Matt 25:31-46 “Jesus, Lord of History Part 5”
INTRO: Busy schedules. Playdates. Installing new windows in our home. Hoping for a promotion at our job. Striving for a work-life balance. Wondering if we’re doing enough for our children to help them succeed. Grocery shopping. Schoolwork. Seeing friends. Deadlines. Trying to exercise more. Keeping our homes clean. Relationships. Parenting. Budgets. These are the things that fill much of our thinking and minds as live our lives here in Suburbia. These are the kinds of topics that we give much of our energy to and talk most about with those around. If someone were to mention the Day of Judgment, or Heaven, or Hell, almost certain would we be using them in facetious or ironical ways, like ‘I thought I was do well at my work, but now they have brought in an outside firm to change things up, and make cut backs. Some will probably not survive the Day of Judgment at work,’ or, ‘It is heaven when my four and two year ago sleep through the night without waking up,’ or ‘It is hell on earth to experience summer here without a working air conditioner.’
Yet today we listen to the words of Jesus, and we hear him speak about the Day of Judgment, Heaven, and Hell as though they were real realities, things that exist and topics that are not made up. Jesus speaks in a very direct way today about the end of history and the fact that everyone will be judged, and some will go to heaven and some will go to hell. These are some very WEIGHTY and SOBERING words. Perhaps the ideas of God judging us, or heaven or hell are difficult for you to grasp of believe. Maybe these concepts seem outdated or far removed from what we learn in the sciences or other fields of study. I can understand that, and understand how these are challenging topics to wrestle with. It is far easier to just assume they have not relevance to us or to preach on other passages that do not deal with them. But I would say we are better off listening to the whole message of Jesus, even the passages that are tough for our modern western sensibilities. And I would encourage you to come with me this morning and hear from the most kind, honest, truthful person to walk this Earth, Jesus Christ, and let us hear what he has to say about these things in Matt 25:31-46.
READ/PRAY
Now as a church we have been working our way through Matthew’s gospel, and for the last 4 weeks we have been in a section which is known as the Olivet Discourse. In this section, Jesus teaches his followers about future events, including his eventual return in glory. We’ve seen that Jesus taught his disciples to live in light of the fact that he really will return one day, and that in the meantime, the right way of living is faithful obedience while we wait. This week we have reached the grand climax of the of the Olivet Discourse. Here, Jesus speaks of his return in glory and the great scene of judgment which will take place at the end of history as we know it. We see Jesus takes on the role of judge all humanity; he will separates all into two groups: some who will experience an eternal life in God’s presence and kingdom, and some who will experience a life in an eternal destruction separated from God’s gracious presence.
THE SCENCE OF JUDGMENT WITH JESUS, THE JUDGE (31-33)
The passage begins with the theme we have been considering for the last several weeks: the return of Jesus Christ, who in this passage is referred to as the “Son of Man.” Jesus asserts that he will come back one day, and that this will be the end of history as we know.
–Jesus will CERTAINLY return: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory…” NOT if but WHEN
–It will be a glorious return: 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
–Note “his angels” and “his glorious throne”—We see the DIVINE nature of Jesus here.
-Jesus’ first coming was as a humble servant, but his second coming will be a glorious king.
–This is a scene of judgement “glorious throne.”
–EVERYONE will come before Jesus, who is the judge: “ 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations,”
–John 5:22-23 “For the father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.
–A SEPARATION WILL OCCUR (32b-33): 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.
-Jesus will be the one who separates all people. TWO categories: sheep and goats.
-In Middle East the goats and sheep would frolick and feed together, but it was the shepherd who need to separate them and who could distinguish them. Here Sheep stand for those who are righteous and Goats those who are not righteous.
-If Jesus is right, some views about the end of history cannot be right: reincarnation, universalism, naturalism. At the end of history there will be a time when JUSTICE is fulfilled and all persons and acts will be assessed and God will make the judgment.
OBJECTION: I don’t like the idea of a judgment day, where my life is assessed, and some are punished.
ANSWER: -Think of the alternative: No judgment for anyone or anything—the worst tyrants and crimes never punished.
-Actually, I think we all long for justice, and how we live shows it. EXAMPLE of Bin Laden death 5/2/2011
-There will be justice in the end, and God who is just will do what is right. No one will condemned who does not deserve it.
THE VINDICATION AND DESTINATION FOR THE SHEEP (34-40)
-Here we see Jesus speak about himself as “the King” (34) who gives a verdict to the “sheep”—those who were on the right. In 46 they are described as the “righteous”
–A GLORIOUS END for this group (34): -“come.” It is an invitation in. -“blessed by my Father”
-“inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” -New Earth. In verse 46, this= “eternal life.”
–The Bible pictures God’s people living with God’s people under God’s care on the New Earth, with resurrected bodies free from sin and death. It is “PREPARED” for us by God, who made this world as well. It will be amazing. It will be living in God’s presence with God people under our benevolent and good king Jesus.
–Jesus explains that those in this group showed the fruit of righteousness (35-36): ACTS of sacrificial love
–DOING these acts of SACRIFICIAL LOVE in some way meant doing them to Christ &showed their attitude to Christ (37-40).
-The individuals did acts of mercy and goodness to other Christians “least of these my brothers” (40), and in some real way by doing this they were doing these acts to Jesus “you did it to me.”.
