Matthew 25(31–46)

Introduction

Matthew 25 is all about the Lord’s second coming and what we should do while we wait for it.

Last week we looked at the parables of the ten virgins and of the servants. Five of the ten virgins were ready for the bridegroom to appear, whereas five were not. And the five who were not ready were shut out of the wedding banquet. And so, are you ready for the Lord’s return? And the way to get ready for Christ’s coming is to believe in him. Whoever believes in him will not be shut out when he comes again, but will be invited into the presence of God to enjoy all that God has prepared for his people.

And then we also looked at the parable of the three servants. When the master returned from his long journey, he was pleased with two of his servants because they served their master faithfully by making good use of what he had given them. And the master was angry with the third servant because he did not make good use of what he had given him. And so, we must serve the Lord faithfully while we wait for his return. We must use what he has given us for his glory.

However, how do we serve Christ? Since he’s God, he doesn’t need anything from us. Since he’s God, he doesn’t need anything from anyone. He has all that he needs in himself and he doesn’t need our good works. So, how are we meant to serve him while we wait for his coming? How are we to use his good gifts for his glory? That’s partly what the parable of the sheep and the goats is about. Let’s turn to it now.

Verses 31 to 33

In verse 31 the Lord says: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.’ We should note, of course, that he doesn’t say ‘if’, but ‘when’. When the Son of Man comes. The Lord is definitely coming back. There’s no doubt about it.

And then, when he comes, he will come in glory and power. The first time he came to earth, he came in humility, because he was born in humble circumstances and he was laid in a manger in a stable and not in a bed in a palace. And he came in weakness, because he came as a little baby and his parents had to take him and flee to Egypt because his life was in danger. That’s what his first coming was like. But when he comes again, an army of angels will accompany him and he’ll be surrounded with the glory of heaven. And he will sit on a throne. And so, his second coming will be very different from his first coming.

And according to verse 32, when he comes, ‘All the nations will be gathered before him….’ In other words, everyone will be brought before him. Not just the Jews. Not just the Gentiles. But everyone will be there, because he’s the King of kings and Lord of lords and he rules over all. And since he rules over all, then all peoples from every nation will be gathered before him.

And when they have gathered before him, he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. In those days, sheep and goats were kept together for a lot of the time. But eventually, the sheep and goats needed to be separated. The sheep would be taken one place. The goats would be taken another place. And when the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, comes in his glory, and all the nations are brought before him, he will separate the people into two groups. He will divide them. You and I and everyone else will either be placed on one side or on the other side.

And in verses 34 to 40 he tells us what will happen to one group. And in verses 41 to 45 he tells us what will happen to the other group. And then, in verse 46, he sums up what will happen to each group.

Two groups

So, according to verse 34, he — and notice that the Lord refers to himself as ‘the King’; he’s the King, and he’s sitting on the throne — he will say to one group:

Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance which is the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

In other words, they’re invited to enjoy eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom. And then in verse 41, he will say to the other group these terrible and terrifying words:

Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

While the first group are invited to enjoy eternal life in the presence of God, the other group are sent away to suffer eternal punishment away from the presence of God. And now look down to verse 46 for the summary:

Then they [that’s those on his left] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous [those on his right] to eternal life.

There’s no third place or third option. It’s one or the other. Either eternal punishment or eternal life.

For one group, the coming of the Lord Jesus will mean disaster for them. But for the other group, the coming of the Lord Jesus will be wonderful, because it means they will be with him for ever and ever in glory.

Verses 34 to 40

Let’s look more closely at what he says to both groups. First of all, there’s verses 34 to 40 and what he says to those on his right.

Firstly, in verses 34 he invites them in. Secondly, he goes on in verses 35 and 36 to say that when he was hungry, they fed him; and when he was thirsty, they gave him something to drink; and when he was a stranger and had nowhere to stay, they showed him hospitality; and when he needed clothes, they clothed him; and when he was sick, they took care of him; and when he was in prison, they visited him. In other words, they loved and served him. And presumably, they loved and served him in other ways, and not just in the ways that are mentioned here.

Now, the people on his right hand side — and they’re called ‘the righteous’ — reply by asking him questions: ‘When did we see you hungry and feed you?’ ‘When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink?’ ‘When did we see you a stranger and invite you in?’ And so on. When did we do any of these things for you? And the Lord replies in verse 40: ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Do you see what he’s saying? Whenever we love and serve our Christian brothers and sisters — whenever we love and serve our fellow believers — it’s as if we’re serving the Lord himself. Whatever we do for one another, we’re doing it for him.

Verses 41 to 45

That’s what he will say to the righteous, whom he will place on his right. What will he say to those on his left? Look with me now at verses 41 to 45.

