Standing Before Jesus

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

STANDING BEFORE JESUS

Matt 25:31-46

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'   45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." 

NIV

Once again, it does not seem right to break this complete thought of Jesus into small sections. Although we could deal with it in three parts, first, his coming in all his glory and separating all the nations as sheep and goats. Second, we could look at what happens to the sheep, and third, what happens to the goats. So, let us consider the scene of Jesus when he comes in all his glory. What a day that will be when my Jesus I will see, when I look upon his face, the one who saved by his grace, when he takes me by the hand and leads me into the promised land, what a day, what a day that will be. What is going to happen will be, for some, a glorious day, for others, not so much. We cannot be sure this is the same moment as what we call the rapture of the saints, because, all tribes, all people, all races, all the same habitat, as the Greek word ethnos means. Every person who has ever lived, and all those who were still living when this event takes place. Everyone will be called up from wherever they are. If it is in the grave, or hell, or somewhere in the presence of the Lord, or on the earth, all will be there standing before Jesus, who will be sitting on his throne, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of angels. No person is going to escape this scene, for it is going to be time for Jesus to make the final judgment of all people, Men like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Samuel, David, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, and of course, Mary, Martha, and Lydia, along with Ruth, Naomi, Esther, and others of great faith. Then there will be Pharoah, Ahab, Saul, Herod the Great, Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, Ivan the terrible, Saddam Hussein, and Joseph Stalin. Then there will be all of us who believed in the name of Jesus. We really do not have to wonder who the sheep will be and who will be the goats, except, of course, all the people we are living with right now. It is not too late yet for those who are still alive right now to decide whether they want to be associated with the first-mentioned, or the second group mentioned. Jesus will divide all people, to his right and to his left. The right side has always been the place of honor, as Jesus sits on the right hand of the Father. We will have to leave the conversations with the sheep and the goats for later, however, for now, let us be assured we will be standing before Jesus.