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November 10, 2002
2nd Sunday of End Time - The Last Judgment
Matthew 25:31-46
Pastor Robert Raasch

THE CASE OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT

1. The Verdict is Just
2. The Sentence is Eternal
3. The Evidence is Conclusive

Judge Joe Brown. Law and Order. The Practice. Judging Amy. Divorce Court. Judge Judy. And the list goes on and on and on. What do all these popular television shows have in common? That's easy, isn't it? They all portray in one way or another, life in the courtroom. It seems like everyone these days wants to see someone else in court. We like to see people who are on trial. Just look at the whole Winona Ryder thing. It's been in the news for weeks. It's like everyone is obsessed with wanting to know who's guilty and who's not.

Of course, there's a major difference between watching somebody else on trial and actually being on trial ourselves. I mean who of us would want to be the defendant in a criminal trial? Who of us would want to be tried in a court of law? I expect that we'd all say, "Nope. I'd never want that to happen to me." And yet, you realize that the day will come when each and every one of us will be put on trial. Trial not in the 8th District Court of Appeals, but rather, trial before the Almighty Judge of the Universe. And let's face it, the very thought of standing before God on his throne can be a bit nerve-wracking. "Yikes! What's going to happen to me?" In order to quiet our fears and strengthen our faith, Jesus here in our text gives us a bit of a sneak preview of what will happen in that heavenly courtroom. This morning let us take a little closer look at what we might call:

THE CASE OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT

As we study this case we'll see that:

1. The Verdict is Just
2. The Sentence is Eternal
3. The Evidence is Conclusive

This portion of Matthew's gospel records the final segment of Jesus' longer discussion concerning the end of the world. Jesus has already pointed to the signs that would signal that the end of the world was near. He's told a number of parables encouraging his disciples to be prepared for the End. And now he concludes with this description of the final judgment.

Jesus begins by saying, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory." This verse gives us our time frame. The case of the final judgment will be heard when Jesus comes in glory with his angels. This can only refer to Jesus' second coming, when he will return to earth, not as a lowly baby, but as the holy Judge of all people living and dead, believer and unbeliever alike. At that time, Jesus will begin by handing down a verdict. In other words he will decide who's guilty and who isn't. Although this may first appear to be a rather arbitrary decision on Jesus' part, if we look a little closer, we will see, first of all, that This Verdict is Just.

In verse 32, we read, "He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." This is how Jesus makes his verdict known. He puts those who are not guilty on his right and calls them sheep, an animal highly prized in Jesus' day. Those who are guilty he puts on his left and calls them goats. Even today, the word "goat" has the connotation of being a loser, the guilty party.

Now, the question we need to ask is this: How did Jesus decide who were sheep and who were goats? What did he use to determine which people went which way? Did he judge them by their looks, or their nationality? Did he judge them by the kind of life they lived or by which church they belonged to? No, he didn't. The Bible says that there is only one criterion that Jesus uses to determine whether a person is declared guilty or not guilty. That one criterion is a child-like faith in Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior from sin. Listen to the words of John 3:17,18, "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

Now, someone might say, "Wait a minute! Is it fair for God to judge people simply on the basis of whether they believe in Jesus or not? What about that person who is a fine, moral, law-abiding citizen, but isn't a Christian? Is it fair for God to condemn that person to hell? In order to answer questions like these, we need to keep a couple of things in mind. First, we need to understand the standard that God has established for all mankind. God says that all mankind, believers and unbelievers, must be perfect, that is, we must live a life without sin. If we do not live a perfect life, then we deserve to be punished by a just and holy God. That's what the Bible means when it says that the wages of sin is death. In other words, as sinful human beings, we're all in the same boat. And it's going down.

Yet what has God done for us? In pure undeserved love, he took all the sins that have ever been committed and ever will be committed in the world and transferred them onto Jesus, his perfect Son. And then God sent Jesus to hell to suffer for those sins. Because Jesus suffered the penalty for the sins of all mankind, God can say to all human beings, "You are not guilty in my eyes. You are forgiven."