Firstly, in verse 41, he sends them away. And then in verses 42 to 43 he mentions the same acts of love as before, but this time in the negative. These are the things they have not done. So, they didn’t feed him, or give him something to drink, or show him hospitality, or cloth him, or care for him when he was ill, or visit him when he was in prison. They didn’t do any of these things.

But they object in verse 44: When did we see you hungry and thirsty and a stranger and so on? When? And he replies in verse 45: ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these [and he’s referring to Christians again] you did not do for me.’ Just as those who love and serve the Lord’s people are loving and serving the Lord, so those who do not love and serve the Lord’s people are not loving and serving the Lord.

So, the righteous are brought in to enjoy eternal life, while the others are sent away to suffer eternal punishment.

Not by works

We need to interpret this passage carefully, otherwise we’ll get the wrong idea about the Day of Judgment when the Lord returns. If we read this passage carelessly, we’ll be left with the impression that we’re saved by works and not by faith. We’ll go away thinking that our eternal salvation rests on what we ourselves have done. That is to say: we receive eternal life because of the good deeds we have done.

But that is exactly the opposite of what the rest of the Bible teaches. When the Philippian jailer asked what he had to do to be saved, Paul answered: ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.’ Believe. And Paul wrote to the Galatians: ‘we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ….’ And he goes on to say: ‘by works of the law no one will be justified.’ Paul was saying that a person is justified — pardoned and accepted by God — through faith in Christ and not by works of the law. And throughout the Bible, in the Old and New Testaments, God declares that we are saved by grace and through faith in Jesus Christ, the Promised Saviour. We are saved by believing and not by doing.

So, this passage cannot mean that those who enter eternal life, enter it because of what they have done. It cannot mean that, because we are saved, not by works, but by faith in Christ.

So, let’s look more closely at verse 34 and we’ll see that it too makes clear that our salvation is a gift from God, which we do not earn.

So, firstly, the King said to the righteous: ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.’ We all deserve to be cursed by God, because we have not kept his commandments perfectly. Because we’re sinners who sin against God continually, we are liable to his wrath and curse. But on the cross, the Lord Jesus bore the curse we deserve, so that we might receive the blessing of God. And the blessing of God includes all the good things which we receive from God through faith in his Son, including the forgiveness of our sins.

Then he said: ‘take your inheritance….’ An inheritance is something we receive as a gift and it’s not something we earn. An inheritance is given to us and we don’t work for it. And so, eternal life is God’s gift to us, which we receive through faith.

Then the Lord said that the kingdom, which the righteous will receive, has been prepared for them since the creation of the world. In other words, our place in the new heavens and earth was prepared for us even before we ever existed and before we had done anything at all, whether good or bad. It was always God’s intention to save his people. And since that was always God’s intention, then before we had done anything at all — whether good or bad — God was planning and preparing our salvation.

So, the righteous in this passage are those who have received by faith the blessing of God, which we do not deserve. And the righteous in this passage are those who receive by faith the gift of eternal life, which we do not deserve. And the righteous in this passage are those whose place in heaven has been prepared for them from all eternity.

In other words, the righteous in this passage are God’s people. They are Christians. They are believers.

Good deeds

And just as sheep and goats are different, so those who believe and those who do not believe are different. They live a different kind of life.

Those who truly believe want to love and serve their Saviour in their daily lives. They want to make use of his good gifts and use them for his glory. But, as I said at the beginning, since the Lord Jesus is God, then he does not need anything from us. He is, as the theologians say, a se. That’s the Latin for ‘from self’. He has everything he needs from himself. So, he is self-sufficient. He doesn’t rely or depend on anyone or anything outside of himself. He doesn’t need us and he doesn’t need our good works.

And so, how are his people to serve him? We serve him by serving the people around us, and especially our fellow believers. When we serve them, we’re serving our Saviour. When we do good to them, we’re doing good to our Saviour.

So, is our fellow believer hungry? Then give him something to eat. Is he thirsty? Then give him something to drink. Is he on his own? Then invite him in. Does he need clothes? Then clothe him. Is he sick? Then look after him. Is he in prison? Then visit him. Does he need help in any way? Then help him.

The Lord Jesus does not need your good works. But the people around you need your good works. And by loving and serving them, you are loving and serving your Saviour.

Conclusion

And so, in view of Christ’s coming, what are we to do? We’re to trust in Christ the Saviour, because we receive eternal life through faith in him and in no other way. There is no other way to be saved except by faith in him.

And having believed, we should love and serve the people around us, and especially our fellow believers, because this is how we love and serve our Saviour in our daily lives.

God has filled our lives with good things. He’s given us gifts and abilities and knowledge and skills and talents; and he’s given us everything we own. He’s given us all these good gifts. And we’re to use what he’s given us to serve him. And the way that we serve him is by using what he’s given us to do good to one another.