Matthew 25:31 - 46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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.
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, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. So now our salvation is based on what we do for others?
2. Where's the dividing line between the sheep and the goats? Does one good act save us? Does one time when we withhold our help, does that damn us?
3. What does eternal punishment mean? Does this mean ECT (Eternal Conscious Torment)?
http://carm.org/matt25-31-46 says:
ReplyDeleteNotice that in Matthew 25:34 Jesus said, “the kingdom prepared for them.” This means that the people are already believers. In verse 37 Jesus says, “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink?'" They are righteous. They are believers who have the righteousness of God (Philippians 3:9). It is the righteous, the believers, who do the good works. It isn't doing the good works that makes you Christian or righteous. Those who are already sheep are doing the good deeds, and they inherit eternal life.
Furthermore, inheritance is for those who are children of the King--by birth; hence, they are already born again and don't become born again by doing good works. They do good deeds because they are sheep. Jesus said that his sheep follow him (John 10:27). That is, they follow him because of what they are--sheep. In so doing, they feed the poor, visit prisoners, etc. Doing these things are works of charity which is covered in the Old Testament Law, such as feeding the poor (Lev. 25:35); giving to the needy (Deut. 15:11); showing love for the stranger (Deut. 10:19); bearing another’s burden (Ex 23:5); to wrong no one when buying and selling (Lev. 25:14). Jesus is not teaching righteousness by faith and works. He is teaching on the coming judgment, and that those who are truly sheep will have done the things that are right, and they will inherit eternal life--because they are already his. Those who don’t will be judged by that law and be damned.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2209 says:
ReplyDeleteEspecially popular among socially activist Christians, the parable divides sheep from goats according to whether they have fed the hungry, provided drink for the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, tended to the sick, and visited the prisoner.
In my experience preachers routinely underplay two significant dimensions of this parable.
Matthew’s meaning is not always clear, but in every occurrence it is possible to translate ethne as Gentiles.
According to Klyne R. Snodgrass this universal understanding of the ethne first appeared in church tradition in the eighteenth century. For most of Christian history, the parable has been applied to the judgment specifically of Christians. Modern readers may struggle to imagine ethne as connoting only the church, but the parable’s characterization of “the least of these my brothers” (20:40, literal translation) does lend itself to identifying the victims as believers from within the church (Stories with Intent, 551).
Some interpreters may favor translating ethne to mean Gentiles outside the church for theological rather than literary or linguistic reasons. They perceive a potential contradiction between the parable and the doctrine of justification by grace through faith, and not by works. The parable clearly sets forth judgment according to works of compassion. If believers are justified by faith and not by works, the logic goes, then believers are not subject to these criteria. The parable must apply to outsiders.
However, Matthew knows nothing of the grace versus works dichotomy. Matthew’s Jesus insists upon righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees (5:17-20), then goes on to explain just what such righteousness looks like. He rejects acclamation as “Lord” from those who fail to do what he says (7:21-29). He relates the parable of the two sons, one of whom promises to do as he is commanded but does not follow through while the other refuses but then goes and works (21:28-32). The risen Jesus commissions his disciples to “obey everything that I have commanded you” (28:20, NRSV). Matthew is all about doing what Jesus says, and this parable fits that pattern.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2209 (continued):
ReplyDeleteMatthew’s insistence upon doing what Jesus says does not exclude grace. Indeed, Matthew’s Jesus reminds would-be disciples that “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (11:30). Matthew surely relishes judgment, but judgment in Matthew typically involves an element of surprise. Those who fail to observe Jesus’ teaching are surprised, even though they prophesy, cast out demons, and perform wondrous works in his name (7:21-22).
The poor man who fails to wear proper wedding attire receives a nasty surprise -- even though he has had no opportunity to change his clothes (22:11-14). We encounter similar patterns in chapter 25. The difference between wise and foolish virgins apparently lies with the wise virgins being prepared while the foolish are surprised (25:1-13). Meanwhile, what distinguishes the two successful slaves from the one who is cast into the outer darkness seems to involve knowledge: two know they should return a profit, while the other seeks not to lose his one talent (25:14-30).
Moralizing interpretations of the sheep and the goats overlook the element of surprise. Of course the goats express surprise: “Lord, when,” they ask, did we see you and fail to care for you? But the sheep are no less surprised: “Lord, when” did we see you and perform these services? Goats do not see themselves as goats -- but neither do sheep recognize themselves as sheep.
New Testament scholar Judy Stack-Nelson has pointed out for me a deeper logic that accounts for this element of surprise. For Matthew, ethical behavior indeed responds to Jesus’ commands. But it does not result from effort, from trying hard. Instead, Matthew points out -- repeatedly -- that good fruit comes from good trees. John the Baptist warns of trees that fail to bear good fruit (3:10). Good trees, Jesus explains, cannot bear bad fruit, nor can bad trees bear good fruit (7:17-18). John and Jesus alike warn that the bad trees will be cast into the fire. Trees are known by their fruit (12:33). Likewise, good soil produces good fruit (13:23).
Matthew’s emphasis on obedience can be forbidding. I must confess that I sometimes allow that dimension of the Gospel to occlude my awareness of grace. But Matthew’s Jesus does not instruct disciples that they should become the salt of the earth or the light of the world; he tells them they are such. Likewise, Jesus does not command his followers to hunger and thirst for justice, pursue peace, and so forth; he blesses those who do (5:1-16). Judgment simply brings out a reality that has been present all along.
My 2 cents on the questions:
ReplyDelete1. So now our salvation is based on what we do for others?
In a way, yes. Salvation is based on God's grace and Christ's free gift to us. That gift (if accepted with it's terms and conditions) deposits God's Holy Spirit within us. If we have God's Holy Spirit within us, we will do the things that the sheep do. We won't be able to help ourselves. The goats, no matter how hard they try, will not be able to do good works - their hearts just won't be in it. It's because they didn't accept the terms and conditions of Christ's gift to us.
2. Where's the dividing line between the sheep and the goats? Does one good act save us? Does one time when we withhold our help, does that damn us?
There is no "measure" that we can detect. If we have God's Holy Spirit living in us, we will produce good fruit. It's the sign of God's hand on our lives.
3. What does eternal punishment mean? Does this mean ECT (Eternal Conscious Torment)?
Not necessarily. The word "eternal" can easily apply both to an eternal process of destruction or to the results of destruction itself. If one is completely destroyed in hell, that certainly can be considered eternal punishment.
Why address something so esoteric and something that doesn't really matter? Answer: I think it's eminently worthy to punch through "facts" we have been raised with that may or may not be facts after all. My goal is to bring myself (and others) from the point of "knowing" something to correctly identifying something is not knowable. It purifies the gospel to eliminate everything that is made up of opinions and reduce it down to only the things that we really can know. I believe that it's very important to know the difference. An answer of "I don't know" or "it's unclear" is much better than an answer we have made up. We lose credibility with unbelievers if we can't explain the pure gospel without adding a bunch of "folk stories".