The Sheep and the Goats
OUR Lord’s Olivet prophecy, given to the disciples two days before His crucifixion in answer to the inquiries of some, has a very solemn finish in Matthew’s Gospel (25:31-46). The Lord describes in simple but graphic terms a sessional judgment which will take place at His return to earth. “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations (or Gentiles).” He had already definitely told His disciples that the “Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels” (Matt. 16:27), and He had promised them that “when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28). The judgment of the sheep and the goats is the opening incident in that great administration.
Earlier in the Olivet prophecy the Lord had spoken of His coming in the clouds of heaven with angels attending. He followed this with a parenthetical series of six parables, three with a definite message to the Jewish people, and three with a message to religious professors in Christendom (ch. 24:32; 25:30). Then the Lord picked up the thread again and spoke of the tribunal before which shall be gathered all nations. We must carefully distinguish between this judgment and that of the Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11-15). The contrasts are important. The one takes place before the Millennial Kingdom begins, the other at its close, when both heaven and earth flee away. The Great White Throne deals with the dead; at the throne of His glory death and resurrection are not mentioned. It is living men who stand before Him into whose hands the Father has committed all judgment (John 5:22).
The notion of a general judgment at the end of time finds no sanction in Matthew 25. nor in any other Scripture. The Great White Throne will indeed be set up at the end of time, but only the lost dead will be there, “the first resurrection” (of all the blessed and holy) will be completed a thousand years earlier. The judgment of Matthew 25. will take place at “the end of the age.” Please read “age,” not “world” in Matthew 24:3 and elsewhere in the first Gospel.
It is a Man who will sit upon the throne of glory, but mark His perfect discrimination between sheep and goats. That Man is “God manifested in flesh” (1 Tim. 3:15) who knows the secrets of all hearts. Note the quiet assertion of His dignity in “the Sermon on the Mount”: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord... then will I profess unto you, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:22-23). The Man who moved up and down amongst men so graciously and familiarly is the final Judge of all created beings.
What are we to understand by “all nations?” It is certain that there will be terrific slaughter of armed hosts at the Lord’s appearing (Rev. 19:17-21; Zech. 14:3; Isa. 63:1-6; Ezek. 38, 39. etc.); this being so, who will remain to be judged at “the throne of His glory”? The populations in general, after all their military forces have been destroyed. One point only appears to be discussed: how have these people treated those whom the King is pleased to call “My brethren?” This passage corresponds to Mic. 5:3, not to Rom. 8:29; i.e., the “brethren” referred to in Matt. 25:40 are not Christians but the believing remnant of Israel who will preach the Gospel of the Kingdom “for a witness to all nations” during the last dread crisis (Matt. 24:14). The treatment accorded to these witnesses is the index to the attitude of their hearts towards Him Who sends them forth. “What think ye of Christ?” is ever God’s test question. Those who appreciate Him will shelter and feed His messengers; those who hate Him will treat them with contempt. The graciousness of the Lord’s words, “inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of My brethren ye have done it unto Me” should appeal powerfully to our hearts to-day, and should make us lovers of hospitality to those who for the sake of His name go forth “taking nothing of the Gentiles” (3 John 7)
In the blessing promised to the sheep nothing is said about Heaven. Their portion will be the Kingdom prepared for them by the Father from the foundation of the world. Our portion is in the Heavens, and was settled for us in the Father’s love “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:3-4). It is the King who addresses the sheep in Matthew 25. Christians know the same blessed Person more intimately as Lord and Head. It will be good to be subjects of such a King; it will be better still to be in union with Him as Body and Bride.
The awful future of the ungodly could scarcely be expressed more clearly than in the Scripture before us: “These shall go away into everlasting (eternal) punishment.” For both “punishment” and “life” the same word is used; the duration of the one is the duration of the other. Yet eternal fire was not prepared for men, but for the Devil and his angels, but those who while on earth prefer the voice of the Devil to the voice of God must share his doom forever.
Let us not miss the sequel to the Lord’s revelation on the Mount of Olives. “It came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said unto His disciples: Ye know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified” (Matt. 26:1-2). With calm dignity He steps down, as it were, from “the throne of His glory” and proceeds to Gethsemane and Golgotha, there to finish the work which the Father had given Him at that time to do. Why was He willing to turn His back upon the glory and majesty described on the Mount of Olives, and accept instead anguish and shame? It was for you, beloved reader, and for me. “Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6). “Hallelujah! What a Saviour!”