Matthew 25:31-46
‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance the kingdom prepared for you or from the foundation of the world’
‘The kingdom prepared for you’… for us… there is a kingdom prepared for us, and I for one find that terribly comforting. The world can be a scary place: there are wars, famines, economic depressions, there are those of us who have been scared by abuse and there are those who don’t know if they’ll have a warm place to sleep and something tonight, the list could go on and on. There is much brokenness and need in our world. But there is something greater than all of this brokenness and need. There is a kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
I think it’s safe to say that most of us, if not all, have wondered at one time or another about what will happen to us. We have asked, what is going to happen at the ‘end of the age’[1]? What is going to happen at the finality of all things?
In today’s gospel reading we heard Jesus concluding his explanation of the ‘end of the age’ to his disciples. If we look back a couple of chapters in Matthew’s gospel, we hear Jesus foretell to his disciples the eventual destruction of the temple. After this his disciples begin to question ‘the end of the age’. They come to him alone, without the normal crowd and all the commotion and distraction that come with this crowd. They come to him alone while he is sitting on the Mount of Olives. They are afraid and they are looking for comfort. They are afraid because of their uncertainty of what will happen to them. They are afraid of that question, what will happen to us. If the temple, the house of God, in all it’s glory will be thrown down so that no stone is left upon another, what will happen to us?
So they seek Jesus out, and he answers their fears, quite honestly, warning them to be on their guard. For there will be false prophets trying to deceive them and there will be much persecution on account of Jesus’ name. The disciples are warned to be vigilant. Jesus tells them of great suffering to come, but this suffering is a sign and after this suffering Jesus will return. He tells his disciples to be watchful, but then tells them that no one knows the day. He tells them that ‘the son of man is coming at an unexpected hour’[2].
Jesus then begins to use parables to explain what the kingdom of heaven will be like. He distinguishes between the faithful and unfaithful slave and how the one will be rewarded and the other will be cut up and put where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth[3]. He goes on further to discuss what the kingdom of heaven will be like in the passages we have heard in the Gospel readings these past couple of weeks, the parable of the foolish bridesmaids, and the parable of the talents. And Jesus concludes his explanation of what will happen to his disciples, to us, with today’s gospel lesson.
Sitting on the Mount of Olives, Jesus tells his disciples, that he will come again, he will come in glory, with all his angels, and he will sit upon his throne as King. Then he will gather to himself all the nations. And from here we all know what happens, sheep and goats, kingdom and fire. In his distinction between the two Jesus identifies himself with the least of these, his brothers and sisters. What we do for them we do for them we do for Jesus, likewise what we do not do for them, we do not do for Jesus. And this is how all the nations are separated, sheep and goats, kingdom and fire.
In our reading ‘all the nations, those the King gathers to himself, seems pretty straightforward, everyone. In the original Greek however, there is uncertainty about exactly who ‘all the nations’ refers to, and because of this uncertainty there is also confusion as to who Jesus means by ‘the least of these who are members of my family’. Some believe that Jesus is teaching about the judgment of all peoples, others only of Christians, and still others that this judgment is the judgment for nonbelievers. In thinking about which understanding might be right, I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t really matter. For, as St. Paul wrote to the Romans yes the Jew first but also the Greek, “for God shows no partiality”[4]. Whether the language used implies a judgment of gentiles or Israel, Christians or pagans, God shows no partiality, no matter who we are, we are to care for the least of these.
So his disciples have come to Jesus with all their existential dread and Jesus tells them of God’s grace, that a kingdom has been prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Jesus tells them, yes things are rough, and they’re going to get worse, but there is a kingdom prepared for you. There is a kingdom prepared for us, prepared for all people if we are willing to receive it.
St. Martin, knew that a kingdom had been prepared for him and he exemplified what it means to know this and accept this kingdom. In the middle of the fourth century he was a Roman Soldier who converted to Christianity and later became the Bishop of Tours. There is a story about St. Martin, when he was a catechumen he was still a Roman solider. One year in the cold of winter when he was still a young man, while entering some city of the empire, St. Martin was approached by a beggar asking for alms. Having no money but recognizing the need of this man, St. Martin unsheathed his sword, removed his cloak and cut it in two. Half he kept for himself, and the other half he gave to the beggar. Later that night, sleeping soundly in his quarters he dreamed of Jesus clothed in half of his cloak. In this dream Jesus said to him, “Martin, a simple catechumen, covered me with this garment”[5]. Shortly after this dream St. Martin ended his catechumenate and was baptized.
St. Martin shows us that this kingdom is not won by force or might but rather this kingdom is given to us. And in response to this gift, we ourselves are to give. We are to give freely and lovingly as has been given to us. The sheep are all the ones who have done as Martin did, they have given freely and lovingly, with no expectation of reward.
How many of us are sheep? How many are goats? Our culture is becoming more and more individualistic. Society tells us to look out for ourselves first. How many of us here would have cut our cloak in two for the beggar who approached St. Martin? I would like to think all of us here would do so, but in all honesty I don’t even know if I can say this is true for myself.
Reading this lesson, I can’t help but think of the numerous times when I have failed to meet the need of others. Whether it be a car broken down on the side of the road, a homeless person asking for some change or even a friend who is not feeling well and might appreciate a visit. Sure, I have also come across these situations and done what was right, but what sticks out to me more are the times that I failed to do so, the times where I was a goat rather than a sheep.
It is easy to feel like we are goats. There is so much need present in our world, that none of us can address it all, our cloaks can only be cut up so much before what we have to offer becomes useless. This need can certainly be overwhelming, but this is no reason for inaction. We are able to do something. We may only have one cloak and we may not be able to cut it into as many pieces as we would like, but we can cut it. We can be the sheep at Jesus’ right hand. All it takes is that we care for one another, that we love one another, and in doing so we are loving Christ our King.
There is a kingdom prepared for us, for all people. This kingdom is a gift that we can accept, that we can inherit as a people blessed by the Father. However, It is up to us, to accept this gift and if we accept this gift we should give as we have been given. Now, I left out part of St. Martin’s story. In some accounts after his dream where he sees Jesus wearing the half of his cloak that he gave the beggar, St. Martin wakes up, and he finds that his cloak has been completely restored[6]. Remember this the next time you’re not sure if your cloak is big enough to cut in two.
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