Christ the King

Scripture

Matthew 25:31–46 CEB

“Now when the Human One comes in his majesty and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his majestic throne. All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right side. But the goats he will put on his left. “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’ “Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who will receive terrible things. Go into the unending fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry and you didn’t give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me anything to drink. I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothes to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?’ Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous ones will go into eternal life.”

Intro: Draft Day

Move 1: Belief vs Action

As Protestants, we place a great deal of significance on belief. The one who confesses their sins and believes in the Lord Jesus will be saved, after all. (Romans 10:9) This is well and good. And yet, the account of the separation of the sheep and the goats from Matthew 25, curiously, has nothing to do with belief and everything to do with action.

Move 2: Scripture Recap

In this passage, the Son of Man, Jesus, the faithful One, returns and gathers up the sheep into his right hand, granting them the very Kingdom of God! Likewise, he gathers up the goats into his left hand, “sending them to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (25:41b) The deciding factor in this separation is said to be the provision of food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, clothing for the naked, care for the sick, and visitation of the prisoner. (25:36-37) Interestingly, those deemed sheep, who are granted the Kingdom, are not aware of how or when they did such things for Jesus, who says to them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (25:40) Likewise, those that are cast aside with the Devil and his angels are charged with not doing these things for the “least of these.” (25:45)

Move 3: It’s not all about Faith...

What is so interesting to me is that faith plays no role in this judgement, nor does a person’s attitude and actions towards Jesus directly. Instead, people are judged based solely upon their care for others, with Jesus adding that the way they treated these others, the “least of these” in particular, was how they cared for Jesus himself.

Like draft day, or the choosing of teams in PE from your school days, people here are separated based upon their actions.

Move 4: Unaware

There’s one other point that sticks out to me about this story. Those judged, be they sheep or goats, are not aware of when they cared for Jesus in the way he describes. In other words, it doesn’t seem to be the “religious moments” that matter here. They are not judged for the way they directly treated Jesus, but for the indirect way they treated him in the form of others. As you have treated others, says Jesus, so you have treated me. It was the mundane or ordinary days and events that truly matter in this story.

Move 5: Starting over

Conclusion:

Today we celebrate that Christ is our King, that he is the Lord of all Creation, that he reigns, and that he will come again. The cosmic nature of Christ is stressed in this reminder that care for others (and I think it’s fitting to add in creation as a whole) is, in fact, care and love for Christ. Jesus doesn’t simply care about belief and our overtly religious thoughts and actions. Jesus cares deeply for the ordinary and mundane moments of our lives as well, and for the way we treat others – all others. The Church spends almost half the year in what is called “Ordinary Time,” during which we consider the call to discipleship as we live our lives in the world. Today we are reminded that this time was well spent, for care for creation is, ultimately, care for the Creator as well.

The Table