19, 1993 The Message m for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana 9
" Commentary --
End of Jesus' ministry: Judgment of all nations
8 Gospel Commentary for
Unday, Nov. 21, Thirty-fourth
unday, Ordinary Time, Cycle
Feast of Christ the King.
atthew 25:31.46.
Matthew's story of the judg-
raeat of all nations brings his
gOSpel to the end of Jesus' public
lstry. After this Matthew will
seat us with his version of the
StSupper, the suffering, death,
resurrection of Jesus. The
scene of today's reading is the judg-
reat of all nations by Jesus as
By FATHER
DON DILGER
COLUMNIST
SUpreme and final judge. He is
ete]d °aL a of glory as he returns with his
throne
., -. ne scene is " "
the.S^_ - reminiscent of the pmture of
That :ua o! Man".in glory in the Book of Daniel.
ext in Darnel speaks of"one like a son of man"
before "the Ancient of Days" to receive do-
This is the foremost back-
story of the final judgment.
1 the nations are gathered before
and the wicked are separated from
"like sheep from goats." Matthew follows
tradition in casting goats in a negative
example, the scapegoat of Leviticus 16. The
the right, the wicked on the left. Again
-old prejudice, the right side is the
is a blessing upon the good on the
an invitation to enter "the kingdom of my
for you from the beginning of the
wicked on the left receive a sentence of
and are dispatched into "eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his an-
gels."
The trial was brief. The evi-
dence was all in. Matthew had al-
ready pointed this out in an earlier
parable when latecomers were told
that the door was closed and "I do
not know you." The sole criterion
used for judging in this scene is
how each person responded to even
implicit cries for help -- to feed the
hungry, give drink to the thirsty,
clothe the naked, provide shelter
for the homeless, visit the sick,
console the imprisoned. If Matthew
has not said much about the poor
throughout his gospel, he remedies that situation
in this wonderful story worthy even to be placed in
the "Gospel of the Poor," the Gospel of Luke.
It must be understood that what we have here
is a teaching story, a theological lesson. It is not a
graphic description of some future historical event.
Matthew, a literary and theological genius, paints
an imaginative scene into which he weaves his
own theology and that of the particular Christian
Church for which he is writing. Though this scene
of final judgment is not found in our other three
gospels, we do find it in other writings of that
time. The form left us by Matthew is brief, sharp,
to the point. These characteristics indicate that
the story in some form originates with Jesus him-
self.
Who is being judged in this scene? Christians
only or all people? The probable answer is that
Matthew intends to say judgment applies to every
human being. After all, we are told by Paul, Mark,
Matthew, and Luke, that the gospel has been pro-
claimed to the whole world. Thus all have a chance
to respond to it, to decide for or against. Note that
even the wicked call Jesus, "Lord," in this story.
We note that Matthew says nothing about faith
and salvation in this story. The emphasis is entirely
on good works as the criterion for reward or con-
demnation On the other hand it is commonly ac-
cepted and frequently proclaimed that Paul speaks
of faith as the sole means of being acceptable to
God. What is sometimes forgotten by "cafeteria"
Bible quoters, who choose what they like and ignore
the rest, is Paul's emphasis on good works in all his
letters. In Galatians 5:6 he speaks of faith working
or being made effective through love. Yet love is
never static, and neither is faith. On the other
hand, Matthew does not ignore faith either. For ex-
ample in 9:29: "According to your faith be it done to
you," and in 23:23 he speaks of"justice, and mercy,
and faith" as the most important things to do.
The lesson for us in Matthew's great judgment
scene is that we cannot love and serve the Lord un-
less we love and serve him in our fellow humans.
This is Matthew's final commentary on Jesus' state-
ment: "On these two commandments depend the
whole Law and the prophets: 'You shall love the
Lord your God...and you shall love your neighbor as
yourself." As the Letter of James states unequivo-
cally: "Faith without works is dead." Therefore,
"whatever you do to these the least of my sisters
and brothers, you do to me."
Other readings: Ez 34:11-12; I Cor 15:20-26.
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