Come, You Who Are Blessed by My Father
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Giotto, Last Judgment, Scrovegni Chapel
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Are you ready for a pop quiz? I’m going to read a quote and I want you to
determine whether it is a statement of sound doctrine or false teaching. Don’t worry.
I’m not taking grades. I’m not
even going to ask you to raise your hands.
Just listen and answer in your own mind.
Give yourself bonus points if you can identify the source. “At His coming all people will rise again
with their bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds. And those who have done good will enter into
eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire. This is the catholic faith; whoever does not
believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.”
So, is it sound doctrine or false teaching? It’s sound doctrine. In fact, it’s part of one of the three ecumenical
creeds confessed by the Church. If you
turn to page 320 in Lutheran Service Book,
beginning at verse 38, you’ll see that they are the closing words of the
Athanasian Creed, a beautiful confession of the Christian faith, particularly
the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
I recall one particular Sunday. A dear woman approached me after the
service. She was probably the best
catechized Lutheran in the whole congregation, regular in her attendance at
worship and Bible studies. Well into her
80s, she could still recite any portion of the Small Catechism upon request. That’s because she and her family read from it
every day for devotions. She said,
“Pastor, I have a problem with those words that we just said in the Athanasian
Creed.”
I thought maybe it was the words “catholic faith”
that bothered her. They sometimes seem
foreign to Lutheran ears. And I was
ready to explain that this just means this is what the true Church of all times
and places has confessed. But she
already understood that part.
“No, Pastor,” she said. What bothers me is that it seems to be saying
that Christ’s judgment is based upon our works.”
I think it shocked her when I said, “We are judged on our works.” Actually, I said it a little bit more
pastorally: “I understand your
concern. It does seem confusing,
especially to out Lutheran ears, so well taught from Scripture that we are
saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We are not saved by our works. But Scripture does make it clear that we are judged
by our works.”
I then pointed her to St. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians
5:10: “For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he
has done in the body, whether good or evil.” And Romans 2:6: “He [God] will render to each
one according to his works.” And Jesus’
words in John 5:28-29: “Do not marvel at this, for an
hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out,
those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done
evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
Then I pointed her to our text for today, Matthew
25:34-36: “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.’”
That’s when I really needed to do some explaining.
On the surface, our text is simple
enough. It is a picture of the Final
Judgment, when Jesus will separate believers from unbelievers. But there’s one strange note: It seems that
the righteous get into heaven for helping the underprivileged, while the
unrighteous are condemned for their failure to do so. But that would mean that we are saved by our
works, not by faith. And we know for
certain that is not true.
Fortunately, when we encounter a difficult
text in God’s Word, we know what to do.
We don’t rely on our inadequate human reason or limited knowledge for
biblical interpretation. We see if other
portions of Scripture can help us out. “Scripture
interprets Scripture.” And that’s why
our sermon begins today with a look at Matthew 10. If you have your Bible, please feel free to
follow along.
In Matthew 10, Jesus sends the twelve disciples
to preach that the kingdom of heaven is near. Before the disciples leave, Jesus tells them,
“Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey,
nor two tunics nor sandals nor staff, for the laborer deserves his food.”
Jesus’ disciples are to carry with them no
extra supplies as they go out to preach the Gospel. They are to rely upon the hospitality of
those who believe the Gospel that they preach.
Believers will feed them, give them water, care for them in sickness,
visit them in prison if need be. They’ll
do so in response to being forgiven, in thankfulness for God’s pardon and peace.
As for those who reject the Gospel and the
disciples who preach it, what will happen to them? Jesus declares in verse 15: “It will be more
bearable on the day of judgment for the land
of Sodom and Gomorrah
We should note two more things from Matthew
10. As Jesus concludes His instructions
to the disciples, He tells them in verse 40, “Whoever receives you receives
Me.” The disciples are Jesus’
ambassadors, proclaiming His Word. To
receive them is to receive Him. To care
for them is to care for Him. To reject
them is to reject Him, because they proclaim His Word.
