Till Jazz gets back....can we all read this passage together? I’ll break it up and explain as we go.....
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.”
This is the separation of two categories of people found on earth at the time of Christ’s return. The separation is made by comparing their deeds towards Christ’s true disciples....and each has an destiny that is irreversible.
“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.’”
So this first group are those who did good deeds towards Christ’s “brothers”....so we need to identify the two groups...Christ’s “brothers” and those who do good deeds towards them....sometimes they don’t even know that they are doing so according to their response. So it’s a trait in these ones to be good to their neighbors as a matter of doing what is natural for a Christian disciple....but to Christ’s brothers especially.
Jesus said that those doing acts or deeds of kindness to the least of those who were his “brothers”, they did it to him.
These are ones God counts worthy to become citizens of his incoming Kingdom. Kind, loving, unselfish people who love God and his Christ and show it by the way they live their lives.
But what about the other group?
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
This is not a destiny anyone would sign up for on purpose....the “eternal fire” of “Gehenna”, is reserved for the devil and his angels, but the “goats” are not the first ones sent to this destination.....Jesus condemned the Pharisees to this place of eternal death. (Matt 23:33) So Gehenna is not Christendom’s “hell”, but the opposite of everlasting life. A place of no return, (“the second death”) unlike “hades” which releases its dead. (Rev 20:13-14)
What do the goats fail to do?
“For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, 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?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘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.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (ESV)
These are not the sort of people who express human kindness to their fellow man...it’s not in their nature to care about anyone but themselves, let alone seeking to do good to Christ’s “brothers”.
These are not the ones God wants in his Kingdom....they are neither “meek” nor “teachable” as Jesus said his disciples would be.
Is there anything you disagree with so far? Is this a fair assessment of that passage?
Acts 9:10-15 is the conversion of Saul...chosen by Christ to represent him especially to the nations. He was an educated man, up to the task of addressing both Jewish leaders (as a former Pharisee) and to the learned Greek philosophers who would not have accepted humble uneducated fishermen to teach them anything.
Acts 15:6-25 is the circumcision issue where certain Jews wanted to impose the law on gentiles. They sent to the apostles and older men in Jerusalem to sort out the issue.
Gal 2:7-9 Paul is appointed as an apostle to the nations, as Rom 11:13 says....and given the power of Holy Spirit just as the other apostles were for the Jews that they were sent to. Yet it was Peter who was sent to the first Gentile convert to Christianity....Cornelius and his household who received the Holy Spirit before their baptism...that is how Peter knew why God had given him that vision of the unclean animals he was told to “slaughter and eat”. God had opened the way for the gentiles to come to him through Christ.
Rom 15:16 shows that it was God’s time to include the gentiles as his promise to Abraham had stated....”all the nations” would be blessed by this seed who would be a descendant of Abraham.
I am not sure what you are asking here...about believers today? Both Jews and Gentiles continued to be added to the Christian congregations due to the preaching work that Christ commanded. (Matt 28:19-20; Matt 24:14)
The roles were only unique for a time.....the Jews were offered a place in God’s kingdom first, but as a nation they rejected their Messiah. God then chose a new nation...one Paul called “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16) which was made up of both Jewish and Gentile Christians......there was no longer a unique appeal to Jews and non-Jews...all were to be given the same witness. The two became one body.
Over to you....
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