And before him … – <\/B>At his coming to judgment the world will be burned up, 2Pe 3:10<\/span>, 2Pe 3:12<\/span>; Rev 20:11<\/span>. The dead in Christ that is, all true Christians – will be raised up from their graves, 1Th 4:16<\/span>. The living will be changed – i. e., will be made like the glorified bodies of those that are raised from the dead, 1Co 15:52-54<\/span>; 1Th 4:17<\/span>. All the wicked will rise and come forth to judgment, Joh 5:28-29<\/span>; Dan 12:2<\/span>; Mat 13:41-42<\/span>; Rev 20:13<\/span>. Then shall the world be judged, the righteous saved, and the wicked punished.<\/P> And he shall separate … – <\/B>Shall determine respecting their character, and shall appoint them their doom accordingly.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 32. All nations<\/B><\/I>] Literally, all the nations <\/I>– all the Gentile<\/I> world; the Jews are necessarily included, but they were spoken of in a particular manner in the preceding chapter.<\/P> <\/P> He shall separate them<\/B><\/I>] Set each kind apart<\/I> by themselves.<\/P> <\/P> As a shepherd divideth<\/B><\/I>, c.] It does not appear that sheep<\/I> and goats<\/I> were ever penned<\/I> or housed<\/I> together, though they might feed in the same pasture yet even this was not done but in separate flocks; so Virgil, Eclog. vii. v. 2. <\/P> Compulerantque greges Corydon et Thyrsis in unum;<\/I><\/P> Thyrsis<\/I> OVES, Corydon distentas lacte<\/I><\/P> CAPELLAS. <\/P> “Thyrsis and Corydon drove their flocks together: Thyrsin his sheep<\/I>; and Corydon his goats<\/I>, their udders distended with milk.”<\/P> <\/P> These two shepherds had distinct<\/I> flocks, which fed in the same pasture, but separately<\/I>; and they are only now driven together<\/I>, for the convenience of the two shepherds, during the time of their musical contest.<\/P> <\/p>\n 32. And before him shall be gatheredall nations<\/B>or, “all the nations.” That this shouldbe understood to mean the heathen nations,<\/I> or all except<\/I>believers in Christ, will seem amazing to any simple reader. Yet thisis the exposition of OLSHAUSEN,STIER, KEIL,ALFORD (though latterlywith some diffidence), and of a number, though not all, of those whohold that Christ will come the second time before the millennium, andthat the saints will be caught up to meet Him in the air before Hisappearing. Their chief argument is, the impossibility of any thatever knew the Lord Jesus wondering, at the Judgment Day, that theyshould be thought to have doneor left undoneanything “untoChrist.” To that we shall advert when we come to it. But here wemay just say, that if this scene does not describe a personal,public, final judgment on men, according to the treatment they havegiven to Christand consequently men within the Christian paleweshall have to consider again whether our Lord’s teaching on thegreatest themes of human interest does indeed possess thatincomparable simplicity and transparency of meaning which, byuniversal consent, has been ascribed to it. If it be said, But howcan this be the general judgment, if only those within the Christianpale be embraced by it?we answer, What is here described, as itcertainly does not meet the case of all the family of Adam, is ofcourse so far<\/I> not general. But we have no right to concludethat the whole “judgment of the great day” will be limitedto the point of view here presented. Other explanations will come upin the course of our exposition. <\/P> and he shall separatethem<\/B>now for the first time; the two classes having beenmingled all along up to this awful moment. <\/P> as a shepherd divideth hissheep from the goats<\/B>(See Eze34:17<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n And before him shall be gathered all nations<\/strong>….. That is, all that have professed the Christian religion in all the nations of the world, whether Jews or Gentiles, high or low, rich or poor, wise and foolish, such as have had greater or lesser talents; though it is also true of every individual of mankind of every nation, tribe and family, of every sex, age, and state, that ever has been, is, or will be. Yet Christian professors seem only here intended, as the following distinction of them, their final state, and the reasons of it show. This collection of them before Christ, the righteous judge, will be made by the holy angels, who will come with him for this purpose; and being mighty, as they are, will be able to accomplish great a work; and especially as being under the direction, influence, and authority of so divine, glorious, and illustrious a person, as the son of man will then to all appear to be.