And note Jesus’ final comment in verse 42:
“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he
is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” Jesus praises those who will give water to His
disciples because they are His ambassadors; and in that praise, He calls His
disciples “these little one.” They are
not little ones in the sense of infants or little children; but as servants of
the Servant, they are among the least of all.
Now there’s a reason we have spent so much
time speaking of Matthew 10 so far: I propose to you that Matthew 10 is the
best commentary you’ll find to explain our text from Matthew 25. Notice the connections. In our text, all people are gathered for the
Final Judgment. The believers enter the
kingdom of heaven and eternal life; the unbelievers depart into everlasting
fire—a judgment far worse than the momentary fire and brimstone that rained
down on Sodom and Gomorrah
What is the measure by which they are
judged? They are measured by their
treatment of “the least of these.” To
the believing sheep, Jesus says: “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.”
When the sheep express confusion as to when
they did this, Jesus responds: “Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it
to Me.” He condemns the unbelieving
goats for their failure to do the same.
When they object, He says to them: “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.” It’s an echo of Jesus’
words from Matthew 10. So we ask the
good Lutheran question: “What does this mean?”
First of all, it does not mean our text teaches
that the sheep save themselves by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, or
visiting the sick or imprisoned. We know
this already, of course; for if believers are saved by such things, then they
are saved by their works—not by the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus.
However, this is often how this text is
interpreted: Help the one in need and go to heaven; ignore them and you’ll be
condemned. This is the popular
application of our time—social gospel—the false teaching that the Gospel is all
about helping the underprivileged in this life, and not really about
forgiveness and eternal life.
We must be clear what else this text does not
teach. It does not teach that believers
are saved by how well they treat the apostles—or pastors who continue the
apostolic ministry. If believers are saved
by making sure that the pastor is fed and clothed, then they are saved by their
works—not the atoning death of our Lord.
So, what does
this parable teach? It teaches that
people are saved because they believe the Word.
Really. Let me explain: Jesus sends
His apostles as His ambassadors to preach His Word. Those who receive the Word are saved—not by
their work, but by the work of the Holy Spirit.
When they receive the spoken Word, they receive Christ, the Word-made-flesh
who told His disciples: “Whoever receives you receives Me.” In response to that Word, they receive the
ones whom He has sent and care for them.
In fact, the word “welcome” in our text is the same word particularly
connected to the early Christian practice of providing hospitality for
traveling missionaries throughout Acts (see 16:14-15; 17:5-9; 18:7-8;
21:8).
The sheep are saved because they believe the
Word. Believing the Word, they want it
proclaimed to all nations. This desire
will lead to good works, and they will take care of those whom Jesus calls and
sends to do the public proclaiming. Those
who do not believe the Word are condemned; not because of their lack of
support, but because they did not believe the Word.
So let’s apply this text to our present
day. First, there is this plain truth: Judgment
Day is coming. Jesus will return in
glory to judge all nations. But you have
nothing to fear. If you remember the One
who sits on that throne, you will want no other seated there to do the judging.
For one thing, He has not always sat in
heaven, waiting for judgment. Indeed, He
has done much to prepare you for a favorable judgment. At times, Jesus was hungry—as when He was
tempted in the wilderness and remained righteous for you. At times, He was thirsty—as when He suffered
on the cross. At times, He was a
stranger—as when His hometown rejected Him and sought to kill Him. At times, He was naked—for the soldiers
stripped Him bare before they drove the nails into His hands and feet. He was sick, too—for He bore your sickness
and infirmity to the cross. And though
He was not imprisoned, He was in the brutal custody of Roman guards who
scourged Him before His death.
As Jesus suffered these various torments, who
was there to help Him? No one! But there is reason for this: Jesus did not
undergo such agonies so that you might do something for Him. He suffered them to do something for you—to
present Himself as a holy sacrifice, to deliver you from sin.
