Are you prepared for final judgment?
This parable challenges us to get ready. I urge everyone first to be born again, second to maintain their union with Christ and third to do good works. Then you will be ready for final judgment.
Before we begin the exegesis …..
Quick definition of a parable:
Literally, the word parable (parabolē in Greek) combines para– (pronounced pah-rah) and means “alongside” and bolē (pronounced boh-lay) which means “put” or even “throw”). Therefore, a parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a new truth. […] The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word parabolē can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable.
For more information on what a parable is and its purposes, click on this link:
The translation is mine. If you would like to see other translations, click here:
If you don’t read Greek, ignore the left column.
I often quote scholars in print because I learn many things from them. They form a community of teachers I respect (1 Cor. 12:28), though I don’t agree with everything they write. But they do ensure I do not go astray. There is safety in numbers (for me at least).
Now let’s begin.
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Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matt. 25:31-46) |
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| 31 Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι μετ’ αὐτοῦ, τότε καθίσει ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ· 32 καὶ συναχθήσονται ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἀφορίσει αὐτοὺς ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων, ὥσπερ ὁ ποιμὴν ἀφορίζει τὰ πρόβατα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρίφων, 33 καὶ στήσει τὰ μὲν πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, τὰ δὲ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐωνύμων.
34 Τότε ἐρεῖ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ· δεῦτε οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. 35 ἐπείνασα γὰρ καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με, ξένος ἤμην καὶ συνηγάγετέ με, 36 γυμνὸς καὶ περιεβάλετέ με, ἠσθένησα καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με, ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην καὶ ἤλθατε πρός με. 37 τότε ἀποκριθήσονται αὐτῷ οἱ δίκαιοι λέγοντες· κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα καὶ ἐθρέψαμεν, ἢ διψῶντα καὶ ἐποτίσαμεν; 38 πότε δέ σε εἴδομεν ξένον καὶ συνηγάγομεν, ἢ γυμνὸν καὶ περιεβάλομεν; 39 πότε δέ σε εἴδομεν ἀσθενοῦντα ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ ἤλθομεν πρός σε; 40 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐρεῖ αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐφ’ ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. 41 Τότε ἐρεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἐξ εὐωνύμων· πορεύεσθε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ [οἱ] κατηραμένοι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ. 42 ἐπείνασα γὰρ καὶ οὐκ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα καὶ οὐκ ἐποτίσατέ με, 43 ξένος ἤμην καὶ οὐ συνηγάγετέ με, γυμνὸς καὶ οὐ περιεβάλετέ με, ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ οὐκ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με. 44 τότε ἀποκριθήσονται καὶ αὐτοὶ λέγοντες· κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα ἢ διψῶντα ἢ ξένον ἢ γυμνὸν ἢ ἀσθενῆ ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ οὐ διηκονήσαμέν σοι; 45 τότε ἀποκριθήσεται αὐτοῖς λέγων· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐφ’ ὅσον οὐκ ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, οὐδὲ ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. 46 καὶ ἀπελεύσονται οὗτοι εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον, οἱ δὲ δίκαιοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. |
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate them from the others, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For 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 took me in; naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; and I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will reply to him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungering and feed you or thirsting and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ 40 And in reply the king will say to them, ‘I tell you the truth: to the degree that you did it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.’ 41 “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Go away from me, cursed of my Father, into the everlasting flames which was prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat; I was thirsty and you did not give me something to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and did not clothe me, sick and in prison and did not visit me.’ 44 Then they will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungering or thirsting or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not attend to you?’ 45 Then he will reply to them, saying, ‘I tell you the truth: to the degree that you did not do it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, neither did you do it for me.’ 46 And they will go to everlasting punishment, and the righteous to everlasting life.” |
Quick introduction
From 24:36 to right here, we once again find this sequence:
Parousia → Judgment → Kingdom Age
Recall that the parousia means the Second Coming or the Return. Judgment is held, and the callous go to their punishment, and the righteous go to their reward in the New Kingdom or Messianic Age.
