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The Last Judgement

Not a story but a scene: all nations gathered before the Son of man, judged by one question — what did you do for the hungry, the stranger, the sick and the prisoner?

Read Matthew 25:31–46 in the reader

Awaiting theological review

Before you read

Who Jesus was speaking to

Scripture

The last words of Jesus' teaching in Matthew before the Passion, spoken to the disciples on the Mount of Olivet. Two days later he will himself be arrested, stripped and condemned.

History & scholarship

Strictly speaking this is not a parable but a prophetic vision of the judgement, containing one parable-like comparison: the shepherd separating the sheep from the goats.

Matthew 25:31–46

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition · Public Domain

When the Son of man shall come31And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. 32And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Come, ye blessed34Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in: 36Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. 37Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? 39Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee? 40And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Depart from me41Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. 43I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. 44Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? 45Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me. 46And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.

As long as you did it to one of these

The king, the just and the least

You did it to me

The king

The Son of man comes in glory as king — and identifies himself with the least.

  1. 25:34 — Come, ye blessed of my Father
  2. 25:40 — As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me

Interpretation

The king does not only reward kindness to the poor: he says he was the poor. Christ is met in the hungry, the stranger and the prisoner.

History & scholarship

Interpreters debate who the least brethren are: Jesus' disciples in need, or every person in need. The Church's teaching on the poor has drawn on the wider reading.

Think about it

Where have you met Christ without recognising him?

Lord, when did we see thee?

The just

They are surprised: they did not know it was Christ they were serving.

  1. 25:37 — Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee?

Interpretation

They helped because the person needed it, not to earn a reward. Their surprise is part of their goodness.

Think about it

Which work of mercy could you do this week, quietly?

Did not minister to thee

Those on the left

They are condemned not for evil they did, but for good they did not do.

  1. 25:45 — As long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me

Interpretation

Like the rich man and Lazarus, their fault is omission: they simply did not see.

Think about it

Is there someone you have been avoiding seeing?

What first hearers would have noticed

Context

Sheep and goats

History & scholarship

In Palestine sheep and goats grazed together by day, and shepherds often separated them in the evening. Jesus uses an everyday scene for the end of history.

The works of mercy

Tradition & devotion

From this passage the Church draws the corporal works of mercy: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned — and a seventh, bury the dead, taken from the book of Tobias. There are also seven spiritual works of mercy, such as counselling, teaching, forgiving and praying.

Look closer

Symbols

The right hand and the leftMatthew 25:33

History & scholarship

The right hand was the place of honour and favour.
EverlastingMatthew 25:46

Church teaching

The Church teaches that each person will be judged on love, and that our choices in this life have eternal weight — while entrusting every person to God's mercy.

Remember

Quiz me

Question 1 of 4beginner

Whom does the king set on his right hand?

The next question

What are the works of mercy?The rich man and LazarusThe Good SamaritanWhat will happen at the end of time?