<\/p>\n And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats<\/strong>: they shall be gathered before him, as they were together in their visible church state, as being all under a profession of religion; some wise, some foolish virgins; some sheep, and others goats; some industrious, diligent, faithful, and laborious servants; others wicked, slothful, and unprofitable ones; many of whom pass undistinguished and undiscovered now: but then the judge, who is of quick understanding, will easily discern the one from the other; such as have the oil of grace in the vessels of their hearts, together with their lamps, from such as have only the outward visible lamp of a profession, but destitute of the grace of God; and good and faithful servants, who have made a right use of their gifts, from such who have been negligent, careless, and remiss; and though these have been folded together, sheep and goats, in the sheepfold of the church, where they have all bore the character of the sheep of Christ; yet now when the chief shepherd appears, who knows his own sheep, and calls them by name, he will as easily separate the one from the other, and more so, than any shepherd, among men, can part a flock consisting of sheep and goats. Hypocrites in Zion shall now be no more, nor sinners stand any longer in the congregation of the righteous, nor both together as one body, and on one side in judgment.<\/p>\n All the nations <\/B> (panta ta ethn). Not just Gentiles, but Jews also. Christians and non-Christians. This program for the general judgment has been challenged by some scholars who regard it as a composition by the evangelist to exalt Christ. But why should not Christ say this if he is the Son of Man and the Son of God and realized it? A “reduced” Christ has trouble with all the Gospels, not merely with the Fourth Gospel, and no less with Q and Mark than with Matthew and Luke. This is a majestic picture with which to close the series of parables about readiness for the second coming. Here is the program when he does come. “I am aware that doubt is thrown on this passage by some critics. But the doubt is most wanton. Where is the second brain that could have invented anything so original and so sublime as vv. Matt 25:35-40<\/span>; Matt 25:42-45<\/span>?” (Sanday, Life of Christ in Recent Research<\/I>, p. 128).<\/P> As the shepherd separates <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). A common figure in Palestine. The sheep are usually white and the goats black. There are kids (, <\/SPAN><\/span>) which have grazed together. The goats devastate a field of all herbage. “Indeed they have extirpated many species of trees which once covered the hills” (Tristram, Natural History of the Bible<\/I>, pp. 89f.). The shepherd stands at the gate and taps the sheep to go to the right and the goats to the left. <\/P> <\/p>\n All the nations [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. The whole human race; though the word is generally employed in the New Testament to denote Gentiles as distinguished from Jews. <\/P> Separate them [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Masculine, while the word nations is neuter. Nations are regarded as gathered collectively; but in contemplating the act of separation the Lord regards the individuals. <\/P> The sheep from the goats (or kids, so Rev. in margin). “The bald division of men into sheep and goats is, in one sense, so easy as not to be worth performing; and in another sense it is so hard as only to be possible for something with supernatural insight” (John Morley, ” Voltaire “). Goats are an appropriate figure, because the goat was regarded as a comparatively worthless animal. Hence the point of the elder son’s complaint in the parable of the Prodigal : Not so much as a kid (Luk 14:29<\/span>). The diminutive [<\/SPAN><\/span>] expresses contempt.<\/P> <\/p>\n 32. And all nations shall be assembled before him. He employs large and splendid titles for extolling his kingdom, that the disciples may learn to expect a different kind of happiness from what they had imagined. For they were satisfied with this single consideration, that their nation was delivered from the miseries with which it was then oppressed, so that it would be manifest that God had not in vain established his covenant with Abraham and his posterity. But Christ extends much farther the benefit of the redemption brought by him, for he will be the Judge of the whole world. Again, in order to persuade believers to holiness of life, he assures them that the good and the bad will not share alike; because he will bring with him the reward which is laid up for both. In short, he declares that his kingdom will be fully established, when the righteous shall have obtained a crown of glory, and when the wicked shall have received the reward which they deserved. <\/p>\n As a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats. When our Lord says that the separation of the sheep from the goats is delayed till that day, he means that the wicked are now mixed with the good and holy, so that they live together in the same flock of God. The comparison appears to be borrowed from Eze 34:18<\/span>, where the Lord complains of the fierceness of the goats, which attack with their horns the poor sheep, and destroy the pastures, and pollute the water; and where the Lord expressly declares that he will take vengeance. And therefore Christ’s discourse amounts to this, that believers ought not to think their condition too hard, if they are now compelled to live with the goats, and even to sustain many serious attacks and annoyances from them; secondly, that they ought to beware of being themselves infected by the contagion of their vices; and, thirdly, to inform them that in a holy and innocent life their labor is not thrown away, for the difference will one day appear. <\/p>\n (32) Before him shall be gathered all nations.