Judgement day

This morning we come to the last in our series of sermons from Matthew 24 and 25, from this last one of those five blocks of Jesus’ teaching recorded here in Matthew’s gospel. The main message of these 2 chapters has been about how to live as Jesus’ disciples once Jesus is no longer around on earth - how to be disciples in the period between his resurrection and his return; how to be ready for when he comes again.

And today we come to what I think is the most challenging part of this whole section, to the parable of the sheep and the goats. The fact that it’s about Judgement day is pretty confronting in itself. It’s not the kind of subject that most of us feel very comfortable talking about. But it’s not just the fact that it’s about judgement day that makes this a hard passage to listen to and take on board; it’s also the fact that in this parable Jesus fundamentally challenges the way that most of us think about what judgement day will be like.

It seems to me that there are two pretty standard versions out there of what Judgement day will be like. The first one is the one that most non-Christians believe, and the second is the one that most Christians believe; and I think Jesus challenges both of them here in Matthew 25.

The first version, the non-Christian version, is what you might call the ‘scales of justice’ version. Now of course there are a lot of non-Christian people these days who don’t believe in any sort of judgment day at all. But those who do generally, I think, tend to see it like this. The picture is of judgement day as a kind of balancing exercise. The basic idea is that God gets out a big set of scales and he weighs in the scales our good deeds against our bad deeds. And because most of us are basically good people - or so the theory goes - because most of us are basically good people, what will happen for most of us is that the good deeds on one side will be enough at least balance out the bad deeds on the other side, and we’ll be OK. I think that’s a pretty standard non-Christian version of judgement day, and it’s nothing new - it goes back to the ancient Egyptians, and you can see it written up in hieroglyphics and pictures in their books of the dead.

The second version, the version I think a lot of Christians imagine Judgment day will be like, is what you might call the ‘magic password’ version. According to this version, you get to the gates of heaven and God says to you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?”, and if you answer with the magic word - which is “Jesus” - then you get in, no more questions asked. You just have to know the magic word.

And in the passage here in Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable that quite fundamentally challenges both of those versions of what the last judgement will be like. It’s a difficult passage - it takes a bit of hard work to understand it, so make sure you’ve got it open in front of you and we’ll work it through together.

“When the Son of Man comes”

It begins in verse 31 with a phrase that takes a bit of explaining in itself. Verse 31, Jesus introduces the parable: “When the Son of Man comes...”. The Son of Man, of course, is Jesus. It’s the title that he uses again and again in the gospels to talk about himself. It’s an expression that sometimes gets used in the Bible as a generic description for a human being – like ‘son of Adam’ in the Narnia books.

But when it occurs in a phrase like “when the Son of man comes” (in his kingdom, in his glory, with the holy Angels, and so on) it’s much more than that. It’s a reference back to the book of Daniel, to the vision that Daniel has in chapter 7 of that book, of ‘one like a Son of Man’ coming on the clouds of heaven as the judge of the world. When the gospels talk about ‘the Son of Man coming’ it’s a picture of Jesus coming to bring judgment. And it’s a picture that has both a foreground and a background.

In the foreground, in Matthew’s gospel, it’s a picture of Jesus coming to Jerusalem to bring judgement on Israel. That’s what it means the first time it gets used in Matthew’s gospel, in Matthew chapter 10. Flip back with me to Matthew chapter 10 and have a look. Jesus calls his twelve disciples to him, verse 1, and he sends them out, verse 5, not to the Gentiles, not to the Samaritans, only to the people of Israel. And he sends them out with an urgent warning that judgement is coming on the nation. Judgement is coming soon. Verse 23 - they won’t have finished going through the towns of Israel before the day of reckoning for Israel arrives. Jesus says: “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

And the way that people receive them, the messengers, will be a reflection of the way that people respond to Jesus, the one who has sent them. Verse 24: “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!”

And because of that, the way that people receive or refuse to receive the messengers of Jesus will determine their destiny in the judgement. Verse 14: “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.” Or again in v. 40: “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

When Jesus comes to Jerusalem he comes in judgment, and when the rulers of the city pass sentence on him and have him crucified, they are actually passing sentence on themselves; when they destroy the temple of his body they are bringing upon themselves the destruction of the other temple that was only ever a shadow and a symbol of Jesus.

But the coming of Jesus the Son of Man in judgment to Jerusalem is really just a foreshadowing of the real judgement day, which is still to come. And this time it will be a judgement that will involve all the nations. This time - chapter 24 verse 14 - the messengers will be sent out not just to the people of Israel but to all the people of the world, to announce the coming of the Son of Man and the end of the world and the final day of judgment.

