31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and
all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him,
and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his
sheep from the goats. 33 And
He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right
hand, ‘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; I was thirsty
and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 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 When did we see You a stranger and take You
in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison,
and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them,
‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of
these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left
hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in,
naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, 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,
‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Vs. 31-33 31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Now at the heart of this Judgment is whether people have the heart of God within them, that is the love of God for His people, for only those who are truly saved do. And thus, they will exemplify this kind of care and concern for His people (something that they have always done down through the centuries and will continue to do until this present age ends) which may mean by their doing so that they will likewise suffer persecution for doing so; nonetheless no true believer will turn their back on another believer in their time of need (1 John 3:17). Now this judgement here foretold by the Lord Jesus Christ occurs when the Lord Jesus Christ (i.e. the Son of Man) appears with His holy angels in His glory, and occurs at the end of the Tribulation Period, and thus is commonly held to be the judgment of the Gentile Nations; that is those believing Gentiles who during the Tribulation period but do not surrender themselves to the control the Anti-Christ, and thus do not receive the mark of the beast, but come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Gospel by the believing Jews then. Therefore, here the Lord Jesus Christ describes two types of “nations”, (or people) the sheep, which again are made up of those believing Gentiles, (Rev. 7:9-17) and the goats, those unbelieving Gentiles who align themselves with the Anti-Christ, and thus receive the mark of the beast and persecute the saints, (Rev. 17:7-18). Therefore, when the Son of man returns in His glory and defeats the beast and His armies at the end of the Seven Year Tribulation Period (Rev. 19:11-21), He will judge all nations then, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats, placing the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left (vs. 32-33). Now this is not the final judgment of the wicked and unbelieving (referred to as the Great White Throne Judgment, Rev. 20:1-15), this is the Judgment that occurs before the Lord Jesus Christ begins His Millennial Reign with Redeemed Israel along with those believing Gentiles who enter into it with Him. The final Judgment of the wicked dead and unbelieving will take place at the end of His Millennial Reign.
Vs. 33-36 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘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; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ the King will reward or repay everyone according to what they did during this most horrible time. Thus, those who offered comfort and support and helped supply the needs of the saints during that most terrible time when they could not buy or sell, because they would not receive the mark of beast, are then the blessed of My Father that the Lord Jesus Christ invites to “…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 took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Vs. 34-36 Now all these things we likewise see exemplified by the true saints (i.e. people) of God, who down through the centuries have ministered and do minister to the needs of His elect people as they were able. And so, what is being spoken of here by the Lord Jesus Christ is not a pathway to salvation by trying to do these things (Eph. 2:8-9), but rather it is the true manifestation of the love and faith of believers towards other believers in their deepest and darkest time of need, and thus with no thoughts of rewards or repayment (and certainly not) salvation for doing so. For what we do, we do not for reward, repayment, acknowledgment, or “accolades”, but because we love the Lord Jesus Christ’s Person and His people. That is why every true believer ministers to his fellow brethren in their time of need, because we can’t stand to see God’s Redeemed people (our brethren) suffer, or be left abandoned and alone. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ in inviting us to inherit the kingdom prepared by His Father before the foundation of world for us is acknowledging our faith in and love for Him by what we did in this life for those who likewise believe in Him.
Vs. 37-40 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 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
The people here then are called righteous by the Lord because though they did not directly do these things to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, yet because they did it to the least of these His brethren, the Lord attributes all their acts of love and kindness towards His brethren as unto Himself. Therefore, they are all rightly called righteous by Him, because even though they did not know that what they were doing was as unto Himself, yet because of the Love of God within them all they did it without any thought of reward or repayment by Him. They did it then because it was within all their hearts to do so.
