nothing as to the duration of the punishment for careless misconduct, we are told that it was inflicted, and that it was severe. meant banishment and untold gloom. And, even if, when it had done its work, the punishment ceased, yet the loss which it had involved was irreparable. Is it not the depth of folly to incur certain punishment, because it is not certain that the punishment shall last for ever?

But that it shall last forever is foreshadowed when Jesus called the wicked, Cursed. So saying, He signaled the termination of His, indeed all, intercession. Now, alone without any defender, they must stand before Him who longed to be their Intercessor, but who is now Lord and King, and He must put these enemies under His feet for ever. They have no hope, none to plead for them. They can only go away into eternal punishment.

The righteous enter into eternal life. (See on Matthew 25:21; Matthew 25:34.) Here is permanent success in what really counts. What perspective this final vision gives to our present, seemingly humdrum lives! Whatever the ordinariness or excitement of our present service, whatever the comparative greatness or insignificance of our achievements, the only true distinction of worth in the long-run is whether or not, in the esteemed judgment of Jesus Christ, we served Him through kind helpfulness to the least of His brethren. For with that judgment rests a joyous future with God that alone is worthy of the title, eternal life. What more appropriate, eternal dwelling could be imagined for those who are willing to associate with people of low position to lift,, encourage and lead them (Romans 12:13-16), than eternal life with God whose dwelling place is ever with him who is contrite and lowly in heart (Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 5:3-12; Revelation 21:3; Revelation 22:1-5) and loves to bless too?!

FACT QUESTIONS

1.

List all the main features surrounding the Second Coming of Christ taught in this great prophetic discourse, whether in direct declaration, indirect statement or illustration,

2.

List all the features of the sheep and goats illustration that are parallel with details given in other parables.

3.

What is the one main point of this illustration about the sheep and goats? Show what is really new in this story that was not taught in others.

4.

According to Jesus, what is to be the criterion of judgment? What makes this standard so vital?

5.

On what previous occasion(s) had Jesus clearly taught about His glorious coming with His angels to judge men according to their deeds? (Occasion and text.)

6.

In what sense will all nations be gathered before him? Will they be judged as nations or as individuals?

7.

Who are the sheep and who are the goats in Jesus-' illustration?

8.

What is meant by inherit the kingdom?

9.

In what sense was the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world?

10.

Who are the brethren of Christ to whom practical help was to be given? Defend your answer.

11.

What is meant by eternal fire? In what sense was it prepared for the devil and his angels?

12.

Who or what is the devil? Who or what are his angels?

13.

Define the following terms, using everything the Bible teaches on these subjects:

a.

eternal punishment Does this imply unending existence, or a quality of existence?

b.

eternal life Does this imply merely unending existence, or a quality thereof?

14.

To what coming does our Lord allude in this parable? Prove your answer.

15.

Explain what is meant by the throne of His glory.

16.

What does this section teach or imply about the character, nature and authority of Jesus?

17.

What does this parable reveal about the purpose of a final judgment?