Jesus’s teaching about the very end is consistent throughout the Gospel of Matthew and the other three Gospels (and the Epistles)
What Jesus Really Taught about End Times.
Let’s interpret the parable in one large block.
Right off the top, v. 34 should be translated as “from the foundation” not “before the foundation.” The Greek preposition apo simply does not mean “before,” but the preposition pro means “before.” Apo appears here, not pro.
Now let’s move forward.
Let’s take this long passage as a whole, rather than go verse by verse. Five issues to explore, which those verses raise:
First, the Greek conjunction tote (pronounced toh-teh) is used six times but does not serve as signs of the time, as they did in 24:4-35; they simply move the teaching along, internally to the teaching.
Second, commentator R. T. France seems to connect this entire pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or section with the Son of Man “coming” in glory at his enthronement, referring to Daniel 7:13-14 (see Matt. 24:30 for the verses in Daniel), yet France titles the pericope as the “final judgment.” (Incidentally, Garland seems to agree with France, p. 247).
However, I disagree with them because the Son of Man’s enthronement and final judgment are far apart. We have not even reached the realized synteleia (closing) in Matt. 28:20, where the Greek noun significantly appears in the final verse of Matthew’s Gospel. And we learned that the destruction of the Jerusalem did not close out the global age when the church was still going strong, but we still have an open-ended parousia (Second Coming), and no one knows the day or the hour. This open-endedness is particularly true if Matthew lived to see the destruction of the temple. It must have crystallized for him that the end (telos) of the temple was different from the closing (synteleia) of the age, which will happen at an unknown time. And three parables talking about the end and final judgment when the master or bridegroom returns, speak of the synteleia, but there would be a delay of the parousia or Second Coming, which ushers in the synteleia. We have not closed out this age yet.
Therefore, I believe that vv. 31-46 are about the final judgment and synteleia of the entire age, when Jesus will visibly judge the nations as he sits on his throne. In this long passage we now see proleptically (by a prophetic foresight) with our own eyes the day and hour of his parousia.
Third, do the brothers and sisters represent everyone who suffers, or just Christian disciples, particularly missionaries? Keener and Garland build a strong case for the latter group—disciples and missionaries. In Matthew’s Gospel, “all the nations” (v. 32) is never used for members of the church, but to the nations which Christians are called to evangelize (Garland, p. 247). So Israel will stand before the Son of Man, just as all other nations do. “Brothers” refers to Jesus’s disciples (12:49-50; 23:8; 28:10). As one example, here’s what 28:10 says, spoken by the resurrected Jesus: “Go, announce to my brothers and sisters that they should depart for Galilee, where they shall also see me.” “Little ones” are those who believe in Jesus (10:42; 18:6, 12, 14). And “least” is used here for emphasis (see 5:19) (Garland p. 247). They refer to Jesus’s followers. The disciples should be received with food, drink and hospitality (10:18-19). The hardship of the mission can cause sickness (Phil. 2:27-30; perhaps Gal. 4:13-14; 2 Tim. 4:20). Being poorly clothed makes the list of suffering (Rom. 8:35). See Paul’s catalogue of mistreatment and deprivation in 1 Cor. 4:11. When Saul / Paul was persecuting the church, Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4, emphasis added). He identified with his brothers and sisters by virtue of their belonging to him, not by virtue of their being Jewish. He also identifies with the least of these brothers and sisters of his in vv. 31-46.
40 Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive the reward of a prophet. And he who welcomes a righteous person because he is a righteous person shall receive the reward of a righteous person. 42 And whoever gives just a cold drink to one of these little ones because they are disciples—I tell you the truth: he shall in no way lose his reward. (Matt. 10:40-42)
For Matthew, it is all about the mission and the church and the gospel. He sees that Jerusalem and the temple are about to be taken down, while the gospel mission will go on.
