The Separation (Matthew 25:31-46)
Fear is appropriate. In our study of Jesus, we have seen that Jesus promises to come in judgment on Jerusalem. He will cut the hypocrites into pieces and cast the rebellious servant into outer darkness. This is a solemn promise. I hope it’s not one we let Satan remove from our minds. We should be afraid of Jesus coming in judgment at a time when we are unprepared. Why? Because he promises that he will come when we don’t expect him to come. If Jesus promises this, he will deliver on his promise.
The Final Judgment
I know that throughout our study of Chapters 24 and 25, I have insisted that we consider it first to be about Jerusalem. I think that fits the context in every parable and teaching very well. But as we come to this last section, Jesus wants everyone to understand what the final judgment will be like. Notice that he brings up all the nations being gathered. This is not just the Jews. This is about all people.
Matthew 25:31--33 (ESV) --- 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
The Separation
Notice that the Son of Man comes in his glory and all his angels with him. This time we see the angels coming as well. But what do Jesus and his angels do? We might expect them to battle with the men on earth. We see Jesus sit down like all the work is over. Then, the angels gather all the people, and Jesus divides the people into two groups. He doesn’t divide them based on age, race, nationality, gender, or anything like that. He splits them up like the wheat and the parable of the tares.
He uses the image of a shepherd separating the sheep and the goats. These are two completely different species in their DNA. So he separates them with the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.
Welcome
Matthew 25:34--40 (ESV) --- 34 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. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Notice how this section starts off telling us that “The King will say.” Jesus sat on his throne because he had been crowned with glory and honor. He is the King, and he welcomes those who are blessed into the kingdom. He calls them blessed because they are like he initially described in the sermon on the mount. They are poor in spirit, meek, mourning, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, peacemakers, etc. He tells them what makes them sheep. They have shown love and care for those in need. They fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned.
But did you see how he explains their good works? He says that they fed him, gave him drink, welcomed and visited him. They ask, “When did we do this for you?” Jesus says, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” They didn’t know it at the time. They just thought they were being kind and compassionate like Christ. They thought that they were showing love toward someone who would never be able to repay them. But Christ says, “You did it for me.” Jesus saw what no one else paid attention to. He cares about how they spend their time and money, and he recognizes them because they love their neighbor as themselves.
Depart
Matthew 25:41--46 (ESV) --- 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
He tells them that they did not feed, give drink, welcome, clothe, or visit him when he was a stranger, sick, imprisoned, or needed. Again, they want to know when they failed to do that. These would have certainly taken care of a king if a king showed up on their doorsteps. But Jesus says, “As you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” They are going into eternal punishment because they failed to love their neighbor as themselves.
What Do We Learn?
So, as I said at the beginning, my goal is not to fear-monger anyone. I don’t want to guilt people into becoming a child of God. But this text is one of the terrifying texts in all of the scriptures. What do we learn?
Judgment Will Happen
Firstly, we learn that Jesus will quickly and decisively judge all of mankind. At first, we might think, “Great!” Jesus was, after all, a very patient, loving, compassionate, and just man. There is not a better being on all the earth to make this judgment. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad it doesn’t depend on anyone else’s judgment of me. I have had many people condemn me. One man accused me of being a hearer of the word and not a doer. He said I was deceiving myself because I refused to believe the crazy teachings he believed. Another accused me of sinning by not teaching that we should observe the Sabbath. But notice that Jesus is the one who decides. He can sympathize with our weaknesses, but he will by no means clear the guilty.
I’m thankful for that, but we must also realize that he’s not a pushover. He will send a massive group of people to eternal fire. He won’t forgive everyone on judgment day.
Matthew 7:21--23 (ESV) --- 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Jesus knows those who know him, and he knows who is fake. He will make a decision, and it will be final. We will either face endless joy or endless suffering.
Two Groups
When we think about this text, it becomes evident that Jesus’ decision will be clear-cut. There are only two categories. There is not a third category of people somewhere in between the two. There is not a purgatory where people go to serve time until they can enter into the joy of the Lord. When we arrive at the judgment, there are no more second chances.
Application
So, how does that affect the way we live our lives? Are we sheep, or just wearing sheep clothing? Do we truly follow our shepherd? Does he know us? We need to give thought to our condition and our obedience to the two most outstanding commands. Do we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do we love our neighbor as ourselves?
Imagine being among the chosen. Imagine the relief, but also the fear that it’s not true. Does he know about my deepest, darkest sins? Is he going to accept me after all that I’ve done? Surely this will be temporary. But no. It will be eternal for those who kept the faith and lived it out through selfless service. Those who love people who are not easy to love are the most loved, and they will be called blessed. They will be given the kingdom. We must do all that we can to make sure we are firmly in this group.
Imagine being among the rejected. Imagine the dread. Imagine the intense fear and coming to the reality of knowing that there are no more second chances. We did not heed all of the pleadings that the preacher did and that our family and friends did. Maybe we had the appearance of righteousness and convinced everyone, but we knew that you weren’t living for God deep down. We were selfishly living for what we could get from God. Now, Jesus shows that he could see right through us. We were not pure in heart. We were selfish and proud. There are plenty of people out there who are immoral and evil. We thought that we were better than them, but Satan fooled us. Then, we hear the dreaded words, “Depart from me.”
Friends, if that doesn’t terrify you, I don’t know what will. This is worse than the most fantastic scary movie.
What Should We Do?
Am I calling for everyone to run up the aisle and make everyone believe that you are saved? No. That’s the last thing Jesus wants. Am I calling for everyone to find a bunch of needy people and give them all your stuff? I don’t believe that is the goal of this text. It’s not that simple! Those are outward actions that should be the result of a transformed heart.
Jesus wants people who naturally help others without thinking twice. They give with their left hand, and they don’t let their right hand know about it. Do we help someone because we have to or because that’s who we are? We need to be transformed to stop thinking, “I have to love my brother, study my Bible, pray to God, go to church, stop doing this sin.” If we say, “I have to,” we aren’t acting out of love, Jesus does not know us, and we are still in danger. We might say, “Lord, Lord, I did what you told me to do.” But he will say, “I never knew you.”
Conclusion
I hope that we all believe what we have studied today. If we believe it, will it affect the way we live? Will we honestly give up this world and gain our soul? That’s what Jesus calls for us to do. We won’t do that without faith.
I don’t want to fear-monger anyone into making this decision. I don’t want people here to think, “I have to do better or God will throw me into eternal fire.” I want this to be a well-thought-out decision. If our attitude is one of “I have to,” we will undoubtedly end up there. Our attitude must be one of joyful submission. We can’t think, “If I have to give up this world, I will.” We can’t think, “I am willing to give up this world if that’s what it takes.” That attitude still loves this world.
I’ll tell you what Satan’s greatest deception is. He wants us to think that we can love God and love this world. Jesus plainly says that we can’t love God and money. We must not be torn between two masters. We need to be clear on two different mentalities. On the one hand, we love God, love Jesus, and look forward to serving him with everything we have. On the other hand, we love the world but still want to please God so that he won’t destroy us in the end. We have to understand that these are two totally different mentalities. They are as different as night and day. If I loved this world, I would show up on Wednesday night, see that not many come anymore, and think, “This is discouraging. I guess I don’t have to come on Wednesday nights if no one else does.” No one who comes does it because they “have to.” We do it because it is a joy to serve our Lord, encourage the brethren, and learn about him.