Second to Last Sunday of the Church Year, 2021
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
Second to Last Sunday of the Church Year
Matthew 25:31-46
November 14, 2021
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, that great and glorious day will come like a thief in the night. This is so clearly and obviously taught in Holy Scripture that this exact phrase, “like a thief in the night,” is used by many of the writers of New Testament Scripture. St. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians, “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2). St. Paul is reiterating the obvious. If you are a Christian, you know that Jesus will come again. It is to be expected.
So also St. Peter when he says, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Peter 3:10). St. Peter gives more of a warning. There will be calamity before the Last Day. For this earth and the stars and planets will all pass away and be dissolved in order to make way for the new heavens and the new earth.
Jesus Himself makes reference to His coming “like a thief in the night” twice explicitly, first in Matthew’s Gospel when He says, “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into” (Matthew 24:43) and also in John’s vision in Revelation He says, “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed! (Revelation 16:15). So in hearing this and knowing this, in these last days, our prayer should be, “Rise, my soul, to watch and pray. From your sleep awaken!”
The point in all this, obviously, is not that Jesus is going to sneak back into this world quietly and steal your stuff or that He will secretly rapture some but not others without you ever noticing that He came. You will know. Everyone will know. It’ll be quite obvious and glorious. Jesus is coming but we don’t know the day when He will come in His glory. We can’t know, “For if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.” No one knows the exact date except only the Father. But the point is that Jesus is coming again. He is. He has promised it. He will make Himself visibly known to all people. The Son of Man will come in His glory, and all the angels with Him. Then He will sit on His glorious throne. When He comes, He will judge. There will be no escape. Everyone will be subject to His just judgment.
Because when Jesus comes again, all nations will be gathered to Him. All peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion will be everlasting. All power and glory and might is His. He will open the books. And He will sit on His throne and He will judge.
He will judge everyone who ever lived. But you have nothing to fear. You are the sheep. You are Jesus’ little lambs, whom He loves and whom He has died for. You have been washed by Him, redeemed by Him, sanctified in His presence, and you are loved by Him. You are who Jesus talks about when He says, “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 in prison and you came to Me.”
Notice, if you will, on what basis the sheep are judged and then notice their reaction. Jesus said, “You did all this for Me. And because you did these things for Me, you also did them to the least of my brothers.” But the sheep protest, “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?” The sheep are surprised. They’re surprised because they did not rely on these works and didn’t even realize they performed them. These good works that are attributed to them flowed from faith. The sheep know they are justified by faith and so they protest. Their works that they performed in this life, flowed directly from their faith that justifies them. And since their works flowed from faith, they are good and are loved by God. Their works are proof that faith is present. So they are gathered to Christ’s right hand, blessed by Him, and ushered into the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.
You know you are a sheep and not a goat, you are blessed and not cursed because you have heard God’s voice and have responded accordingly to it. He said, “Repent,” and you repented. He said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and you continue to live out your life as a baptized child of God. He said “Come to My house and receive my blessing in Word and Sacrament.” And here you are. He said, “I forgive you all your sins.” He said, “Take and eat. Take and drink.” And you said, “Amen.” Amen, yes, yes, it shall be so. Christ’s merit is accounted to you because of His righteousness, which is yours through faith.
You have done all this because of your faith. You have received Jesus in faith, which shines forth in the works you do and in your attitudes and behaviors as a Christian, and now, because of your faith, your inheritance is the Kingdom of God, which has been prepared, specifically for you. When did you do any of these things Jesus describes? You may be confused. But you did. And yet, you did not put your trust in your works and because of this, you may even be surprised at all the good that will be accounted to you on the Last Day because of your faith. And so for Christians, for you and for me, when the Son of Man comes in His glory, it will be a wonderful, joyous day because there is no eternal punishment for us to fear. Ours is the Kingdom of Heaven.
At the same time, He still comes to judge, and for the goats, that will be a terrible day. The goats will depart from Him and will go into eternal contempt and punishment, to a place prepared for Satan and his angels. However, they too will protest this, “Lord, when did we not do these things?” They put their trust in their works. Surely, they performed seemingly “good works” in this life. Perhaps they even performed works that were pleasing in the sight of men. But because they had no faith, their works were before the Lord but filthy rags. Their works were not accounted to them as good and pleasing to God because they did not flow from faith. They have no faith. They are goats. God said, “Repent,” and the goats said, “I am no sinner.” He said, “Come to my house and receive my blessing in Word and Sacrament,” and they said, “I am too tired. I have to work in vain for the pleasures of this life.” He said, “Sit down at my table,” and they said, “It’s not that special. It takes too much of my precious time.” He said, “Take and eat,” and they said, “I am full.” They have no faith and so they had no time or care for the things of God in this life.
The goats are goats not because they didn’t perform good works in this life. They’re goats because they lack the one thing needful: Jesus Christ and His righteousness apprehended and received through faith. Thus, nothing but eternal judgment is accounted to them. The sheep on the other hand are not sheep because they were so virtuous and Godly in their living here on earth—because they volunteered every week at the local soup kitchen, or because they gave to the needy, or because they always called on those who were sick. Some of the sheep probably were even mistaken as the worst sinners of the sort here on earth. But they are still sheep. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. For they did not put faith in their own righteousness. Their faith was found in Christ’s righteousness. For He redeemed them and they knew it. He desired to feed them, nourish them, and comfort them at His table and that’s where they were found. They put their trust not in their works, but in Him.
And so when He comes on the Last Day to judge, do not be scared, do not be frightened. That last and glorious day will be a wonderful day, a happy day for you. Because you will be surprised at all the good that He will attribute to you. You have nothing to fear, dear faithful, Christian sheep.
In +Jesus’ name.