And that is the event that is on view here in Matthew chapter 25. That is when Jesus will come in his glory, with the angels, in all the power and splendour of the vision in Daniel chapter 7. That is what Jesus is talking about here when he says: “when the Son of Man comes...”.

“He will separate them”

What will happen on that day? Well, in a word, what will happen is that there will be a separation. Verse 31: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”

In the present, in this age, there’s no such separation. The sheep and the goats graze side by side in the same pasture. The wheat and the weeds grow up alongside each other in the same field, and the same rain falls down on both of them. You can’t really see a visible difference between how God treats his children and his enemies. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. But at the end, on the last day, there will be a separation. And it will be an absolute and an utterly final one.

The destinations (v.34, 41, 46)

Listen to the way that Jesus describes the difference between the destinations of the two groups. Verse 34: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” And then down in Verse 41: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

To the first group he says: “Come.” To the second group he says: “Depart from me.” To the first group he says: “you who are blessed by my Father”; to the second group he says: “you who are cursed”.

To the first group he says: “Take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” This is the thing that all God’s plans and purposes have been building toward since the very beginning. It’s God’s people gathered into God’s own presence, to live together under his rule. It’s the kingdom of God in perfect fulfilment.

To the second group he says: ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’

And so in the final verse, Jesus ends the whole passage with a summary of the difference between the two destinations. Verse 46: “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” The difference between the two destinations is a complete one, and it’s an absolute one, and it’s an eternal one.

The criterion (v.40)

If those are the two destinations where the sheep and the goats end up, what then is the criterion that determines who ends up going which way?

Verse 34: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

Verse 40 is the crux of it, isn’t it. And two things in that verse stand out.

The first is that phrase, “whatever you did...”. “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” As it says again and again throughout the Bible, the last judgement will be a judgement according to works. Salvation by grace; judgment according to works.

It’s not just about knowing the magic word. It’s not just about saying ‘Lord, Lord’. It won’t be enough to say on the last day: “But I knew all the right information. I went to Bible study and I was able to answer every question. I called myself a Christian all my life as far back as I can remember. I had all kinds of spiritual experiences - I had dreams and visions and I spoke in tongues and performed miracles. I experienced the most wonderful feelings when I was singing the songs at church.” None of those things will be the issue on the last day. God won’t just be looking at who we claim to be with our words. He will be looking at who we show ourselves to be in our actions.

“Whatever you did...”, Jesus says.

“...for the least of these my brothers”

But it’s not about weighing our good actions against our bad actions and seeing which sort we have more of - as if that would make us somehow good enough for God. No - that’s not what it’s about at all. No - the issue is what our actions reveal about our response to Jesus. And the particular action that is in focus here is “whatever you did for the the least of these my brothers.”

Who are “the least of these my brothers”? When I was growing up, the interpretation that I heard was that this was anyone who was sick or hungry or in prison or lacking clothes or a stranger. What I was taught was that this was a parable about doing good deeds and giving to charity. And there’s something nice about that interpretation, because God really does want us to have compassion on people in need, whoever they are.

But that’s not what Jesus is talking about here. “Jesus brothers” aren’t just anyone. It’s the language that Jesus uses to refer to his disciples. Matthew 12:48 “Jesus replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.” Matthew 23:8 ““But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.” Jesus’ brothers are his disciples.

Specifically, in context here, it is his disciples sent out among the nations with the gospel. The way that the nations will be judged is by whether they receive Jesus’s disciples when they come to them with the gospel. The way that they respond to them is the way that they respond to Jesus.

It was the same back in Matthew 10 when the disciples were sent out to Israel, wasn’t it. Matthew 10 verse 40: “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Verse 42: “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” As it was with Israel, so it is with the nations. Just as Jesus sent out the disciples to Israel in Matthew chapter 10, and warns them about how they will be hated and arrested and imprisoned because of him, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved - in the same way in Matthew 24, which we looked at a few weeks ago, he now tells them that the gospel is to go out into the whole world, as a testimony to all the nations, and the same things will happen: they will be hated and arrested and imprisoned because of him, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And in both cases, the way that people receive them will be the way that they receive Jesus, and the way that they receive Jesus will be the way that they receive God.