Blomberg on the identity of the brothers (and sisters):
Who are these brothers? The majority view throughout church history has taken them to be some or all of Christ’s disciples since the word “least” (elachistōn) is the superlative form of the adjective “little [ones]” (mikroi), which without exception in Matthew refers to the disciples (10:42; 18:6, 10, 14; cf. also 5:19; 11:11), while “brothers” in this Gospel (and usually in the New Testament more generally) when not referring to literal, biological siblings, always means spiritual kin (5:22–24, 47; 7:3–5; 12:48–50; 18:15 (2×), 21, 35; 23:8; 28:10). There may be a theological sense in which all humans are brothers and God’s children, though not all are redeemed, but nothing of that appears here or, with this terminology, elsewhere in Matthew. (comment on 25:40)
Then he goes on to say how certain quarters of the American church have interpreted the “brothers and sisters” as the nation of Israel.
However, the brothers and sisters do not refer to Israel (though Jewish texts naturally write from the perspective of how the nations treated Israel; Keener, p. 603, but see long quotation from him, below), because the disciples were called to evangelize all nations; and even Israel, both then and now, must accept or reject their Messiah and be judged on how they treat Christian missionaries. And many did accept him (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:7; 21:20).
Today, Israel does not seem particularly to be “hungering or thirsting or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison.” The opposite is true. The nation is prosperous. The old dispensational view, still popularly circulating on Christian TV, which says that these brothers and sisters refer to Israel, must be dropped. When Israel also stands before the Son of Man, treatment of this nation will not be the criterion by which he judges Malaysia or Tibet or a tiny south sea island nation, for example. But if Christian missionaries go to any nation and are mistreated, then these nations’ judgment will be negative (or the other way around, if they are treated positively).
Objection, someone says: “This is replacement theology! The church does not replace Israel!” No, the church does not replace Israel (though I am currently thinking about it and I have not reached a conclusion yet).
Here is my interpretation of this topic:
Replacement Theology: True or False?
God still has a plan for this nation. Israelis can now hear the gospel in modern Hebrew and convert to the Messiah. All Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:25-32), if they do not continue in their unbelief and hardness of heart (Rom. 11:23). Conditions do apply. God will not force Israelis to convert, anymore than he will force Gentiles to convert. Both Jews and Gentiles have to capacity to exercise their free will.
I wish the Jewish nation of Israel well. But for the past 2000 years God’s heart has always been on his church; his church is the focal point of his mission, for the church is the only living organism that can carry the gospel around the world, and the gospel is the answer to humanity’s deepest needs. So the church does not replace Israel as much as the church moves past this tiny nation. (However, I am currently studying this issue, and the church may indeed replace Israel and become the New Israel. I have not yet made up my mind.)
Keener is right:
The older dispensational scheme viewed this as the judgment of the nations based on their treatment of Israel, a view that could fit Jewish perceptions of the judgment … But this hardly fits Jesus’ own designation of his ‘brothers’ elsewhere (12:50; 28:10 …), and perhaps not the shift from the neuter “nations” to the masculine pronoun, suggesting individual judgment of nations …. But because the passage explicitly declares that this judgment determines people’s eternal destinies (25:46), it cannot refer to a judgment concerning who would enter the millennium, as in some older dispensational schemes … (p. 604).
Does the Land of Israel Belong to Jews Today by Covenant?
Fourth, it may occur to some readers that Matthew seems to affirm a positive or negative judgment based on good or bad works, which may seemingly contradict Paul. However, this misunderstands both Matthew and Paul. I have nicknamed Matthew the Trimmer (akin to John’s nickname, the Baptist). In this long passage, he is simply trimming away many criteria of what constitutes good or bad works and focuses on helping or mistreating the disciples. He and Paul have different emphases in their writings, as they use differently vocabulary, but they agree surprisingly closely, if we know where to look. Matthew said we must enter the kingdom of heaven (5:20; 7:13). Paul spoke often about the kingdom, which is only summarized by Luke in his history (Acts 14:22; 19:8). Through John the Baptist Matthew says that Jesus baptizes with the Spirit and fire (3:11). Paul was baptized and filled with the Spirit (Acts 9:17). Jesus taught that true disciples must pick up their cross and follow Jesus (Matt. 10:38; 16:24). Paul said he crucified his flesh (Gal. 2:19-20; Gal. 5:24). Paul, by revelation from the risen Lord, received his gospel that highlights salvation by grace alone through faith alone, which emphasizes this first step. Matthew, on the other hand, assumes that disciples were Jesus followers by definition and lived deeply righteous lives; they were in the kingdom already and presumably baptized with fire and the Spirit. Paul also taught righteousness as a sign or fruit that one is in Christ (Phil. 1:11).
