This world is headed for judgment.

When the rightful King returns to take His throne on the earth, all living people will appear before Him, and He will administer justice in power.

In our last post, we considered the Judge, timing, and location of this judgment. Christ Himself will be the Judge. And He will judge immediately before His reign on earth in the millennial kingdom. He will do all of this from His father David’s throne in Jerusalem. In describing these thrilling events, Jesus brings a climactic conclusion to the Olivet discourse that revolves around His own person and character.

This all leads us to three final questions concerning the judgment: Who will be judged? How will they be judged? And what evidence will be used in the judgment?

The Subjects

Some suggest that the subjects of this judgment are political entities—literal nations. After all, Matthew 25:32 says, “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another.” Joel 3:12–17 also speaks to “nations” in a final judgment.

But the Greek term translated “nations” in Matthew 25:32 is ethnē (from which we derive our word ethnic), and it speaks of peoples, not political or national entities. Furthermore, the context makes clear that individuals are in view in this judgment:

Then He will also say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.” Then they themselves also will answer, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?” Then He will answer them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. (Matthew 25:41–46)

That describes a judgment based on actions for which people are individually responsible. The punishment also applies to individuals, not corporate groups. The notion that political entities could be the subjects of this judgment is completely foreign to the text.

The Process

The focus and goal of this judgment is the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous. This judgment brings about what Christ prophesied earlier in the discourse when He said, “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left” (Matthew 24:40–41). This judgment also fulfills what was represented by the closing of the banquet door to the foolish virgins (Matthew 25:10).

Notice that the judgment is not designed for Christ to discover who are sheep and who are goats; He knows this at the start of the judgment, when He seats the sheep on the right hand (the place of favor) and the goats on the left (the place of disfavor) (Matthew 25:33). As Paul tells us, “The Lord [already] knows those who are His” (2 Timothy 2:19). “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3). The purpose of the judgment is therefore only to render a formal verdict between the sheep and the goats.

The significance of the sheep-and-goat imagery would have been obvious to the disciples. They were familiar with the sight of sheep and goats being herded together. (The same practice can be observed in the Middle East today.) A single shepherd can easily oversee both kinds of creatures together, but the character of the two animals is markedly different. Sheep are docile, gentle creatures. Goats are often unruly and hyperactive. So the two cannot easily be kept in the same fold at night. A shepherd would therefore separate the animals in the evening before closing them in pens.

The Great Shepherd will undertake a similar process before the launch of His millennial kingdom. The believing sheep will be welcomed into their domain—a kingdom full of blessings that will never end. And the unbelieving goats will be sent to a place of punishment that will never end.

The Evidence

As the supreme Judge, Jesus cites the key evidence that proves who is fit for the kingdom and who is not. It is the testimony of what they thought of Jesus, as evidenced by how they have treated His brethren.

Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” The King will answer and say to them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” (Matthew 25:34–40)

Who are “these brothers of Mine?” Hebrews 2:11–12 says that Jesus is not ashamed to call believers His brothers. I believe He is referring to redeemed people in the Olivet discourse. He’s simply saying, “Whatever you do to care for a fellow Christian, you do for Me.” We see this intimate identification of Christians and Christ throughout the New Testament. When Saul persecuted Christians, Jesus asked, “Why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4, emphasis added). Whatever you do to another believer, you do to Christ. That’s the bottom line.

Many imagine support for a doctrine of salvation by works in Jesus’ words to the faithful. But the context clearly rules out such an interpretation, because our Lord makes clear that their destiny was settled and the kingdom prepared for them by the gracious decree of a sovereign God “from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). In other words, their inheritance was settled in eternity past, long ages before they had done any good or evil, “so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls” (Romans 9:11).

So the words of Christ underscore the biblical truth of divine election. The sheep are sheep by the grace of God alone, not because of anything they have done to make themselves worthy. No one enters the kingdom on their own merit.

Yet their deeds are clear evidence of their election. These deeds are the fruit of faith. And therefore works are fitting evidence to be cited either for or against people in judgment (cf. Romans 2:5–10). Christ is in effect saying, “You are the chosen children of My Father, and your faith is made clear by the service you have rendered to Me. Welcome into My kingdom” (cf. Mathew 25:40).

The works He cites involve compassion shown to His people by ministering to them when they were hungry, thirsty, alienated, naked, sick, or imprisoned. Such good deeds are “pure and undefiled religion,” the truest evidence of a vibrant, living faith (James 1:27). The one who lacks such deeds reveals “dead” faith, not the living kind (cf. James 2:15–17). The apostle John said something similar: “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:17–18).

So Christ is not suggesting that such good works are meritorious for salvation. But they are vital evidence that the principle of eternal life really exists within a person.

Notice that those who receive the King’s commendation are surprised (Matthew 25:37–39). They seem almost unaware that their deeds constituted service to Christ. Much less were they thinking they might have earned His favor by such works. The good deeds were merely the natural outflow of a heart of faith. But this is not the case for everyone in this judgment.

The goats are consigned to eternal punishment on similar grounds. They have proved by their works that they are “accursed” (Matthew 25:41). Christ no more condemns these people solely because they failed to do good works than He saves the others because of their works. The goats are accursed because they are wicked unbelievers. Their unfitness for the kingdom stems from a constitutional sinfulness, not merely a shortage of philanthropic good works. They despise the King, and their contempt for Him is clearly displayed in their treatment of His people. These are Christ-rejecting unbelievers, not merely people who failed to be altruistic enough.

They are as surprised as the righteous ones were about Christ’s verdict. They protest that they have not consciously or deliberately slighted Christ, but Christ exposes their guilt by calling to mind their treatment of His people—or rather their total indifference (Matthew 25:44–45). His words of condemnation to them are an exact but inverted echo of His earlier commendation of the righteous.

The goats are eternally separated from all that is good and righteous, and they are damned forever to “the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Christ describes hell as a place of “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46) from which there is no relief or respite forever. The Greek text uses the same word to describe both “eternal punishment” and “eternal life”—aiōnios, which denotes something perpetual, something never-ending. The double use of the word establishes a deliberate parallel. Christ thereby signifies that the punishment of the wicked is eternal in the same sense as the reward of the righteous. This verse therefore overturns the view of those who believe the wicked will simply be eradicated from existence. Here and throughout Scripture we are taught that the torment of hell is as endless and unremitting as the blessedness of heaven (cf. Mark 9:43–48; Revelation 20:10).

The millennial kingdom will cover the entire earth; so those excluded from it will not be permitted even to remain alive on earth. “These will go away into eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46, emphasis added). The righteous, however, are admitted to “eternal life.” They will enter the kingdom in an unglorified state and then be glorified at the end of the thousand years—their admission to the millennial kingdom is the threshold of eternal life for them.

Be Ready for Christ’s Return

The future of the unrighteous and the future of the righteous could hardly be more different. The implication of this is plain: The time to think deeply about one’s destiny is now. The time to prepare for judgment is now. The day of salvation is now. And those who wait until Christ returns will find it is already too late. We don’t know the day or the hour of His return. But the time is fast approaching.

It’s time to get ready: “Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’” (Mark 13:35–37)

(Adapted from The Second Coming.)