And yet, unfortunately there are still going to be people who say, "I don't need God's forgiveness. I'm not that bad. I don't believe that Jesus had to die to pay for my sin." What are they doing? They are taking the precious gift of forgiveness that Jesus earned for them and they are saying, "No, I don't want it." And that's where God's justice comes into play again. God says, "Well, somebody has to be punished for your sin. Either you allow Jesus to be your substitute or you'll be punished yourself. All those who reject Jesus as their Savior are in effect asking a just God to punish them instead. And that's exactly what God does. You see, God's verdict is just.

Now, you realize that in a typical courtroom trial, after a verdict has been reached, the guilty party is sentenced to some kind of punishment, be it a few days, or a year or even a life-time in prison. So it is with the case of the Final Judgment. Only in this case the sentence is not temporary. In this case, II. The Sentence is Eternal.

In verse 34, we read, "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.'" Obviously, Jesus is talking about heaven. Notice he calls it an inheritance. Heaven is not something that we believers have earned. It is something that was given to us. Heaven is a part of the inheritance that becomes ours when we are adopted into God's family through faith in Christ.

Here in our text, on the other side of the courtroom stand the unbelievers. To those on his left, Jesus will say, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Jesus doesn't beat around the bush, does he? He says, "Depart from me." With those words, Jesus is describing what hell really is. Hell is life outside of God's presence. Hell is life without any of the love and blessings which God is currently showing to all mankind.

These days, hell is not a very popular subject. There are a lot of people who would deny the existence of eternal death of hell. And yet, if a person denies that there is a hell, he must also deny that there is a heaven, for Scripture speaks of them both in the same breath. Jesus says in verse 46, (The ones on the left) "will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

As confessional Lutheran Christians, we accept that every word in the Bible is true, and therefore we also accept the reality of hell. We don't need to deny or downplay its existence. We can confess the truth about hell because we can also confess the truth about God's alternative to hell, namely, eternal life in Christ Jesus. .

Now, I suppose that if we were sitting in on a court case in which a verdict was passed and a sentence handed down, the defense lawyer might stand up and say, "Objection, Your Honor! Here you've passed a verdict and handed down a sentence and there was never any evidence presented! On what did you base your verdict?" Apparently, Jesus must have anticipated that objection because here in our text, he moves from the verdict, to the sentence, and ultimately to the evidence used to support the verdict and the sentence. In this case, Jesus used evidence that is not irrelevant or circumstantial. No, in the Case of the Final Judgment, III. The Evidence is Conclusive.

In verse 35, Jesus speaks about the believers on his right. He says, "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, 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." With these words Jesus is not saying that some people will be declared not guilty because they fed the hungry or visited people in prison. No, it's exactly the other way around. Jesus is saying that those who realized that they had been declared not guilty by Jesus' sacrifice in their place show their thanks to God by doing things like feeding the hungry and visiting the people in prison. Such acts of love, done not in a spirit of "God you're going to give me credit for this, right?", but rather done purely out of love for God, are truly the fruits of Christian faith. These are the actions which prove that a person's faith in Jesus is genuine. Or as St. James once said, "Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do."

My friends, do you see the relationship between what a person believes and how he lives? There is a direct cause and effect relationship between faith and works. But that relationship only goes in one direction. Works follow faith, not the other way around. Or as someone once said, "Good works do not produce Christians. But Christians do produce good works." A life of love and compassion is in fact a fruit of our faith in a Savior God.

Christian, as you prepare for Judgment Day, as you prepare for that moment in time when you will stand before God on his throne-and I pray that you are preparing for that moment, for it may well come today-I ask you to think about one question. And that is, What will be your plea before God? Will you plead not guilty because of all the good things you've tried to do for God and your fellow man? Or will you say, "I know I'm guilty, but I trust that God will say that I'm not guilty for the sake of the perfect life and innocent death that Jesus' offered in my place"?

Isn't it precious to know that we don't have to wait until Judgment Day to hear the verdict which God has passed on our behalf? Here in his Word, in the washing of holy Baptism, in the body and blood of the Lord's Supper, God announces to you and me, "In Christ, you are not guilty. Instead your sentence is life with God now and forever." Believe it-and then live like someone who is truly thankful for it. In Jesus' name. Amen.