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.”
In this section Jesus turned to those on His left hand—unbelievers.
25:41
“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:
Unbelievers will join the devil and his angels in eternal separation from God.
25:42
for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
Rejection of Christ leads to no heart for believers.
25:43
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.’
Unbelievers do not have a heart for believers in material need.
25:44
“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?’
Unbelievers have the same protest as believers in the previous section. They could not recognize when they had the possibility of meeting Jesus’ needs.
25:45
Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least [emphatic] of these, you did not do it to Me.’
Lack of concern for hurting believers is an evidence of those who are without Christ.
25:46
And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Note Jesus uses the same word for punishment as He does for life with God—“eternal.” Both alternatives are “eternal.” Unbelievers reject Christ so they will not be permitted into His kingdom.
The Olivet Discourse is now finished.
PRINCIPLE:
“Eternal” (life with God or separation from God) is the end result of how we personally view Jesus.
APPLICATION:
Eternal life begins when a person accepts the death of Christ for his sins. To have eternal life we must accept:
That Jesus paid for our sins on the cross.
That God puts His very own righteousness to our account forever.
That God gives us eternal life.
Grant, you say the ones on the left are unbelievers. Where in the scriptures did unbelievers call Jesus Lord ? It must be that the ones on the left believed they were believers but didn’t choose to serve Jesus by serving others and when they died their souls went to hell. The scriptures show them standing before the Great White Throne judgment.
This support the fact that faith without good works is dead ! Jesus answers James question,”can faith alone save” No.
Delano, you seem to constantly (re your other posts) confuse cause and effect. If you would have studied my commentary on James, you would have seen the works is the effect of genuine faith. This argument of both this passage and James makes that point. This study may help: https://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/doctrine/terms-of-salvation/
I decided to take a look at what you wrote for this part of Matt. 25. Of course, you would surely say that this will be the eternal state: which is what I was saying before. – – – Now, above you wrote this.
Matt. 25:41 > Unbelievers will join the devil and his angels in eternal separation from God.”
And this for verse 46. > Note Jesus uses the same word for punishment as He does for life with God—“eternal.” Both alternatives are “eternal.” Unbelievers reject Christ so they will not be permitted into His kingdom.
So how is this text any different from Matt. 25:31-34?
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.
Because you wrote this for verse 34. > “Jesus will usher believers into the Millennial kingdom.” <
But this is the exact same scene! They are not separate events in time.
The Sheep and the Goats
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.”
So I cannot understand why you made that contradictory statement in this commentary.
https://versebyversecommentary.com/2009/04/02/matthew-2534f-2/
By the way, look at this commentary and the question I asked.
https://versebyversecommentary.com/2003/02/01/1-corinthians-1523-26/
Jack,
The difference lies in the context of the prophetic Olivet Discourse. Why did Matthew launch this discourse by revealing questions by the Lord’s disciples? He did it in response to their questions about the Second Coming to earth specifically, not the entrance into heaven. The issue is the παρουσία, the physical coming of the Messiah to earth, and “the end of the age” (Mt 24:3). They wanted to know the “sign” of His coming to earth while they were on earth. They had a desire to know about the “end of the age,” the age to which Jesus speaks in the Olivet discourse, the time when He would come to earth to establish His kingdom. Jesus answered questions about the “sign” of His coming and the end of the Age in 24:4–31. He also set forth lessons for those who will be living at that time (24:32–51) by encouraging them to faithfulness, and preparedness for His coming. He concluded by showing the establishment of the kingdom and the judgment of Jews (25:1–30) and of Gentiles (vv. 31–46). Cf. https://versebyversecommentary.com/2009/03/14/matthew-243/ This is why I said, “Context is king.”
Salvation in verse 13 is not salvation of the soul but salvation from the Tribulation period (cf. 10:22). God will deliver the believer physically if he persists through the persecution of the Tribulation. The “end” here is the end of the Tribulation at the Second Coming. During this time, believers will proclaim the kingdom message throughout the world, why is this necessary if the reference is to heaven? The end that will come is the end of the Great Tribulation (the last three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation). Thus, the context is the Tribulation.
The expression “these brothers” refers to a third group that is neither sheep nor goats. The only possible option would be Jews, physical brothers of the Lord. In view of the distress in the Tribulation period, any believing Jew will have a difficult time surviving (cf. 24:15–21).
In 25:31–33, we should translate the words “the nations” (ta ethnē) as “the Gentiles.” Gentiles are everyone other than Jews who lived through the Tribulation period (cf. Joel 3:2, 12). They will be judged individually but not as national groups. Jesus described this as a mingling of sheep and goats, which the Lord Himself will separate.
In 25:34–40, the King “on His throne” on earth (v. 31) will extend an invitation to those on His right hand, the sheep, to enter the Messianic kingdom of God.
Matthew 25:41–46 refers to the goats on His left hand (v. 33) when the King will pronounce judgment on them. He will tell them to depart into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The basis of their judgment is their failure to extend mercy to the remnant of Jewish believers during the Tribulation. Their lack of righteous works will evidence their unconcern (vv. 42–44). God will remove them from the earth and will cast them into “eternal fire” (v. 41) to undergo eternal punishment (v. 46). With all wickedness removed in the various judgments at the Second Advent, the kingdom will begin on earth with only saved individuals in physical bodies constituting the earthly kingdom as the King’s subjects. Glorified saints from the Old Testament and the church in the New will also be present to share in the reign of the King of kings.