Thoughts for the Day

When the Son of Man comes in his glory,                 Matthew 25:31

Did God really say that Jesus will come back?   Did God really say that there will be a Judgement?  From what is recorded in the Bible, the answer to both questions is, “Yes, lots of times!”  I’m not aware of any Christian denomination that doesn’t affirm these beliefs, and we regularly reaffirm them reciting creeds that have stood for some 1500 years ‘Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead’.  Yet doubts keep surfacing, perhaps because it has been a long wait, perhaps because the concept of Final Judgement sits uneasily in our culture.

Today’s scripture presents perhaps the most authoritative answer to these questions, direct from Jesus’ lips.  In my bible the passage is headed ‘The sheep and the goats’, but it is no parable.  Jesus declares that when the Son of Man (a title he often used to refer to himself) comes in his glory he will sit on a throne, gather all nations and separate people like a shepherd separates sheep and goats.  I take this to suggest that which is which will be blindingly obvious with no need or opportunity or point in people arguing their case.  It’s somehow comforting to know it won’t depend on how I perform on the day! 

His explanation is beautifully crafted.  It looks like the separation is based on works, but that logic doesn’t stand up (try it and see), and Jesus’ exchanges turn out to be about what the two groups feel they haven’t done.  The ‘sheep’ can’t see how they have helped him.  The ‘goats’ can’t see where they failed to.  I conclude the ‘sheep’ had a heart for doing the right things and the ‘goats’ didn’t.

The outcomes for both are described as ‘eternal’ … to which we will return!