It’s very different from the normal non-Christian view of judgment day, isn’t it. It’s a view that say that all of us are in grave danger, under the rightful judgement of God; that God sends to earth his son as the one way by which we can be spared and saved; he only has one Son, and there is only one way of salvation; and to those who accept that offer of forgiveness with all their hearts, in action as well as in word, there is salvation; but to those who reject it, there is judgement and condemnation. Jesus is saying that the only hope for the people of the world lies with the missionaries who take out the gospel of Jesus. That’s a very unfashionable message these days, isn’t it. But it’s not just the invention of 19th century British imperialism; it’s the word of Jesus.

The sheep, the goats, and us

What Jesus isn’t saying

Well, where do we fit into all this? What do we learn about ourselves from this parable about the sheep and the goats?

Firstly, just quickly, we need to clarify what Jesus is not saying. Jesus is not saying that we save ourselves by doing good works and random acts of kindness to strangers; he’s not saying that if we’ve ever helped an old lady across the street, that’ll be enough to get us to heaven; he’s not saying that if we help lots of old ladies across lots of streets that might be enough to get us to heaven. He’s not saying that at all. He’s talking much more specifically about how we responded to his brothers, his disciples, his messengers, when they came to us with the message of the gospel - whether we received them or whether we rejected them; whether we received the Jesus who sent them, or whether we rejected him. This is not - as some people try to make it - a parable about how we can save ourselves by delivering Christmas hampers to people in need. Of course we should do that; but it’s not what Jesus is talking about here.

What Jesus is saying...

What is Jesus saying that we need to take note of in this parable?

* about his brothers

Well, in the first place, we need to notice the kind of picture that he paints of the lifestyle of his brothers. What is the lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus, according to this parable? It’s the lifestyle of someone sent out into a dangerous and hostile world with an unpopular message. It’s the lifestyle of someone who devotes themselves at great personal cost to the work of the gospel.

The assumption of the parable is that it will be quite a normal thing for Jesus’ disciples to be hungry and thirsty; to be cold because they don’t have enough clothes; to be sick; to be strangers in an unfamiliar country; to be in prison. The reason we read this parable and assume that Jesus is talking about Christians doing good deeds to people less fortunate than ourselves is because we’re used to assuming that Christians are middle class people living safe and comfortable lives in the place where they grew up. Jesus doesn’t make that assumption.

Now I don’t think Jesus is saying that if you’re not sick and hungry and in prison somewhere overseas for preaching the gospel then you’re not a Christian. But I think he is saying that the normal Christian lifestyle is a missionary lifestyle, and it comes at a cost. And if we count ourselves as brothers of Jesus, then we need to ask ourselves, is that the kind of lifestyle that we’re prepared to let him lead us into?

Are we prepared to think seriously about crossing the world for the sake of the gospel, like Paul and Lyndal, like Jessica, like Mark and Rochelle, like Glen and Rachael, like Felicity? Are we prepared to cross the road for the sake of the gospel?

For most of us, I think, the challenge is to start with the small things isn’t. It’s things like inviting our friends and our neighbours to come with us to church, or to send their kids along with our kids to Sunday school; it’s inviting a friend from work to read one of the gospels with us, or to come along to Simply Christianity; it’s getting to know the people we work with and the people we live next to. For most us the first steps will probably be small ones. For some of us it will be much bigger decisions, decisions that involve major changes in the country we live in and the lifestyle that we follow and the work that we do.

The common denominator is that realisation that if we are disciples of Jesus – if we are his ‘brothers’ in the language of this parable – then we are in this world as missionaries, and that will mean stepping into places of risk and sacrifice for the sake of Jesus and the gospel. We need to take on board the assumption behind the parable about the lifestyle of Jesus’ brothers.

* about his sheep

And second, we need to hear the teaching of the parable about his brothers’ brothers – about the ones who turned out in the parable to be sheep and not goats. That is to say, we need to hear what the parable says about those other disciples who may not have ended up in prison or sick or hungry, but who cared enough about those who did to do something in response.

They shared their food and drink and clothes; they visited the sick and they visited the prisoners. They showed their identification with Jesus by the way they identified with his messengers; and they did that not just on the first day, when the missionaries came into town and they gave them a place to stay; they maintained that kind of commitment for the rest of their lives. They showed that they were Jesus’ disciples by the way they loved their fellow-disciples, and demonstrated that love in action.

That is to say, they used their time and their money and their energy – at great cost to themselves – to stand alongside the persecuted brothers of Jesus, to provide for the needs of his missionaries, to identify themselves with them and in so doing to identify themselves with Jesus.

And to them, Jesus says those fantastic words: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me... [for] whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Let’s pray that on the last day Jesus would say the same thing about each of us.