Olivet Discourse Part 4 - Final Judgement
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Parables of the 10 virgins and the Talents
Jesus now lays out what judgement day will be like.
The Son of Man on His Throne
The Son of Man on His Throne
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 opening phrase of verse 31 of chapter 25 picks up where Matthew 24:30 leaves off. At this point Jesus has come on His white horse followed by His church riding their white horses. He has come in all His glory, all His angels have joined in the procession and now Jesus describes how he will be seated on His Glorious Throne.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Think for a moment how this is in stark contrast to the position he sits in as He is speaking. As He speaks, he is a normal looking guy, with no worldly traits that would offer Him any kind of special treatment. Look at what Isaiah 53 says.
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
He’s already shared multiple times how he’s going to be delivered up to the chief priests and then over to the Romans to be crucified and killed, and all of this was only 3 days away. Yet here He sits, continuing to answer the disciples original question from
3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
This glorious throne, I believe is the great white throne judgement. It’s not described as that here but I believe that as we go along we will see how Jesus is speaking about, in a symbolic way, what will happen at the end of His millennial reign.
We see in verse 32 how the nations will be gathered before Him. This is the day spoken of in Philippians and else where.
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
All people from all nations will gather before him and He will separate them out as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. All along Jesus has described those who belong to Him as sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
The sheep he places on his right hand and the goats on his left hand side.
Come
Come
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.’
To the sheep, those on His right, the message is “come”. Come, is a word Jesus used a lot.
He used it when he called His disciples when he said, “Follow Me” in Matthew 4.
It’s the same invitation from Matthew 11:28 when he says “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
It’s the same invitation extended for the wedding feast in Matthew 22:4 when the Master sends out his servants with the message to “come to the wedding feast”.
It’s the invitation from Revelation 22:17
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
These are definitely those who are blessed by my Father but now they are actually experiencing the full inheritance of the perfect kingdom that the Father has had in mind for them and planned for them from before the foundation of the world. This is the ultimate reward for those who seek the Lord.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
From the foundations of the world - This kingdom that we will inherit has been prepared for us since the foundation of the earth. God had a plan to bless those who would choose Him. He chose them as He knew that they would choose Him, because of his power to know all things, past present and future, all at the same time, and because of that, all this had been planned from eternity past. All in the mind of our God! Yahweh!
The King then attributes these on the right as faithful and blessed, set to inherit the kingdom, because in at least 6 ways they proved themselves to be loving others as I have loved you.
Steuart Weber
Matthew C. The King Says, “Receive My Followers as You Would Receive Me” (25:31–46)
the king described the behavior of these kingdom citizens. When he was in need, they were the ones who acted in compassion to meet his need. His listing of six needy conditions—hunger, thirst, alienation, nakedness, sickness, and imprisonment—is not exhaustive but representative of all needs that a person might have. Each of these needs is central to survival and quality of life.
On the surface this could be taken as works based salvation, but as we know from scripture, what the King is describing here is what James talks about in his letter.
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Jesus here is describing what he will go on to say in John 15.
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Depart
Depart
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.”
This is the statement that Jesus makes here that causes me to see this as the white throne judgement. He is sending these “goats” the ones on the left into eternal punishment and the righteous into eternal life. That only happens once.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Eternal punishment isn’t just the lake of fire or Hell as we commonly call it. It is, more importantly, the eternal separation from the presence of God.
9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
The word here for Destruction means to “destroy; a prolonged form”. All this is why Jesus said in 25:30 that there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Many lacking in knowledge might look at this as harsh, judge mental, and the last thing a loving God would do, but as we will see in 2 Thessalonians 1 this is the righteous judgment of God.
Righteous Judgement of God
Righteous Judgement of God
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
The good news is that God doesn’t just give a message of doom and gloom to those who are wicked and will and have rejected Him. No, he tells us and has told us throughout the ages, this is not His desire.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
All through scripture the appeal is being made to turn and come. HIs desire is that none should perish but come! Our savior, Jesus, the suffering servant makes this plea through His prophet Isaiah in chapter 53.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
All of this warning and calling, “come to me” leading up to the crucifixion. All of this even today through His Spirit, His word, and His church.
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
