When Christ Returns in Glory
Matthew 25:31–46
[Jesus said:] “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was 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, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“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?’
“Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, You first sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to redeem us by paying for the sins of all people on the cross. Because of His first coming, we can have hope at His second coming. For the One who comes to judge is also our Savior who graciously offered up His life so that we might live. Grant us humility and confidence only in Jesus, who is our righteousness! Amen.
Dear Fellow Redeemed,
Every promise that God has made, every prophecy given in Scripture, has been fulfilled—except for one. There is only one thing left on Jesus’ prophetic to-do list: “And He shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead” (The Nicene Creed). Ever since Jesus ascended into heaven forty days after Easter, the Christian Church has been waiting for Christ’s return. On that day, Jesus will return in glory surrounded by his angels to judge between the living and the dead. Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. The righteous will be welcomed to be with Christ forever in heaven, while the unbelievers will be sent into eternal punishment.
Our lesson is a well-known portion of Scripture, but it is often misunderstood. As Lutherans we may wonder how to understand this section because it sounds like Jesus is saying we will be welcomed into heaven based on our good works. But aren’t we saved by grace alone and not our works? Why is Jesus mentioning all these good deeds or the lack thereof?
The question is—what role do our good works play in our salvation? Do they help in our salvation? Do you need to do good works to be saved? Scripture clearly teaches that we are saved by grace alone through Christ alone. If we could save ourselves through our good works, then we wouldn’t need Jesus. But we do! He was the only way to the Father. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Paul summarizes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Yet, on Judgement Day Jesus mentions good works. Why? Because good works are evidence of the faith we have in Jesus. While our good works do not save us, they serve as the proof, or evidence, of our faith in Jesus. Our Lord said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). A Christian, a person rooted in Christ, does good works. These may be the most seemingly insignificant things in the world, but because they are done in faith, God sees them as precious and holy in his sight. However, if a person is completely unconcerned with their Christian life and the things they say and do, that is reflective of an unbeliever. If you say you believe in Jesus but are not repentant of your sins, ignore God’s Word when it is inconvenient, live however you want, then you are a hypocrite. This is why James writes, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). James warns us about hypocrisy.
Our good works do not save us. Only Jesus saves. Good works are simply evidence of the faith we have in Jesus.
Now here is the problem—all people want guarantees. For example, a farmer may sell his crop at a certain time because he wants to be guaranteed a certain price and profit. A person picks a certain job that may make less money because they want that good retirement plan—a guaranteed income in old age. When it comes to our salvation and Judgement Day—people also want guarantees. They don’t want risk. They want to know they are going to be saved.
So, what is our sinful flesh inclined to do? It focuses on the fruit and not the tree. Churches teach that by following certain rules you can be confident of heaven. You have preachers guarantee a wonderful place in heaven if only you do this—whether that be worshiping on the right day of the week, doing certain acts of service to the poor, giving so much money to the church, making a decision for Jesus, or having some religious experience—then you will be saved. That’s how you know you are one of the elect! People also do this by judging others—proving to themselves, that they are better and more righteous than others.
One of the great tricks the devil uses to separate us from God is minimizing our sin. The devil holds this minimizing mirror before our eyes to make our sin seem quite small and insignificant. He holds this up when he wants to tempt someone into sin. The devil says, “You are underpaid, what’s the big deal if you take that tool from work or add five minutes to your punch card. They really should be paying you that anyway. You’re not stealing, you’re taking what you deserve.” The devil lies, “I bet your neighbor has spoken ill of you. If you tell other people about their sins, it’s not slander because it is the truth. After what they’ve done to you, they deserve much worse than just being the topic of a little gossip.” The devil lures, “Watching this adult video or looking at these illicit pictures is not that bad. Everybody else does it, why can’t you?” The devil tempts, “So what if you have a few too many beers, it’s just one night. Take a load off and relax!”
The devil always begins with seemingly minor sins. But after the devil tempts us into sin, he takes out another mirror—the magnifying mirror. With this he makes our sin appear so great that we are beyond forgiveness. He mercilessly holds this before our eyes after we have fallen so that he might lead us to despair.