<\/strong>Better, all the nations,<\/em> or even better, perhaps, all the Gentiles.<\/em> The word is that which, when used, as here, with the article, marks out, with scarcely an exception, the heathen nations of the world as distinguished from Gods people Israel (as, e.g.,<\/em> in Rom. 15:11-12<\/span>; Eph. 2:11<\/span>). The word, thus taken, serves as the key to the distinctive teaching that follows. We have had in this chapter, (1) in the Wise and Foolish Virgins, the law of judgment for all members of the Church of Christ; (2) in the Talents, that for all who hold any office or ministry in the Church: now we have (3) the law by which those shall be judged who have lived and died as heathens, not knowing the name of Christ, and knowing God only as revealed in Nature or in the law written in their hearts. Every stage in what follows confirms this interpretation.<\/p>\n As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.<\/strong>Elsewhere the shepherds work is the symbol of protective, self-sacrificing love, and, as such, our Lord had emphatically claimed for Himself the title of the Good Shepherd (Joh. 10:14<\/span>). Here we are reminded that even the shepherd has at times to execute the sentence of judgment which involves separation. The right hand and the left are used, according to the laws of what we might almost call a natural symbolism, as indicating respectively good and evil, acceptance and rejection.<\/p>\n 32<\/strong>. <\/strong> All nations <\/em> Of all ages and all continents. Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, Russia, England, and America shall, with all their populations, come up before God. All the lesser tribes and all the unorganized wanderers shall appear; for “every eye shall see him.” Rev 1:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n That it is a judicial arraignment of individuals, and not of organic nations, is plain; because the merits and demerits upon which they are judged are purely individual, and not national, (Mat 25:35-40<\/span>; Mat 25:42-45<\/span>.) So in Mat 28:19<\/span>, the apostles are commanded to go teach all nations, <\/em> baptizing them, etc. That is, the entire nation is to be baptized by the baptism of every individual in it. Mark expresses it: “Preach the gospel to every creature.” <\/em> So “we must all <\/em> appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in the body.” 2Co 5:10<\/span>. He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world.<\/p>\n Separate them <\/em> The separation is even previous <\/em> to the judgment. This strikingly and, as we may say, undesignedly coincides with the view everywhere clearly expressed or implied, that the resurrection, though one in general time, is yet twofold. It is of the just and of the unjust, (Act 24:15<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 it is unto life and unto damnation, (Joh 5:29<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 it is unto everlasting life and unto shame and everlasting contempt. Dan 12:2<\/span>. The saints strive for a better <\/em> resurrection, a glorious <\/em> resurrection; and Paul strove to attain to an extra resurrection, . Php 3:11<\/span>. Every man shall be in his own order. 1Co 15:23<\/span>. And Christ here so arrays them right and left, that their position decides their destiny before their sentences pronounce it. As a shepherd <\/em> Here is a slight simile running through some three lines, from which interpreters of a certain class have taken license to misname this whole description of sixteen full verses, “The parable of the sheep and the goats.” The allusion to the shepherd is very transient, being a slight simile, <\/em> and illustrates but a single point, namely, the separation <\/em> before the judgment.<\/p>\n In this allusion, as in other Scripture allusions of the same kind, no doubt some reference is made to the character of the two animals. The goat <\/em> is especially a repulsive animal, and so a fit image for wicked men; and in Hebrew there is a single word which seems to designate the goat <\/em> and a demon. <\/em> And similarly, in all ages perhaps, the right hand has had the preference, and the right hand seat has been the place of honour.