Christ the King (Matthew 25)

A homily on Matthew 25: 31 - 46. The Judgment of the Nations.


In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

     Today's Gospel is as stern and clear in its meaning, as any text in the Scriptures. There is no way that we can interpret our way out of its plain teaching. There is no room for negotiation, no possibility of misunderstanding what our Lord is saying here. It is obvious what any people, any community or nation, who call themselves Christian, must do, in response to this teaching. This Gospel reveals what the kingship of Christ really means. And today, on the Feast of Christ the King, we have an opportunity to hear again from Christ our King, and to think again how we may respond to his word.
     We notice that Jesus proclaims himself to be king and judge. Up until very recent times in Europe, kings and their people took it for granted that a king was both ruler and judge. And in some countries even today, the same understanding survives. Our Lord is making it plain that he is both ruler and judge, and his judgment, as today's Gospel tells us, is final.
     "All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." All the nations. Notice that there is no religious test here. Jesus expresses no interest in religion or theological opinions. Our Lord is not distinguishing believers from unbelievers, or one religion from another, or Jews from Gentiles. Instead, he distinguishes only between those at his right hand and those at his left. Those on the right hand "inherit the kingdom," and those on the left hand "depart...into the eternal fire."  And the basis of our Lord's choice between the right and the left hand is a very earthly one: real-world responses to real, on-the-ground, this-world needs. "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." This list is repeated, and varied, four times in today's reading, first in the form of direct statements by our Lord, then in the form of questions by the righteous, then in negative form to the accursed, and then, lastly, as an abbreviated question by the accursed themselves. The repetitions and rephrasing emphasize just how important this teaching is. We are meant to remember the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and those in prison --not only are we to remember them, we are to take care of them.
      The question of the accursed themselves is worth considering. "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty [and so on] and did not take care of you?" And Jesus says, "Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." Jesus is reminding us that he identifies with those in need, and he expects us to do the same. We can't naively expect to pay lip service to our Lord, to express all the proper religious and theological opinions, to take a minimalist approach to good works, and imagine that we have done all that our Lord requires of us. We remember that "all the nations will be gathered before him." Jesus does not expect his followers to favor him above all others, but to favor all those with whom he identifies.
      How unlike earthly kingship, and earthly judgement, this is. Quite a lot of history is the story of rulers and practically everyone else doing the opposite of the behaviors described in today's Gospel. Even today over large tracts of the earth, the hungry are not fed, the thirsty are not given something to drink, the strangers are not welcomed, the naked are not clothed, the sick are not cared for, and prisoners are not visited. What passes for public policy in some parts of this purportedly Christian nation looks like an organized, systematic effort not to do any of this, unless ways can be found for various private interests to make money from it. Such efforts fall very short of what our Lord really requires of us.
      What are we to make of "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" into which we are sent if we do not take care of people the way our Lord commands? At the very least, it is a clear statement of the uncompromising nature of the ethical code which our Lord is putting before us. Jesus does not allow exceptions, or any kind of distinction between one kind of person and another, or between one kind of need or another. There is no hint here of any kind of social Darwinism, an attitude which is becoming more common in our time, according to which the weak and needy are left behind, so that those who survive may benefit more. There is no suggestion here that some people are more equal than others, more deserving than others, more worthy of our attention than others. "All the nations" are equal before God. The "eternal fire" awaits those who deny this equality.
      The "eternal fire" is a kind of negative reminder of what our true nature is. We are actually made for "the kingdom prepared for [us] from the foundation of the world." Our failure to live like citizens of that kingdom puts us at risk of being left out of it, of leaving ourselves out of the new heaven and the new earth. The "eternal fire" is, so to speak, the reverse of life in the Kingdom. If we wish to find ourselves in that Kingdom, we must keep our Lord's words clearly in mind, in which he identifies with the hungry, the thirsty, and so on. "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these...you did it to me."

In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. (24.XI.11. Adv., 25-6.XI.17.Adv.)