Matthew 25:31-46 Inherit the Kingdom

Matthew 25:31-46 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34Then 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. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 36I was lacking clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’

37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or lacking clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

40“The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, lacking clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of me.’

44“Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or lacking clothes or sick or in prison and did not serve you?’

45“At that time he will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ 46And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Inherit the Kingdom

I.

If the religious leaders were listening in, they would have been taking notes carefully. What Jesus said would just add to the list of accusations they would bring against him later in the week.

The end was near for Jesus. The end of his earthly ministry. He knew it was coming, so he spoke extensively to his disciples during Holy Week as his trials loomed ever closer. He had begun to speak of the end of other things—the end of the world. The disciples had asked him: “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3, EHV).

They had asked, so he told them about some of the things they could expect. You can look up the list of things in Matthew 24:4ff. There would be false teachers, wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, persecution of Christians, increasing lawlessness, and more.

Jesus continued by telling his followers to be ready. The last two weeks we heard Jesus tell some parables in Matthew 25. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins he explained that his followers should be watchful for his return all the time. In the Parable of the Talents Jesus explained that while he is gone his followers should diligently use the property and the abilities each of us has been given to live as children of God and to expand the kingdom of Christ.

Having discussed the signs that the end is near, and what to do in the meantime, now Jesus talks about Judgment Day itself. Today’s First Reading talked about Judgment Day, too. Daniel wrote: “I saw one like a son of man coming... 14To him was given dominion, honor, and a kingdom... His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14, EHV).

The religious leaders knew these words from the Prophet Daniel. If they were putting out their spy cameras and microphones, they heard Jesus say as he began today’s message to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne” (Matthew 25:31, EHV). Jesus adopted the title Daniel used, “Son of Man.” Daniel had indicated the “Son of Man” was given dominion, honor, and an eternal kingdom that would not be destroyed.

As Jesus walked the earth and spoke to the massive crowds that gathered to hear him, he appeared to be just an ordinary person. Sure, he performed some miracles, but most of the time there was nothing that distinguished him from any other person.

Here, however, Jesus is painting a massively different picture of himself. When he comes again, it will not be in humility. He will not come as a little, seemingly helpless baby, born in the little town of Bethlehem. He will not be standing before the judgment seat of Annas or Caiaphas or Pontius Pilate with a soldier nearby, supposedly to keep the prisoner under control. He will not be hanging from a cross, incapable on the face of it, to rescue himself from the hands of his executioners.

He will come in glory; all the glory of the Almighty God, who has come to judge the living and the dead.

II.

“All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left” (Matthew 25:32-33, EHV).

No one is exempt from the judgment of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Only one distinguishing characteristic counts: whether a person is a believer or an unbeliever. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus has no difficulty telling the difference.

Jesus knows you and how you fit into his kingdom. He has chosen you and established you for his exact purposes. “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. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 36I was lacking clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me’” (Matthew 25:34-36, EHV).

If you are a believer, do the words of King Jesus make you squirm a little bit? So the righteous ask: “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or lacking clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’” (Matthew 25:37-39, EHV).

There isn’t really anything any one of us can do for Jesus. “The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me’” (Matthew 25:40, EHV).

Have you, though? Do you still squirm, even after King Jesus says “whatever you did for the least of these, you did it for me”? Honesty compels those who have been sorted into the pen of the righteous sheep on the right hand of Jesus to wonder how it could all be true. We haven’t really been all that kind to others; certainly not with any consistency.

Maybe sometimes we do notice ourselves doing things that might be commendable before God. We might even be inclined to give ourselves a pat on the back from time to time. We might begin to think we deserve to be sorted into the righteous pen. But our own pride is tempered by the words of Isaiah, who said: “All our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth” (Isaiah 64:6, EHV).

Back to some of the words of King Jesus who did the sorting: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34, EHV). A couple of words stand out: “blessed,” and “inherit.” Does a person earn a blessing or an inheritance? Not even a parent has an obligation to give his children his wealth after death.

A Last Will and Testament will often point to evidence of a special relationship the inheritor had with the deceased. Jesus pointed to that list of things that gave evidence of that relationship.

All the things believers do in a life of faith express the joy we have in knowing that our sins have been forgiven. They demonstrate the love we have for the Savior who loved us and gave himself up for us. Of course, the list given by King Jesus is just a summary. There are many, many things believers do that show ourselves to be Christian. Some of them we, ourselves, think are insignificant, or don’t count, or things that we didn’t even realize we were doing. But Jesus did.

III.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, lacking clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of me’” (Matthew 25:41-43, EHV).

King Jesus points out all kinds of sins of omission—things the unrighteous failed to do. When the unrighteous objected, they kept their objections very general: “Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or lacking clothes or sick or in prison and did not serve you?’” (Matthew 25:44, EHV). The answer came back: “‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me’” (Matthew 25:45, EHV).

I wonder if some of those who were sorted into the pen on the left would want to try to object yet again. The rich might point to their donations to build hospitals and libraries and art museums; or to the money they gave that kept programs and services going that otherwise wouldn’t survive because the tax dollars just aren’t there to keep them funded. Regular people might give to those same institutions in smaller dollar amounts, but still point to their efforts to contribute to such projects and to give to those who are in need.

On Judgment Day the unbeliever will desperately try to have these things read into the record as good works because such acts and gifts demonstrated them to be magnanimous, good-hearted people. But really, such good things were done only to achieve human recognition. What the world sees as good works are often just acts of civic righteousness.

IV.

“And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:46, EHV). As his whole picture has shown, it is faith or the lack of it, that determines the sorting. Those who are righteous are declared righteous by faith. Those who are unrighteous have rejected the righteousness of Jesus.

“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” (Matthew 25:34, EHV). Inherit the kingdom. Those are words of beautiful and glorious finality with which to end the church year. We who have been given faith in Jesus as our Savior inherit the kingdom, a kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world. The kingdom is ours forever. Amen.