When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place 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. 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, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘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 welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal 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 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ 45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew places this scene at the end of Jesus’ long teaching about readiness. The Son of Man comes “in his glory,” takes his seat, and gathers “all the nations” before him. The image is simple, but it frames a serious moment: the final judgment will bring to light what a person’s life was really ordered toward.
For Matthew, the title “Son of Man” carries the weight of Daniel’s vision, where one like a son of man receives dominion and kingship from God (Dan 7:13-14). At the same time, the shepherd-and-flock picture echoes Ezekiel, where the Lord judges within the flock and separates the weak from the strong (Ezek 34:17-22). Matthew brings these strands together by showing Jesus as the judge who sits on a “glorious throne,” acting with God’s authority, and speaking as king.
The surprise is the measure used in the judgment. The king begins with what was done and left undone, naming simple deeds of mercy: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the imprisoned. These are not random examples. They match the moral shape of Israel’s Scriptures, where true devotion to God is shown by care for the vulnerable (Isa 58:6-10; Job 31:16-22). They also fit Matthew’s earlier emphasis that God desires mercy and faithful love expressed in action (Hos 6:6; Mt 9:13; 12:7).
Both groups are startled for the same reason: those the king calls ‘blessed’ and those he calls ‘accursed’ did not recognize him in the needy. The righteous ask when they ever saw him in such conditions. The condemned ask the same question in the negative. The point is not that anyone literally saw Jesus hungry or in prison during his earthly ministry. The point is that the Son of Man so identifies himself with “the least” that what is done to them is counted as done to him. In this way, the hidden reality of a person’s life becomes visible at the judgment: love of neighbor, the second great commandment, is not a side issue; it is one of the primary places where love of God is shown or rejected (Mt 22:34-40).
The phrase “the least brothers of mine” has been understood in more than one way, because Matthew sometimes uses “brothers” for disciples, and he also uses it in a broader moral sense. Either way, the practical demand of the passage does not shrink. If “the least” includes fellow believers in need, then discipleship must show itself in tangible care within the Christian community. If it also reaches outward to the needy more generally, then mercy becomes a public witness that fits Matthew’s closing mission to “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19-20). The Gospel does not let the reader separate faithful confession from faithful living. It insists that the reality of one’s relationship to Christ is revealed in what one does (or refuses to do) for those who cannot repay.
The warning is as clear as the promise. Those on the right inherit a kingdom “prepared…from the foundation of the world,” which shows God’s purpose is life, communion, and blessing. Those on the left are sent into “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” In plain terms, the devil is a real personal spiritual being who opposes God and seeks to draw human beings away from God’s saving will. The judgment exposes the gravity of refusing to show mercy, because refusing to show mercy is refusing Christ who comes to us in the needy.
Matthew ends with two destinies set side by side: “eternal punishment” and “eternal life.” The passage does not invite speculation. It calls for a sober clarity: Christ is not only the teacher who commands love; he is the king and judge who will reveal whether our lives actually embraced that love in practice.
Lord Jesus, give me eyes to recognize you in those who are hungry, thirsty, alone, sick, or forgotten. Give me a steady heart that chooses mercy in ordinary moments, and a conscience that does not look away when love is needed. Amen.
___________________
Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Mt 25:31-46.
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, Matthew, p. 54.
- New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), Matthew, p. 669, para. 145.
- Navarre Bible: St. Matthew’s Gospel, pp. 136-137.
- Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), Matthew, pp. 961-962.
- The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (2020), Matthew, pp. 1226-1227.
Comments