In addition to Christ’s suffering, consider
His death. You were under the sentence
of death—everlasting death—for your undeniable sins against Him. But this Judge suffers the sentence of death
for you—in your place! Do you know of
any other judge who serves out the sentence of the guilty who stand before him?
Friends, what cause for joy as we anticipate
Judgment Day. The Judge has arranged the
trial so that you are innocent. There’s
only one way you can still be condemned.
You can insist on it. The undone
works are only a symptom of the real problem: lack of faith. If the goats had called on the Lord in faith,
He would have forgiven them, prepared them, and completed good works in them.
This is the curse of unbelief, for the
unbeliever says, “I don’t believe that I’ve done anything wrong” or else “I
don’t believe the Judge has died for me, so I don’t want His pardon.” It is a frightening demonstration of the
blindness of sin, that so many cling to the one way to be lost.
But you can rejoice! As you anticipate Judgment Day, you already
know the verdict. Even now, the Judge
says, “You are not guilty.” While the
Gospel writers and Paul continually remind people of the final judgment on the
Last Day, they also insist that even now we live under God’s judgment. And for you who have been brought to faith in
Christ that is Good News. In Christ, God
has executed His judgment, for which the Last Day is a public proclamation—the
revelation and public vindication of all believers.
Even now you hear Christ’s not guilty
judgment in His Word. Baptized into
Christ, you are blessed by the Father to inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. In the
Absolution, the pastor bestows Christ’s forgiveness in His stead and by His
command. In the Word preached and read,
the Holy Spirit connects you to Christ, applying His saving work to you. At the Lord’s Supper, Christ Himself gives you
His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. These means of grace prepare you to stand
before Christ on the Last Day—whenever that might be!—because they strengthen
your faith in His forgiveness.
Therefore, as you wait for Christ’s coming,
you are set free to do good works, according to your vocation. Whether or not our Gospel applies to all in
need around us in general, or fellow Christians in particular—serving our
neighbor is certainly what Christ are set free to do.
In the vocation of father and mother, parents
care for those who are hungry, thirsty, and sometimes sick. In the vocation of child, adult children may
find themselves doing the same for aging parents. In the vocation of neighbor and citizen,
there is always the opportunity to assist the poor, the unemployed, and
downtrodden. You are set free to do
these things because the Lord has served you with such compassion. You do not do these things to become a believer. You do these things because you already believe, because you’ve already
heard and received the Word. And the
Word leads to the deeds.
It is not inappropriate that we speak of
another vocation—that of church member.
Even as those early believers cared for those who declared the Word, so
you also have opportunity to give offerings so that the church is heated and
the lights are on, so that people might gather in comfort in to hear the
Word. And such offerings go to pay
pastors, so that they can spend their time studying and training others to
share God’s Word.
Please note: Jesus declares: “As you did it
to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.” Offerings to the Church are an acknowledgment
that Christ is present here in the Word that is proclaimed. Again, such offerings will not earn your
salvation. They do not have to, because
you are already saved. Your offerings are
given in thanks, and they are part of God’s plan. They are dedicated to the proclamation of the
Gospel, so that others will hear and be saved.
So that you and your fellow Christians would continue to be blessed by
God’s Word of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Therefore, each Christian is set free to give
such support as he is able, and in proportion as that ability changes.
What a message we find in our text. There is the warning that Judgment Day is
coming. Christ will come to judge
all. People will be judged on the basis
of their deeds. But yours is not a life
of terror in the meantime. Instead, it
is one of joyful service and grateful obedience to Him. This is because you already know the outcome
of the Final Judgment for you.
On the Last Day, all will stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. The King will
say to you and all His sheep: “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Receive eternal life. Having suffered your sentence for you, I
declare you not guilty. I declare you My
sheep. I declare your works good in My
sight. I declare you righteous. I declare you blessed. I declare: You are forgiven for all of your
sins.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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