Matthew 25

Judgment in preparation for the Millennium

31 "When the Son of the Man comes in His glory,*The Lord Jesus uses "the coming of the Son of the Man" to refer to both the Rapture and the Second Advent. and all the holy angels with Him,*Perhaps 4% of the Greek manuscripts omit "holy" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). From Revelation 5:11 it appears that the holy angels are well over 100 million. then He will sit on His throne of glory. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another,*It is clear that the King is dealing with individuals here; nations are made up of people, and each person will be evaluated individually. just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And the sheep He will place on His right, but the goats on His left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right: ‘Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you at the foundation of the world.*Wow! 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 in answer the King will say to them, ‘Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’*The King demands practical demonstrations of righteousness. As James says, a ‘faith’ that does not produce will not save anyone. "These my brothers" refers to those on the King’s right.

41 "Then He will also say to those on His left: ‘Go away from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.*The Lake of fire was prepared for Lucifer (now Satan) and those angels that joined his rebellion (about a third of the angelic beings—Revelation 12:4). Human beings who side with Satan (there are various ways of doing that) will also share his destiny. The basic meaning of the word translated ‘angel’ is ‘messenger’; many human beings are Satan’s messengers. 42 For I was hungry and you did not give me food; I was thirsty and you did not give me drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take me in; I was naked and you did not clothe me; I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer 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,*"These" presumably refers to those on His right, the righteous. The wicked will be judged for how they treated the righteous (among other things). neither did you do it to me.’*These people are basically selfish and self-centered, and self-centeredness is the essence of sin. That is why Lucifer rebelled against God, etc. 46 And they will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."