THE PERSON AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS
THE OLIVET DISCOURSE The Second Coming of Christ
With these 16 verses we come to the end of the teachings of Jesus. The only major utterance for Jesus after this point is the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20). What is surprising about the present passage is that whereas it is the finale of Jesus' teachings, on the surface it appears somewhat anticlimatic. Yes, it does talk about judgment; however, it primarily focuses on loving others. That seems a strange way to conclude all these incredibly wonderful teachings of Jesus.
Upon deeper reflection though we see how appropriate it is for Jesus to focus on judgment AND love for others. When it is all said and done, Jesus' ministry has been all about guiding us to love God, Him, and others radically. He calls us into a Christ-centered relationship with God and with each other (the Great Commandment). His life and work here on earth have made it all possible.
Many times though we think that if we are going to scale to the heights of religion, we are going to need to perform some great act of sacrifice. Go tell me to climb the highest mountain, and I will do it. Tell me to give away as much money as possible; no problem. Tell me to love another person; that may be a problem. I want to perform some great act of sacrifice; however, helping others many times IS THE ULTIMATE sacrifice. It's not that I have a problem loving people; it's that I have a problem loving unlovely people. Unfortunately most people are unlovely. As one person said, "Church would be great if it weren't for the people in it." Well, the church IS composed of people, lovely AND unlovely. Yet those same people are the ones Jesus commands us to love. Just why we shall see in this passage.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS
Jesus Alone Is Judge
In this passage Jesus speaks of Himself as the Son of Man who comes to judge ALL mankind, not just Christians, but ALL mankind. As the Son of Man, He is both God and Man. As God, He is perfect and has no need for anyone to judge Him. Since He alone of the Godhead is Man, He is qualified to judge you and me since He has walked in our shoes. This day of judgment is going to be positive for some and horrendous for others.
First, Jesus calls ALL the nations to Himself to be judged. Some claim that this means Jesus is going to judge America, then England, then Australia, then Italy, etc. There is biblical basis for the judgment of nations (Dan. 5:1-31); however, such judgment occurs during the course of human history. Greece was judged and fell to Rome. Rome was judged and was destroyed by the pagan hordes. Germany was judged and was almost totally destroyed by the Allied armies. America may soon face her day of judgment. Her response to God during these years may determine whether her judgment is positive or negative. All these judgments of the nations though occurred DURING human history.
The event in Matt. 25:31-46 though occurs OUTSIDE of human history. It occurs after all nations have ceased to exist. Rather the word translated "nations" is better translated "peoples." Some claim that you determine your own reality. By this they mean that Buddhists will stand before their Buddha, Hindus will stand in judgment before their gods, Muslims will stand before their Allah, Jews before their Jehovah, and Christians before their Jesus. They say that their view of reality is what will determine their future. This passage totally rejects that belief. According to this passage all peoples are going to stand before Jesus in judgment and not just Christians. Jesus claims that He alone is the judge of all mankind. You and I don't determine reality; we are foolishly arrogant if we think so. Jesus alone determines reality.
Two Divisions of Mankind
This judgment basically consists of one act: dividing all the various multitudes of peoples and races into TWO races, sheep and goats. This verse has behind it the idea of the shepherd standing at the gate of the sheepfold, allowing the sheep to enter and rejecting the goats.
Today people groups number in the thousands: Armenians, Georgians, Americans, Irish, English, French, Germans, Italians, Albanians, etc., etc., etc. Jesus tells us here though that when it is all said and done, there are only 2 races of mankind, the sheep and the goats. There is no third or fourth group; only 2, sheep and goats. You are either a sheep or a goat; there is no 3rd category. Moreover, your response to JESUS determines which group you are going to be a part of.
The first group, sheep, are followers of and believers in Jesus. The sheep here is the "good" animal because its wool was of better quality than that of the goat. These sheep are given the preferred place of being at Jesus' righthand side. This is the place of favor, and in this context, the place of eternal life. Those on Jesus' right side will enter into heaven. The second group, goats, reject Jesus. They are given the terrifying place of being at Jesus' lefthand side. The lefthand side of Jesus is the place of condemnation and great suffering. These will enter the place of torment.
Blessing Upon the Sheep
First Jesus informs the sheep of the favor He is going to bestow upon them.
Come, you who are blessed of My Father;
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (25:34).
Notice that Jesus calls the sheep "blessed." At the very end of Jesus' teachings, Jesus returns to the idea which started His teaching ministry "blessed" (Matt. 5:3-12). (Although it is not the exact same word as in Matt. 5, the idea is the same.) The whole purpose of Jesus' life and teachings here on earth was for the express purpose of bringing us into a blessed relationship with His Father.
In this passage we shall now see HOW we are blessed. We are blessed in that we will inherit the kingdom God prepared for us from the foundation of the world. The kingdom here is nothing less than the dwelling place of God. How wonderful and marvelous is God? His dwelling place will be just as wonderful and marvelous as He is. The description of heaven in Rev. 21-22 is so spectacular because the One who made it is so spectacular.
