Scripture: St. Matthew 25:31-46 (NKJV)
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be
gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right
hand, but the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was
sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the
righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed
You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take
You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison,
and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I
say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren,
you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you
cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for
I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe
Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they also will answer
Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will
answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to
one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Devotion
From Luther’s Church Postils, 1544, for the Twenty Sixth Sunday after Trinity
Sunday: Matthew 25:31-46, continued:
Now, had it not been told us we should be inquisitive beyond measure to know
what would happen on the last day, and what Jesus would say and do on that day.
Here we are now told, and have set before us first of all, death, which no one
can escape; but after that the day of judgment. Then it shall come to pass that
Christ will bring together by means of the resurrection all who have ever lived
upon earth; and at the same time he will descend in great inexpressible
majesty, sitting upon the throne of judgment, with all the heavenly host
hovering around him; and all the good and bad will appear, so that we shall all
stand exposed before him, and no one will be able to conceal himself.
The appearance of this glory and majesty will immediately become a great terror
and pain to the condemned, as we read in today’s Epistle lesson, lest they
shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and
from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints,
2 Thess. 1:9-10…
What a terrible sight this will be, when the ungodly shall see not only all
God’s angels and creatures, but also the Judge in his divine majesty, and shall
hear the verdict of eternal destruction and hell fire pronounced upon them
forever! This ought surely to be a strong, powerful admonition for us to live
as Christians, so that we may stand in honor and without fear at the right hand
of this majestic Lord, where there will be no fear nor terror, but pure comfort
and everlasting joy.
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
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