<\/p>\n “And before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”<\/p>\n From His throne He surveys ‘all nations’. These include the ‘all nations’ who have hated His disciples and followers throughout the age (Mat 24:9<\/span>), and the ‘all nations’ who have been evangelised prior to His coming (Mat 24:14<\/span>) and have been ‘discipled’ (Mat 28:19<\/span>). Thus, as with those verses it has in mind individuals, and it includes the living and the dead. Now His voice has spoken and the dead have come from their graves to receive either life or judgment (Joh 5:28-29<\/span>). It includes the nations who had been waiting in their tomb worlds for this time (Eze 32:17-32<\/span>), and the righteous raised from the dust of the earth (Isa 26:19<\/span>; Dan 12:2-3<\/span>) which also at the same time includes the unrighteous (Dan 12:2<\/span>). For at His coming the dead in Christ are raised, and the living are transformed (1Th 4:16-17<\/span>).<\/p>\n The Final Judgment (25:32-46).<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n That this is the final judgment comes out in that its verdict determines the eternal destiny of men (Mat 25:46<\/span>). It should be noted that it is not said to take place on earth, it includes everyone, that is ‘all the nations’, whether living or dead, for all the dead await His coming too. (See Joh 5:28-29<\/span>; Compare Eze 32:17-32<\/span> where the nations as nations are in their graves on earth awaiting judgment; Psa 2:9<\/span> with Mat 25:1<\/span> where the nations are finally to be severely judged). There the righteous will inherit the Kingly Rule prepared for them ‘from the foundation of the world’, in other words the Kingly Rule of God which began from the beginning in Eden, where man was appointed as God’s representative on earth (Gen 1:26-28<\/span>), continued on in a small way under the patriarchs, was re-established at Sinai with the promise that they would become a kingdom of priests (Exo 19:6<\/span>; Num 23:21<\/span>; Deu 33:5<\/span>), looked as though it was being set up by Joshua, leaked away through disobedience in Judges, was promised again through David (2Sa 7:13<\/span>; 2Sa 7:16<\/span>; Isa 11:1-9<\/span>; Eze 37:25<\/span>), but never came to fruition, and has, however, never ceased in Heaven (Psa 22:28<\/span>; Psa 103:19<\/span>) in spite of man’s failure, and has now been reintroduced as a heavenly kingly rule on earth by Jesus Christ the son of David, and David’s Lord, that is as a Kingly Rule on earth by God over His responsive people, which will finally result in an everlasting kingdom in Heaven. This is what Matthew is all about. Compare Gen 1:26-28<\/span>; Psalms 8<\/span> with Heb 2:9-11<\/span>; Exo 19:5-6<\/span>; Num 23:21<\/span>; Deu 33:5<\/span>; Isa 9:6-7<\/span>; Isa 11:1-9<\/span>; Eze 37:25<\/span>.<\/p>\n The idea of a ‘glorious throne’ should not be taken literally (see, however, Ezekiel 1<\/span>, although there also it was visionary), for God is Spirit, but for those who wish to see it as such it is depicted as the throne of His glory which is in Heaven where He shares it with His Father (Rev 5:6<\/span>; Rev 6:16-17<\/span>; Rev 14:14<\/span>; Dan 7:13-14<\/span>; Jer 14:21<\/span>), in the same way as He has taken His seat at the right hand of God (Act 2:34<\/span>; Act 7:55-56<\/span>; Rom 8:34<\/span>; Eph 1:20<\/span>; Col 3:1<\/span>; Heb 1:3<\/span>; Heb 1:13<\/span>; Heb 8:1<\/span>; Heb 10:12<\/span>; Heb 12:2<\/span>; 1Pe 3:22<\/span>) and all creation cries ‘glory’ Mat 4:9<\/span>; Mat 4:11<\/span>; Mat 5:12-13<\/span>). From this throne the covenant was confirmed and made sure (Jer 14:21<\/span>) We can compare it also with the great white throne (Rev 20:11-15<\/span>), the seat of impeccable judgment, from which Heaven and earth fled away. No doubt the same happens here. Indeed we should recognise that God’s judgment through His Son is pictured in many ways, all vivid, and the common idea behind all is the separation between the righteous and the unrighteous, and the appalling end of the unrighteous (compare Mat 13:41-43<\/span>; Mat 13:49-50<\/span>; 2Th 1:8-9<\/span>; Rev 6:16-17<\/span>; Rev 14:6-20<\/span>; Rev 16:17-21<\/span>; Rev 19:11-21<\/span>). The details are never to be pressed. It is the ideas, the principles and the final results that are important. Thus Jesus will not come on a white horse, nor will He and His accompanying angels have to do battle with earthly forces (as the account itself makes clear all is accomplished through His word of power). The world’s armouries would be powerless against His all prevailing presence, (to say nothing of their ineffectiveness against spirits). These are pictures emphasising that He is the true Messiah (contrast Mat 6:2<\/span>), coming in purity and divine power, and in triumph, to bring about His will, and bring all into judgment by His word (Rev 19:11-21<\/span>). But the picture is nevertheless magnificent and conveys the foundational ideas perfectly adequately in a way that people can understand and appreciate.