The best lies are half-truths. The devil points out our sins and he says, “You call yourself a Christian?” It’s true. You have fallen short. You have sinned. If you rely on your works, you will not be saved. But the devil’s lie is getting you to think that since you have failed, you cannot be saved. This is the lie that has trapped so many people in despair and hopelessness.
But our works do not save us. Only Jesus saves. Heaven is a gift—it is not earned or deserved. Notice what Jesus says to those at his right hand, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Our dear Lord Jesus beckons us to come! He says, “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Jesus calls heaven an inheritance! An inheritance is earned by someone through sacrifice and effort so that they can benefit someone when they die.
Our Lord Jesus sacrificed his own life so that we could have the inheritance of eternal life in heaven. Your inheritance was secured by his precious blood shed on the cross. He lived a life of love and mercy, he showed compassion, helped the poor and healed the sick, and was beaten, mocked, and abandoned by God so that you never would be. Jesus lived a sinless life so that that his innocence and perfect obedience could be credited to you. So that you could be holy in God’s sight. Jesus died on the cross, shedding his blood, so that he could wash away every one of your sins—removing them as far as the east is from the west. Jesus Christ, the one who will come to judge all people, is the same Savior who shed his blood on the cross for the sins of all people.
Scripture says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (I Timothy 2:4–6). Think of the love of Jesus! His love for the world is so great, that he died for all people—so that anyone who would believe in him could receive a full inheritance in his kingdom.
So what separates the sheep from the goats? Jesus says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). The only thing that condemns is unbelief. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life”(John 3:36).
We are righteous through faith in Jesus. This is the teaching of Scripture. In Genesis we read of Abraham, “he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Our Gospel lesson for today makes it clear that God’s believers receive heaven as an inheritance through faith in Christ’s work, not our own feeble works. The good works believers like us do are simply evidence of the faith God has worked in us and led us to do.
In Hebrews 11, we have a catalog of Old Testament believers, but no sins are mentioned. Only deeds done in faith are mentioned. We hear of faithful Abraham who listened to God’s commands; Moses who by faith forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; Rahab, Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel, and many more. It’s not hard to find examples in the Old Testament about how these individuals fell into an egregious sin. But those aren’t mentioned.
Believers sin in their lives, but their sins are not remembered before the judgement seat. Our sins have been nailed to the cross and forgotten. While we may have difficulty forgetting our past sins, when we repent and are forgiven, they are forgotten by God. A now sainted pastor in the ELS once wrote a play about heaven. In the play an angel was giving a man a tour of heaven. As they were walking the person noticed a room and asked what it was. The angel brought the man in. It was a very large room filled with file cabinets. The angel said that this room contains a catalog of sins. The man asked where he could find his file. The angel responded, “the whole room is yours.” The man was silent. He picked up a file to open it… and they were all blank. Jesus had erased them all.
When we repent and are forgiven, our sins are blotted out (Acts 3:19). God declares through the prophet Isaiah, “I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you” (44:22). The Apostle Paul writes that the accusations against us have been “wiped out” and “nailed to the cross” on Calvary (Colossians 2:13–14).
The saints forget their humble and lowly deeds, “When did we do this?” but they will follow you to heaven. The author of Hebrews writes, “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (6:10). Notice the things the Lord remembers: they are all simple acts of love which anyone can do. They’re not great and mighty deeds. Yet, Christ acts as though you have done them to him. He remembers them because they are done in faith, out of love for him. That time where you stayed up late comforting a sick child, the years you spent caring for your spouse or aging parent, the time where you bore unjust criticism with patience and showed love to your neighbor, or that time you shoveled the sidewalk of the neighbor who couldn’t or provided a meal for a family in a time of need. These small things which we have forgotten are remembered by God, when done in faith, as ones done to him.
While on earth, God gives us many opportunities to perform works of love and mercy for the benefit of our church and neighbor. Yet, the Christian does not rely on his works or efforts. We rely on Jesus, trusting in his holy life and innocent death for our sins. That is why you don’t have to fear Judgement Day, in fact, it is the Christian’s happiest day! We can be confident, because we have Jesus. Amen.