Matthew 25:31-46 English Standard Version

The Final Judgment

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. 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.’

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.”

There is a real human emotion that can overwhelm any of us. That is the feeling that we have not done enough. Jesus is speaking here of the final judgment that everyone will experience. There is no escape from it. We must not allow fear to be the motivation of our hearts.

Jesus said fear not many times. He said to be anxious for nothing. Yet when we are facing our emotions, our insecurities, our fears, we need to remember all that He has said to comfort us.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Love not fear is our new commandment. We seek the Father’s will, we believe by faith that we have received understanding of His will, obedience of faith must not be rooted in fear but rather motivated by love.

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Do His bidding because we love Him. Do not let fear interfere. 

In John 11 Jesus said “Lazarus, come out.”

I am not quoting all that was done concerning Lazarus’ death because I would hope that everyone reading this has seen “The Chosen” version of events. It is not scriptural but it contains many human conditions that we all can understand.

Thomas was angry that the woman he loved was not special enough to be raised from the dead.

Mary and Martha knew Lazarus was special to Jesus and could not understand why He had not responded to their call for help.

Some who witnessed this account felt Jesus was special and gave Him credit for raising up Lazarus.

Some who witnessed the scene felt special because they got to witness the event. 

A Sadducees’ belief system was put in question because he held the Pentateuch special and if the resurrection was not addressed there, it didn’t exist.

Then there is Lazarus himself who asked “Why me?”

Even though I am one for biblical accuracy, I find myself enjoying the alternate telling of the tale because it addressed some very real human emotions that many of us have to deal with.

In one way or another I myself have witnessed all of these emotions. The question here is what do we do with them when we encounter them?

Do we allow our pain to weaken our trust in God?

When God doesn’t answer our prayers do we question if He is even listening?

Do we believe that Jesus is God in the flesh?

Why does witnessing a miracle make us feel special?

When our beliefs are put into question do we surround ourselves with those who agree with us?

The real question is the last and most important. You were chosen, why do you feel unworthy? 

Life is challenging and these and many more questions will come up that will test your faith, challenge your understanding, and question your trust in God. It happens for two very real reasons. One, we are human. Two, Satan hates all of us.

Hebrews 12:1

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,