<\/p>\n Here in Mat 25:31-46<\/span> the emphasis is to be on the grounds of judgment, a judgment which applies to individuals, and is based on both the Law and the Sermon on the Mount. It examines men’s willingness to show consideration and mercy. It can be paralleled with Rev 20:12-13<\/span>, where the question is again the manner of life, and there also the result is eternal life for those in the book of life, and eternal punishment for the remainder (Rev 20:15<\/span>, compare Mat 25:46<\/span>). The reason that the righteous are spared is not because they are seen as ‘not guilty’ on the basis of their own merits (they do not think that they have any merits; compare Rom 3:19-20<\/span>), but rather because the quality of their lives will reveal that they are those who have been blessed by God (Mat 5:3-9<\/span>) who have been ransomed (Mat 20:28<\/span>) and forgiven (Mat 18:27<\/span>; Mat 18:32<\/span> compare Mat 6:12-15<\/span>), who have been filled with righteousness by the Righteous One (Mat 5:6<\/span> compare Mat 6:33<\/span>), and have thus begun to walk in the way of righteousness (Mat 21:32<\/span>) with their light shining clearly before men. They are those who from the beginning have been chosen by Him (Mat 25:34<\/span>; Mat 24:31<\/span>). They are judged by their changed lives, because they have become new creations (2Co 5:17<\/span>), and are living out the effects of the blessing of God (Mat 5:3-9<\/span>).<\/p>\n This has little in parallel with the judgment scene described in Joel 3<\/span> where it is the nations who are charged as nations<\/em>. There it is because they have scattered His people, cast lots for them in order to sell both males and females into prostitution, stolen God’s possessions, and have sold His people as slaves. Furthermore they would be sold off as slaves in return, demonstrating that that is an earthly judgment scene carried out by earthly people with earthly results (Joe 3:2-8<\/span>). Their judgment would come on the battlefield in the valley of Jehoshaphat (often the battleground of the nations) where they would be punished as nations (Joe 3:9-12<\/span> a), by awesome defeat, something which in fact happened fairly regularly (e.g. 2Ki 23:29<\/span>), although such judgments are then seemingly connected with (although not necessarily following immediately by) the last judgment to which they lead up (compare Joe 3:12-14<\/span> with Rev 14:14-20<\/span>). In the Old Testament all God’s judgments on nations are pointers to the end, but we must distinguish those judgments from the last judgment which is necessarily of a totally different kind.<\/p>\n It is significant how much that is in the verdict given here is connected with the Law, the Sermon on the Mount, and the remainder of Matthew’s Gospel:<\/p>\n * “For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat.” See Mat 14:16<\/span>; Mat 5:42<\/span>; Mat 6:25-26<\/span>; Mat 7:9-12<\/span>; Lev 19:9-10<\/span>; Lev 19:34<\/span>; Lev 25:6<\/span>; Lev 25:35<\/span>; Deu 12:18<\/span>; Deu 14:28-29<\/span>; Deu 24:19-22<\/span>; Deu 26:12<\/span>; Isa 58:7<\/span>; Eze 18:7<\/span>; consider also 1Ki 17:10-16 ; 2Ki 4:43-44<\/span>.<\/p>\n * “I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.” See Mat 10:42<\/span>; Mat 5:42<\/span>; Mat 6:25-26<\/span>; Lev 25:6<\/span>; Lev 25:35<\/span>; Deu 24:21<\/span>; Deu 26:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n * “I was a stranger, and you took me in.” See Mat 5:43-47<\/span>; Mat 22:39<\/span>; Exo 23:9<\/span>; Lev 19:34<\/span>; Lev 25:6<\/span>; Deu 14:28-29<\/span>; Deu 15:13-15<\/span>; Deu 23:7-8<\/span>; Deu 23:15-16<\/span>; Deu 26:12<\/span>; Isa 58:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n * “Naked, and you clothed me.” See Mat 5:40<\/span>; Mat 5:42<\/span>; Mat 6:27<\/span>; Lev 25:35<\/span>; Isa 58:7<\/span>; Eze 18:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n * “I was sick, and you visited me.” See Mat 10:8<\/span>. The gifts of healing in the early church would very much encourage this, compare Jas 5:14<\/span>; consider also 1Ki 17:17-24<\/span>; 2Ki 4:22-37<\/span> and compare Sir 7:35 .<\/p>\n * “I was in prison, and you came to me.” See Mat 10:18<\/span>; Mat 11:2<\/span>; Mat 5:25-26<\/span>; Luk 21:12<\/span>; Heb 13:3<\/span>.<\/p>\n * For the whole see Mat 5:13-16<\/span>; Mat 5:23-24<\/span>; Mat 5:38-48<\/span>; Mat 6:3<\/span>; Mat 6:20<\/span>; Mat 7:9-12<\/span>; Mat 7:17<\/span>; Mat 7:20<\/span>; Mat 7:24<\/span>; Mat 11:29-30<\/span>; Mat 12:33<\/span>; Mat 12:35<\/span>; Mat 22:39<\/span> Lev 19:18<\/span>; Deu 15:7-8<\/span>; Deu 15:11<\/span>; Deu 22:1-4<\/span>; Isa 58:7<\/span>; and the whole example of Jesus.<\/p>\n Note how in one way or another all these benefits were given by God to His erring people in the Old Testament, for He regularly promises to feed and water His people (e.g. Psa 146:7<\/span> and often); to welcome them when they have become as strangers (Hos 1:9-10<\/span>) and to welcome the Gentiles (e.g. Isa 49:6<\/span>; Isa 49:22<\/span>; Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/P> Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n