Vs. 41-46 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, 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, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Having then opened the door of the Kingdom to the righteous (the sheep in His parable) and welcomed them all in, the Lord Jesus Christ now addresses the goats (i.e. those on His left hand) saying to them, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…” There is then no doubt what the Lord thinks of them, for just as the righteous ministered to His brethren giving them food when they were hungry, or drink when they were thirsty, or took them into their homes when they had no place to stay, clothed them when they were naked, or visited them when they were sick and or imprisoned. And so just as they did not do it unto the least of these our brethren, when they saw them in their times of distress and need, therefore the Lord Jesus Christ says that they all will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Scripture Quotations:
Vs. 31-33 31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Now at the heart of this Judgment is whether people have the heart of God within them, that is the love of God for His people, for only those who are truly saved do. And thus, they will exemplify this kind of care and concern for His people (something that they have always done down through the centuries and will continue to do until this present age ends) which may mean by their doing so that they will likewise suffer persecution for doing so; nonetheless no true believer will turn their back on another believer in their time of need (1 John 3:17). Now this judgement here foretold by the Lord Jesus Christ occurs when the Lord Jesus Christ (i.e. the Son of Man) appears with His holy angels in His glory, and occurs at the end of the Tribulation Period, and thus is commonly held to be the judgment of the Gentile Nations; that is those believing Gentiles who during the Tribulation period but do not surrender themselves to the control the Anti-Christ, and thus do not receive the mark of the beast, but come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Gospel by the believing Jews then. Therefore, here the Lord Jesus Christ describes two types of “nations”, (or people) the sheep, which again are made up of those believing Gentiles, (Rev. 7:9-17) and the goats, those unbelieving Gentiles who align themselves with the Anti-Christ, and thus receive the mark of the beast and persecute the saints, (Rev. 17:7-18). Therefore, when the Son of man returns in His glory and defeats the beast and His armies at the end of the Seven Year Tribulation Period (Rev. 19:11-21), He will judge all nations then, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats, placing the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left (vs. 32-33). Now this is not the final judgment of the wicked and unbelieving (referred to as the Great White Throne Judgment, Rev. 20:1-15), this is the Judgment that occurs before the Lord Jesus Christ begins His Millennial Reign with Redeemed Israel along with those believing Gentiles who enter into it with Him. The final Judgment of the wicked dead and unbelieving will take place at the end of His Millennial Reign.
Vs. 33-36 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘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; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ the King will reward or repay everyone according to what they did during this most horrible time. Thus, those who offered comfort and support and helped supply the needs of the saints during that most terrible time when they could not buy or sell, because they would not receive the mark of beast, are then the blessed of My Father that the Lord Jesus Christ invites to “…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 took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Vs. 34-36 Now all these things we likewise see exemplified by the true saints (i.e. people) of God, who down through the centuries have ministered and do minister to the needs of His elect people as they were able. And so, what is being spoken of here by the Lord Jesus Christ is not a pathway to salvation by trying to do these things (Eph. 2:8-9), but rather it is the true manifestation of the love and faith of believers towards other believers in their deepest and darkest time of need, and thus with no thoughts of rewards or repayment (and certainly not) salvation for doing so. For what we do, we do not for reward, repayment, acknowledgment, or “accolades”, but because we love the Lord Jesus Christ’s Person and His people. That is why every true believer ministers to his fellow brethren in their time of need, because we can’t stand to see God’s Redeemed people (our brethren) suffer, or be left abandoned and alone. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ in inviting us to inherit the kingdom prepared by His Father before the foundation of world for us is acknowledging our faith in and love for Him by what we did in this life for those who likewise believe in Him.
Vs. 37-40 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 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
The people here then are called righteous by the Lord because though they did not directly do these things to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, yet because they did it to the least of these His brethren, the Lord attributes all their acts of love and kindness towards His brethren as unto Himself. Therefore, they are all rightly called righteous by Him, because even though they did not know that what they were doing was as unto Himself, yet because of the Love of God within them all they did it without any thought of reward or repayment by Him. They did it then because it was within all their hearts to do so.
Vs. 41-46 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, 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, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Having then opened the door of the Kingdom to the righteous (the sheep in His parable) and welcomed them all in, the Lord Jesus Christ now addresses the goats (i.e. those on His left hand) saying to them, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…” There is then no doubt what the Lord thinks of them, for just as the righteous ministered to His brethren giving them food when they were hungry, or drink when they were thirsty, or took them into their homes when they had no place to stay, clothed them when they were naked, or visited them when they were sick and or imprisoned. And so just as they did not do it unto the least of these our brethren, when they saw them in their times of distress and need, therefore the Lord Jesus Christ says that they all will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Scripture Quotations:
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson
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