Text:

But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 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 creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” Then these righteous ones will reply, “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will say, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, “Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.” Then they will reply, “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?” And he will answer, “I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.” And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.

In the Kingdom of God, Victory looks DIFFERENT BUT BETTER than we can imagine.

Overall Commentary: 🌎

Jesus finishes His final public discourse. He has been teaching the crowds about coming judgment and the future Kingdom. This final word-picture is the conquering King settling accounts. I think we will be surprised when we get to Heaven and find what God counted as worthy and what He didn't.

Kingdom victory teaches us to have an Eternal Perspective.

Commentary

Verse 31-33: When the King Overcomes.

Is this a parable? This section of Scripture is exceptionally conversational for many reasons. Here are just a few:

Some see this as having to do with Gentiles and Jews during the tribulation period.
Some see this as purely illustrative, which means it is only an example of Christ's complete conquest.
Some see it as literal and an allusion to Revelation 20. I ascribe to this final theory. Jesus is talking about the final judgment and what it will be like when He finally settles all accounts. No one escapes justice.

Verse 31: "Son of Man"—Jesus uses this phrase from the Book of Daniel to describe Himself. This is a title given to the Messiah.

Verse 32: Sheep from goats—In ancient Palestine, the types of sheep and goats that grew in the area looked very similar, especially as babies. The only way to tell is to get close to them and be a trained shepherd. This is Jesus' way of saying He will know who is His and who isn't, even if no one else can tell.

Verse 33: What is the difference between right and left?- The right hand was considered the side of honor, and the left was the side of dishonor.

Verse 34-46: The Great Revealer of Hearts.

Verse 34: The King- This shows Jesus a the conquering King.

Verse 34: Inherit the Kingdom- This is the Kingdom and eternal, limitless realm of God. We will share in His Kingdom as "adopted" sons and daughters. This DOES NOT mean we are turned into gods or inherit the holy attributes of God.

Verse 34: Prepared from the creation of the world- God's plan for His children was for us to be with Him from the beginning. Many see this as a return to the relationship Adam, Even, and Yahweh shared in Genesis 3 before the Fall.

Verse 35-36: Practical forms of hospitality- Jesus shared what would have been considered general forms of help and hospitality. None of these would have been considered impossible for anyone in the crowd. Jesus is saying that everyone can get in on making a difference. It is this desire that reveals the transformed heart of salvation.

Verse 40: "My brothers and sisters"- (UNNECESSARY CONVROVERSY) There is a metric ton of controversy over this verse. Some read this verse and say Jesus commands everyone to serve anyone in need. Others say that Jesus will only count on serving those in the Christian community. Still, others say that Jesus only talks about serving ministers and spreading the Gospel. The reason this is unnecessary is because we don't have to choose. There are places in the Bible where God commands us to do all this. This particular text is referring to His "brothers and sisters." That means those in the "household of faith." However, the rest of the Bible also speaks about serving in all the other areas.

Verse 41: "Into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons"- Once again, here is another interesting, deep, and controversial subject. Here are some questions this conjures up:

When was hell made? This is not stated directly in the Bible, so we must use context clues and theological guesswork. Most scholars believe hell was created between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. When we look at certain sections of Job, we think that angels existed before God created humans in the Garden of Eden. At some point, Lucifer fell, and hell was created as a place to keep him and those who followed him away from God's presence.
Who was hell made for? Lucifer and those who followed him.
If hell wasn't prepared for people, why do they go there? Hell is a place of separation from God. God doesn't send anyone to hell. He is the place for people who choose not to follow God and have their sins washed away. This is why sharing the Gospel with others is essential.

Top Takeaway- Be Truly Glad, but Sober-Minded.

God's Word teaches us to have joy in our hearts. When we have an eternal perspective, this is possible. We can see past momentary troubles and trials. We can see into the vast future that God is for us in more ways than we can imagine. However, this also fills us with the desire to have as many people join us as possible. We realize that they do not share in Christ's joy. This is why we share His Good News. We want everyone to join us in that great eternal Kingdom.