Notice that this kingdom has been prepared from the foundation of the world. When it is all said and done, the whole reason God launched this great human drama is that we might enter into His kingdom of glory. The words "from the foundation of the world" imply that God saving us and bringing us into His kingdom were not afterthoughts. His relationship with Jesus before the creation of the universe was so rich and exhilirating that He has chosen to bring others into this same kind of relationship with Himself and Jesus. It's been God's plan since day one to raise up sons and daughters unto Himself who can enter into this new world and enjoy a wonderful relationship with Him. He wants us to live so that we can enjoy His presence, enjoy to the fullest the same kind of relationship that He has with Jesus His Greatest Son.
Moreover, see that Jesus tells us we shall inherit the kingdom. In healthy relationships only sons and daughters inherit ALL their father's possessions upon his death. As true sons and daughters of God we shall inherit EVERYTHING God has. In fact Paul tells us that we are co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). Jesus is going to inherit everything the Father has. Since we are co-heirs with Christ, we will inherit it all with Jesus. Now wrap your mind around that. Everything we have here on earth should pale in comparison with what God has for us. We need to put everything in our lives into proper perspective. Why in the world would we hold onto this world when our Father is offering this incredible future? (By the way, you can't have both worlds, as hard as you may try--gain the world, lose your soul; lose the world, gain your soul.)
Jesus then proceeds to tell the sheep WHY He has placed them on His righthand side, the place of favor and salvation.
"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat,
I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
naked, and you clothed Me;
I was sick, and you visited Me;
I was in prison, and you visited Me" (25:35-36).
Jesus blesses them because they tended to the down and out.
Why is helping the hurting the primary issue here? Because if Christianity is about anything, it is about God helping the hurting. We were dying in our sins; we were experiencing great hurt in our sins. Jesus comes to heal us. He is such a comfort to His people that the OT actually calls Him "the Comforter" or "The Comfort of Israel." If I truly believe that Jesus has reached down to heal me, then the only legitimate response to that, the only way I can demonstrate I truly believe that is by reaching down and helping the hurting also.
Unfortunately, I fear that when it is all said and done, we don't really believe that we were down and out when Christ saved us. We really think we did God a favor by letting Him be Lord of our lives. Our response to others who are hurting informs us of the way we truly perceive ourselves. If we help the down and out, then we most likely truly believe that we were down and out when Christ saved us; the reverse though likewise is true.
Notice though that this passage is not referring to general benevolence, helping any and everybody who hurts. The sheep are helping "the least of these." Who are "the least of these?" Jesus calls His followers "little ones" (Matt. 18:6); the phrase "the least of these" then refers to even the most insignificant of Jesus' followers. He doesn't say, "If you help My pastors, My education minister, my youth minister, etc." Rather He says, "If you help that down-and-out Christian the world takes no notice of, that humble person who will never attain to much in the world and probably even in the church."
Why is it so important that I help "the least of these"? Because Jesus says, "Whenever you've done it to them, you've done it to Me." In other words, by accepting the least of these, we've accepted Jesus Himself.
Is Jesus speaking here symbolically, or is there reality to His statement? Paul claims that this is NOT symbolical language; rather Jesus is speaking realistically: "By sinning against the brethren [fellow Christians] and wounding their conscience, when it is weak, you sin AGAINST CHRIST" (1 Cor. 8:12).
Paul informs us how we are so identified with Christ. First Corinthians deals to a large extent with the Spirit of Jesus (the Holy Spirit). When the Spirit of Jesus comes to live in us, He makes us one with Christ. Because Christ will reign forever, we too will reign because we are one with Christ. Because Christ has been exalted in the heavenly places, we too shall be exalted in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:5-6). The reverse is also true. If I unite my body with a prostitute, my identification with Jesus is so complete that I actually force Christ into that illicit encounter (1 Cor. 6:15). My treatment of the least of Christians, the ones who truly need help, is nothing less than my treatment of Jesus.
Condemnation Upon the Goats
Jesus now turns to the goats on His left side. He informs them of their destiny:
"Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has prepared for the devil and his angels."
Why did they receive this judgment?
"For I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in;
And you did not clothe Me;
Sick and in prison, you did not visit Me" (25:42-43).
When the "goats" ask Jesus when did they ever have an opportunity to perform these acts for Him, He responds that when they did not perform them for even the least of His followers, they did not perform them for Him. Their mistreatment of followers of Jesus determined their eternal destiny. If they had truly loved Jesus, they would have loved His followers who are so completely identified with Him.
Finally, note one last thing. Jesus tells the goats that they are going to be cast into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Now Jesus did not prepare this fiery hell for people, even those who reject Jesus. Rather He prepared this place of torment for Satan and his angels. There is absolutely no excuse for the rebellion of those demonic beings against God. They had actually seen God in the face and yet rejected Him. How sad though that many of those for whom hell was NOT prepared are nevertheless going to be spending an eternity there.
We had better get over the idea of being "right" as the way to enter heaven. True righteousness according to Jesus is love for one another, especially for those who are in desperate need of help.