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
In short, conversion and life in Christ are theologically the same, though they come at the topic from different angles.
Now we shift to the final day and judgment. In agreement with Matthew, Paul also says that additional factors will be used to judge everyone, Christian or non-Christian alike, and not just conversion or no conversion. Here’s a sample of what Paul writes:
Rom. 2:6-7 says, “God will repay to everyone according to what they have done. To those [outside of Christ] who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.”
15 They Gentiles without the law of Moses] show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Rom. 2:15-16)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Cor. 5:10)
The additional criteria are good or bad works. If Paul had read Matthew’s Gospel, he would have simply said that Matthew focuses judgment on good or bad treatment of disciples, and Paul would agree, but his theology of judgment is much broader than those particular criteria. So the seeming contradictions between the two apostles disappear.
Fifth, the verses about punishment need to be discussed.
“everlasting”: It is used in the context of fire. The adjective “everlasting” is the translation of the Greek adjective aiōnios (pronounced eye-oh-nee-oss and used 71 times). It could just as easily be translated as “punishment of the new age” or “new-age punishment” and “life of the new age” or “new-age life.” God is eternal, but souls outside of God may not be.
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
Further, some are disputing the everlastingness of fire. It could be punishment that lasts an age. Sincere and devout and Bible-believing Evangelicals today are shifting their focus away from the eternal, conscious torment, because the eternality of conscious torment does not carry as much weight in Scripture as they had once believed.
In Matthew 25, Jesus uses the imagery of darkness (v. 30) and fire (v. 41). Peter writes:
17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. (2 Peter 2:17)
Whether we should take the two images literally or not, fire and darkness express separation from God.
Please read a three-part series:
1. Hell and Punishment: Eternal, Conscious Torment
2. Hell and Punishment: Terminal Punishment
3. Hell and Punishment: Universalism
The topic of judgment may be difficult for lovey-dovey Christians who don’t understand who God is in his fulness. He is love, yes, but he is also a Judge. Don’t believe it? Here is a partial rundown of God in judgment over nations and peoples:
Very violent people at the flood of Noah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Nations (the infamous “-ites” like Canaanites) who polluted the Holy Land with diabolical practices
Israel who constantly violated God’s laws, so they were conquered by the Assyrians
Judah who had consistently violated God’s laws, so they were conquered by the Babylonians
In all of these examples, preachers of righteousness and prophets warned the people to live righteously and follow God. They represented God’s love and mercy because through them he was calling them to repentance and back to righteousness by adhering to the law.
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
Are There Degrees of Punishment, Rewards after Final Judgment?
Don’t let the hyper-grace teachers and Progressive Christians tell you that God is not the Judge. He is, and we will all face him and his judgment.
Finally, good news!
For the believers in Jesus, however, they immediately go into heaven after they die to await their rewards (or no rewards) at the judgment for Christians. At this judgment, no believer in Jesus will be thrown into hades or Gehenna or outer darkness (whichever image it is), but will remain in heaven and be rewarded (or not) according to the deeds they did in their bodies or on earth.
What Will Heaven Be Like for You?
GrowApp for Matt. 25:31-46
A.. This long passage is simply about the Final Judgment. How can you ensure that you are with the sheep and receive a favorable judgment?
SOURCES
At this link you will find the bibliography at the very bottom.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 