Matthew 25:32 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Matthew 25:32

Comments

Before him are gathered all nations, represented as sheep and goats. It is graphic illustration language. The reality will soar far higher when we see it. This is the last day. The angels will be sent to gather the elect from the four winds (Matthew 13:30; 24:31) and the unrighteous from wherever their bodies lie, for these will all have been destroyed at his coming (Revelation 19:21). At this time therefore the resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous will take place and all who have lived from the beginning of the world to the very end will face their judge. Not even death will hide the lost from the face of the Lamb.God has given Jesus Christ authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. All nations will be gathered before him for all men are accountable to him and not just the children of Israel. Everyone who has ever lived, whether they have heard the name of Christ or not, owes obedience to him and will be judged by him. The Scriptures repeatedly teach that only God can judge this world and so when this passage teaches that we will all stand before the judgment of seat of Christ, it affirms his divinity. There will be none absent; no excuse will be accepted for not being there and none will be able to resist being brought no matter how unwilling they are to come.Christ then will separate the people of the world.as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. They may have been closely mingled in life, with lives that are entangled with each other, but they will all be successfully divided into these two groups. This division will separate children from parents and parents from children, for Christ came on earth not to bring peace but a sword. It may even separate man and wife for God may call one and not the other, and though a believing wife may have continued to live faithfully with her unbelieving husband and to bear patiently with him, yet their close relationship does nothing to communicate salvation to the unbelieving spouse.

Application

It is a day of great joy or of utter terror. Where are you placed? Do you depend on Christ or is God nothing to you? Is your soul hungry, starving, out of touch with Christ? You must trust in him, pour out your heart to him, and then in last day will be safe. How much we need him!

The world was never designed by God to continue forever. We can see this even from a human perspective. Man seems incapable of living in peace together, and political upheavals shake the world. We now have the ability through weapons of mass destruction to obliterate each other, and there are concerns about rogue states getting their hands on such weapons or spreading mayhem through dirty bombs. Then there is global warming. If this is true then the conduct of men is making our planet unsafe. How unstable this world is. But Scripture teaches that the world will not end with any man-made disaster, though it may get close. It will end with a supernatural event: the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to judge this world. He will come in his glory. He is keen to take his power, and to end human rebellion. Before him will be gathered a vast crowd – those still alive at his coming, and all who have ever lived, raised up to stand before him. We are deeply impressed by vast crowds, but there has never been a crowd like this. We are before him now, but on that day we shall recognise it. They will be so subdued. Blasphemers will cower before him; hypocrites will be consumed with shame. He will separate mankind into just two groups.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Matthew 25:32 Commentary and Bible Study