Reign of Christ/Christ the King

David E Lee

n/a • Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

Matthew 25:31–46

Feast of Christ the King

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Matthew 25:31–46 ESV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 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. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 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. 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, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 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.’ “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. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 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.’ 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?’ 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.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

—> This text comes at the end of a series of parables that Jesus has told to his disciples but it is not a parable itself. Instead, it is a prophecy of the end times. The only one we get in the Gospel of Matthew.

—> The Gospel writer says, Matthew 25:31-32

Matthew 25:31–32 NRSV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,

—> The image is Jesus as a King and Shepherd. Worthy of praise majesty, honor, and glory but also this image of shepherd means He is connected to his flock.

—> His flock is a mixed flock like most flocks in the Middle East during this time. They ran their sheep and goats together but at night they had to seperate them. The sheep could stay in the fields because they had wool to protect them from the elements but the goats had to be put up, so the shepherd would divide the flock just as Jesus is seen doing with His people.

—> But just like it is easy for the shepherd to tell the difference between the sheep and the goats it is easy for Jesus to tell the difference between the righteous and unrighteous, however it is more difficult for us who are the sheep and the goats to differentiate between ourselves.

—> Notice verses 37-39 & 44-45

—> Jesus knows us far better than we know Him

—> Matthew 25:37-39

Matthew 25:37–39 NRSV

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’

Matthew 25:44–45 NRSV

Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’

—> Not only can neither group identify when and if they saw Jesus but they don’t know which group they are in.

—> So what does that say for us today...

—> 1) Jesus is the only one fit to sit on a throne of judgement.

—> 2) We don’t love people, we love Christ.

—> 3) We don’t love because we have to, we love because it flows from knowing and being loved by Christ.

Do we know who Jesus really is?

The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 4: Matthew–Acts (3) The Sheep and the Goats (25:31–46)

This passage stands as a strong indictment of the church for its lack of social conscience. Had the church carried out fully the teachings of Jesus as set forth here, there would have been no place for the rise of the so-called social gospel.

John Wesley is one of the finest examples of an evangelical Christian who practiced what Jesus preached. He devoted a good deal of his time to ministering to the poor and imprisoned, at the same time winning thousands of converts to Christ.

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament Chapter 25

37. Then shall the righteous answer—It cannot be, that either the righteous or the wicked should answer in these very words. What we learn herefrom is, That neither of them have the same estimation of their own works as the Judge hath.

Matthew 25:31–32 NRSV

—> Do we know who Jesus is or what he really wants from us?

—> or are we just guessing???

—> What’s interesting about this text is that the righteous and the unrighteous answer in the same way. Both are curious because they have never seen Jesus, or so they think.