This is like Matt 10:40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”
Or in Acts 9:4 “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
IMPORTANT: If we only read this passage, but not the context of Matthew or NT or Bible, we might image that Jesus is teaching a salvation by our works—doing these good works will get us in to heaven. A few things to consider:
1. There will be a judgment of our works and lives. God will punish evil and sin. And if we look at our lives or put our hope in our good works, or baptism, or church attendance, we are in trouble.
2. We must read this passage in the context of Matthew and all of Scripture. The good news of the gospel, is of God’s grace to us in spite our sin: we deserve to be damned for the wicked we’ve done, but God has done something about it. Jesus who saves us from our sins (Matt 1:21; 20:28), not ourselves, our efforts, being baptized, or going to going to church. The biblical testimony is that a person is saved not by their works, but by faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 36; 1 Tim 1:16; Gal 2:16).
GOSPEL–The GREAT JUDGE of Matt 25 is one who took our guilty verdict on the cross. He died for our sins (Rom 5:6-8).
-How DO WE THINK OF WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE THEN? The good works are not the GROUNDS for eternal life, but the EVIDENCE that VINDICATES the faith of believers. True faith in Jesus will result in work (Tree and Fruit analogy [Matt 7:15-20]; Faith without works is dead [Jas 2:17])
QUESTION: Does your life show that you genuinely are following Jesus as your lord and savior? Does the fruit of your life show the faith in your heart? Have you been born again? Edwards analogy of honey—an outsider can learn about honey, that is sweet, but someone who has tasted it knows it another, a mere-church goer may know of Christ, but they do not know him if they have not been born again. He is not sweet to them, he is not their live, and their lives do not reflect the fruit of the new life.
-There will still be a judgment we all go through, but for the Christian, there is no fear of condemnation because of the gospel (Rom 8:1). We now have Jesus’ righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). The judgment will be used to vindicate our genuine faith—to show it is genuine—and for our rewards, but to withstand the day of judgment and be saved from guilty verdict is the promise of gospel.
APP: Believer, there is NO condemnation for you. Your sins this week do not jeopardize your salvation, your struggles do not take away your eternal life. Your salvation was purchased for you, you did NOTHING to earn it or keep it. It is a gift by faith.
-Our good works are not our confidence for eternal life, but on think they do is assure us of our faith: NCC 34 “Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through Christ alone, must we still do good works and obey God’s Word?” Part of the response is: “Yes, so that we may be assured of our faith by the fruits.” Seeing how we following and served God in the past, assures us that we do trust in Jesus.
THE VERDICT AND DESTINATION FOR THE GOATS (41-46)
Now the scene moves to the second group—those on the left, or the goats. Here we see the sober fact that King Jesus will send some to into an eternal destruction.
-“DEPART FROM ME.” The essence of hell: Absence of God’s favorable presence, but presence of his wrath & just anger against sin.
“into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (41).
-“eternal fire” image Jesus gives for hell. Place of conscious torment, like the flames of a fire. 46 “eternal destruction”
–Note: devil and angels also go there. They do not rule in hell, but are judged in hell.
-The lives of the wicked show their just judgment (41-45).
-Jesus summarized that all of God’s law is summarized in 2 parts: love for God and love for neighbor (Matt 22:34-40)
-By refusing to do these things to believers, they have refused to do them to Christ. Thus, we see that it is a refusal to serve Christ or live for Christ that is the root of their evil.
-God is just and he will punish evil. And here we see a picture of this.
AN ETERNAL REALITY (46): only two possible outcomes for all people: eternal punishment or eternal life.
–ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. Unending conscious torment—NO hope for reprieve or release. No purgatory or annihilation.
-Some try to advocate for what is called ‘annihilationism’ which teaches that eventually the wicked cease to exist, but I would argue that the usage of the word her and the context does not leave that possibility. If we want to go that route then we also would have to be willing to go that route for eternal life.
EDWARDS—Sin against an infinitely holy eternal God deserves an eternal punishment.
–OUR PROBLEM: We don’t think highly enough of God, or see how evil our sin actually is. Pride has blinded us.
APP: There are some here who may be going to an eternal punishment. God will punish your sins, and that only solution is found in Christ paying it or you paying it. We urge to recognize the reality of God’s justice and be sobered by it, and come to Jesus today.
–ETERNAL LIFE. This is something that a believer experiences in part now and in full in eternity. Unending life in a physical body that cannot die in a world that is freed from sin and all the consequences of sin. You will be able to enjoy God and God’s people and the good world God has made. In this world there is so much beauty and goodness to behold, that is why we have things like a natural documentaries and natural museum. But there is also much death and sadness and brokenness—just this week I was on my walk when I saw a pile of fur moving up and down on the sidewalk, it turns out it was a diseased raccoon with distemper; the animal control arrived while I was still there and collected it to put it down. On the new earth there won’t be disease or death.
APP: Let the reality of heaven bring joy into your soul this week in the busyness and pressures of suburban life. Naperville is NOT heaven, but heaven awaits for all who trust in Christ. This put all our fears, hopes, and concerns of suburban life into perspective. We need not be CRUSHED when things do not turn out the way we hoped, or OVERLY ELATED when they do. Christ is our life.
-May this glorious reality sink into our hearts and lead us to invite others to know Christ. Our friends need Jesus too. The Day of Judgment will occur even if people do not believe it, heaven and hell are real even if some think they are not. And Jesus is the “way, the truth, and the life,” (John 14:6).
