The final arguments have been made. The jury has deliberated. Now they walk solemnly back into the courtroom and take their places. What will the verdict be? Innocent? Or Guilty?
If you’ve ever been in court or watched a televised court case or a courtroom drama on TV you know this scene. It’s a tense one. You could hear a pin drop. Knuckles are white as the parties in the case, the lawyers, and anyone observing waits to hear what the jury has decided.
And nothing is guaranteed. I would guess that judges and lawyers who go through these kinds of things all the time have at least some idea of where the verdict is headed, but it generally doesn’t happen that everyone leaves the courtroom happy. Someone may have made his best case, poured out his best arguments, been sure in his mind that he is right, and still found out that he has lost the case.
How white-knucked are you to think of your verdict on Judgment Day? The decision of an earthly court can certainly change your life. None of us want to find ourselves as the target of a lawsuit, or a criminal complaint. Even if we are exonerated at the end we know that the process could be a long and painful and expensive one. And we also know that if someone looks hard enough, there are probably ways they can make us look bad. Is that what Judgment Day will be like? Will we stand and listen to our deeds recounted, the good and the bad, and wait nervously to find out what punishment or reward is due?
That would be fair. It would be just. And yet, when we read our Lord Jesus’ description of that day, we actually find something very different. That day for us is a glorious day. It’s a day without doubt or fear. For us who cling to Jesus in faith, we can look forward to that day, where we will be confidently judged according to God’s grace.
We don’t actually have a lot of accounts of Jesus talking directly about Judgment Day. He frequently alluded to it with parables and metaphors, but the day itself is, in many ways, left as a mystery to us. We don’t know when it’s going to be. We don’t know where Jesus will appear or how exactly all flesh will be raised and how people everywhere will see him all at once when he comes. But the fact that the day is coming is without question. And on the occasion Matthew records in chapter 25 of his Gospel Jesus gave a great description of what that day is all about.
Jesus said:
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
The Jesus that the disciples were following was a humble Jesus, not with glory, not leading a mighty army or angelic beings, but just a band of disciples from Galilee. The day Jesus was speaking of was going to be very different from what they were seeing right now. In fact, it’s very different from anything anyone has ever seen. This claim that Jesus makes is quite a great thing to say, and if anyone other than Jesus spoke about himself this way we would have to conclude that he has lost his mind. And I would say too that most of the world today scoffs at this claim. They would say, “No, Jesus is not coming. There are no angels. There is no glorious throne. There will be no judgment.” But you don’t respond that way to Jesus’ words. When he speaks, you listen. Why is that? You know your shepherd’s voice.
And Jesus compares himself to a shepherd, who separates all people like separating sheep from goats. Sheep and goats in those days were relatively equal in value and in many cases one was as good as another, but the point of comparison is that no shepherd gets confused over which is which. He knows the sheep. He knows the goats. Sheep and goats aren’t all that smart. They might not know themselves or be able to separate from each other, but the shepherd can.
So the righteous are put on the King’s right and the wicked on his left, and then Jesus tells of a dialogue on each side. He speaks first to the righteous and then to the wicked. They’re told of their fate: the kingdom prepared for you by my Father; the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. The evidence is presented; the things they did; the things they did not do.
Both are surprised to hear this, and for both the answer is the same. Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.
On some level this description of Judgment Day probably should make us nervous. The sheep and the goats don’t know who they are. The wicked and the righteous both are surprised by Jesus’ verdict. Who am I? Am I a sheep or a goat? Am I the kind of person Jesus would consider righteous or wicked? I know the verdict I want. But at the same time I know my sins and I know that there have been many times that I have not treated people the way that I should. There are times that I haven’t cared for the needs of those around me. There are times I haven’t been welcoming. And that’s easy to do when I can tell myself that that other person is not so important, certainly less important than me and the things that I have going on in life right now. But if it was Jesus who was asking for help would I have talked that way? Would I have acted that way? Would I have grumbled that way? Certainly not.
But here Jesus is saying it is him. When a family member needs my time or a friend needs my ear or an acquaintance needs help. When a church member needs my presence, my compassion, my prayers, and my support. It is Jesus who is served or not served.
On the basis of the law then there’s no doubt about the verdict I deserve on Judgment Day. It would absolutely be just for Judgment Day to consist of me standing while all my deeds, good and bad, are read. It would be just for each one to receive its own sentence of punishment or reward. And the only just verdict I could possibly ever earn would be the eternal condemnation of hell.
What kind of hope can there be? Can I work my hands to the bone with the hopes of a lighter sentence? Can I enter judgment saying, “I think I’ve been a good person.”? That’s no hope at all. The world scoffs at the idea of an impending Day of Judgment because any other thought is just too dreadful to bear.
But let’s look at the righteous, as Jesus describes them, since we wish to be counted among them. Jesus lists the good things they have done. I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 36I was lacking clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.
They did these things for the least of Jesus’ brothers and so did them also for Jesus. But these things are not the means by which they earned salvation and heaven and a declaration of righteousness. Rather, these are the evidence that they had received Jesus’ righteousness in faith.
So something amazing is found here. The person who is seeking to make himself righteous by serving Jesus wherever he can find him is not righteous at all. He has served neither Jesus, nor Jesus’ brother, his fellow-man. Even acts of charity, if done in unbelief, are not done for Jesus. In a bizarre twist, we turn even acts of charity into something that is selfish and self-serving.
But for those who have received Jesus’ righteousness by faith, their whole life becomes one that is dedicated to him who saved us. Every moment of every day, every possession we have, every ounce of our energy, every thought, word, and deed, belongs to him. That was declared most assuredly when we were baptized into his name. It’s a promise renewed every time we gather around his word to be absolved of our sins, and to receive his own body and blood in his Supper.
It’s purely by God’s grace that our works are called righteous. He has given us our hands. He has cleansed our hearts. He gives us every opportunity to serve. And still our Lord sees our feeble works of love done in faith and says, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” And by that same grace he swings wide the gate to heaven and says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Judgment Day is coming. For many it will be a fearful day, a day in court, with no positive verdict to hope for. But not for you. Your sins will not be read. They have been washed away by Jesus’ blood. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You can be confidently judged, because the only word you will hear will be the word of God’s grace: “Yours is the gift of eternal life.” Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson