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The Son of Man on His Glorious Throne (Matthew 25:31-33) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to reformed thinking. So I want you to imagine a man
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sitting on a dusty hillside. He has, you know, no army.
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He holds no political office. Right, none at all.
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Yeah, I mean, he possesses 0 earthly wealth.
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In fact, he is precisely 3 days away from being arrested,
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stripped and tortured to death by the most lethal empire on the
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face of the Earth. And yet he looks at his closest
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friends and casually announces, In a little while, I'm going to
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sit on a blazing throne and judge every single human being
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who has ever lived. Yeah, it's a massive claim.
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The goal of this deep dive today is to unpack that staggering
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statement found in Matthew 25 versus 31 through 33.
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It really is staggering. We are looking at a text that
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takes our modern, comfortable assumptions about the future and
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just completely shatters them. For sure, we have a huge stack
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of theological analysis in front of us, and we are going to use
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it to understand how the culmination of human history
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actually works. That is the right way to frame
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this. We are not looking at some
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obscure appendix to the biblical text.
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We are looking at the absolute climax.
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Yeah, the finale. The material we are analyzing
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today approaches this text with total gravity.
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This passage is not an academic puzzle.
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It is a cosmic summons that demands A verdict from you, the
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listener, today. I want to start by stepping into
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the historical reality of that moment on the Mount of Olives.
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The shadow of the cross is looming, you know.
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Absolutely. The tension would have been
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palpable. Jesus is sitting with his
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disciples and they ask him about the end of the age.
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Think about the striking contrast here.
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Jesus is literally days away from being crushed by the Roman
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political machine. And Rome was the ultimate
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authority in their world. Right.
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How would the disciples even begin to reconcile the
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impending, humiliating cross with this royal cosmic
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announcement? To understand the psychology of
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the disciples in that moment, we have to look at the political
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and religious scene of the 1st century.
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Politically, Judea was under absolute Roman dominion.
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Caesar's authority was visible everywhere.
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Yes, it was armed. It was irresistible to the
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natural eye. Karen's dynasty and the local
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religious leaders, the Sanhedrin, operated entirely
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underneath that imperial thumb. So they weren't really in
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charge. Not at all.
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So Jesus making this claim was not some private religious
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comfort. It was a royal announcement that
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relativize every earthly court. Rome could crucify him, but they
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could not dethrone him. He is basically looking at the
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empire that is about to kill him and saying I am the one who will
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judge you. Precisely and religiously, the
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disciples were steeped in Old Testament prophecies,
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specifically Daniel Chapter 7. Oh, that's a huge connection.
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It is in Daniel's vision one, like a Son of Man, comes with
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the clouds of heaven and receives dominion, glory and an
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everlasting Kingdom from the Ancient of Days.
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And Jesus adopts that specific title for himself right here.
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Yeah, he is the exalted Son of Man.
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Now, to grasp the specific timeline our material lays out,
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we have to look at the dispensational framework
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provided by the sources. Right, because they are very
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specific about the sequence of events.
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They are. The argument here is that this
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event in Matthew 25 is specifically the judgement of
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the living nations. OK, let's slow down and break
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that down for the listener who might be, you know, driving to
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work right now and has no idea what that means.
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Sure, that makes sense. There are several judgments
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mentioned in Scripture. We need to explain the mechanism
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of this specific timeline according to our sources.
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Let's unpack it. According to the framework in
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the text, this judgment occurs after the 70th week of Daniel.
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That is a theological term for what is commonly known as the
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tribulation. Spot on.
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It's a literal 7 year period of unprecedented global upheaval
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and divine wrath poured out on the earth.
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So this judgment happens right after that.
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Yes, this judgment takes place on Earth right after that
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period, specifically prior to the establishment of a literal
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1000 year millennial Kingdom. The material is highly specific
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about drawing distinctions here. Because it's not the great White
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Throne Judgment we see in Revelation 20.
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Right. The Great White Throne happens
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after the Millennium. That is the final judgment of
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the unsaved dead. The Great White Throne involves
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the resurrection and condemnation of those who died
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in rebellion. Matthew 25 is distinct from
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that. Furthermore, it is not the Bema
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seat judgment of the Church. Let's clarify the Bema seat for
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the listener. The Bema seat is where believers
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are rewarded for their works in this specific pre tribulational
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framework our sources use. The Church has already been
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raptured prior to the seven years, so they are.
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Already with Christ. Right.
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And they are now returning to Earth with Him.
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So the subjects of this Matthew 25 judgment are the living
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individuals, the survivors of the Tribulation period.
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It is fascinating how the authors tackle other theological
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views of this timeline. They take direct aim at
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frameworks like amillennialism and post millennialism.
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They really do. They argue that those views
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flatten this prophetic timeline. What is their specific
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exegetical contention with those alternative views?
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Just to be fair and report what they are saying.
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The contention is that amillennial and post millennial
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frameworks spiritualize the text and blur the chronological lines
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of prophecy. And millennialism generally
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teaches that there is no literal future thousand year reign on
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earth, right? Yes, it teaches that we are in
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the Millennium now in a spiritual sense.
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Post millennialism teaches that the world will gradually
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Christianize through the spread of the gospel, leading to a
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golden age after which Christ returns.
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But our sources disagree with that approach.
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Very much so. The material we are analyzing
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asserts that failing to recognize a literal tribulation
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followed by a literal Millennium obscures the critical
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distinction between national Israel and the New Testament
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church. That distinction is a massive
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part of their argument. It is.
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The argument is that God has unfulfilled covenantal promises
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given to national Israel in the Old Testament.
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Those promises must be dealt with distinctly at the end of
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the age. So the judgment of the nations
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in Matthew 25 is the gateway to fulfilling those promises.
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Exactly. Well, yes, it determines who
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physically enters that earthly Kingdom.
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OK, so he is painting this terrifying literal picture of a
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future judgment. But just two sentences prior, in
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Matthew 25, he was talking about bridesmaids with oil lamps,
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waiting for a bridegroom. And guys burying bags of money
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in a field. Right, so if I am reading this
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for the first time, I have to ask, how on earth do we know he
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is not just telling another metaphorical story?
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Does the genre suddenly shift here?
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The genre shifts decisively. This is not another parable.
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OK, so they take it entirely literally.
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Yes, the material is adamant that while it uses a pastoral
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simile, you know, comparing the separation of people to a
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shepherd separating animals, the passage itself is a literal,
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explicit apocalyptic prophecy. It is a straightforward
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description of a future historical event.
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Spot on. It is the applicatory conclusion
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to everything Christ has just spoken on the Mount of Olives.
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The transition is from parabolic warnings about readiness to the
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literal reality of what happens when the waiting is over.
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Yes, you move from the illustration of the event
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directly to the event itself. It is really interesting how the
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authors tackle modern politics. Here, our sources actually take
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direct aim at movements like the social justice movement or
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liberation theology. They do in critical race theory
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and even open border policies. Right.
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And again, for the listener, we aren't taking a side here.
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We are just impartially reporting what the authors of
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this theological material are arguing.
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Of course, it's just what is in the text.
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If you scroll through social media or listen to political
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speeches, you often hear verse 40 quoted.
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Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and
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sisters of mine, you did for me. It gets used a lot in those
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contexts. It does.
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The authors argue that these movements are essentially
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hijacking the text for political gain.
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What is their exegetical basis for saying that?
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The authors argue that these modern movements strip the text
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of its eschatological reality. They claim these groups take the
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phrase the least of these and twist it into a mandate for
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generic government welfare. Or political philanthropy.
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Right. The exegetical basis for their
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critique is that this interpretation completely
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ignores the literary and historical sequence of the
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Olivet Discourse. Break that sequence down for us.
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What did they miss? The preceding chapter, Matthew
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24, focuses heavily on the intense persecution of the
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Tribulation period. It speaks of a time when
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believers will be hated by all nations.
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So it's a very specific context of suffering.
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Yes, according to the argument in our material.
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The least of these, my brothers, does not refer to the general
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poor of society across all of history.
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Who does it refer to them? Rather, it refers specifically
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to the persecuted Jewish remnant, the 144,000, and those
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associated with them. The ones who will endure
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horrific suffering and starvation under the Antichrist
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during the Tribulation. Precisely.
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The nations are judged based on how they treated Christ's
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specific persecuted representatives during that
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specific future timeframe. It is not a generalized command
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for modern state policy. That is the core of their
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argument. Ripping a text out of its
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literary sequence leads to massive misinterpretations of
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the author's original goal. I can see how that happens.
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When you ignore the prophetic setup of Matthew 24 and the
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focus on the tribulation, you end up applying a final
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judgement prophecy as a blueprint for contemporary civic
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administration. And the material views that as a
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fatal distortion of the biblical text.
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You cannot take a prophecy about the culmination of the Age and
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turn it into a political platform for today.
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Right, that's their stance. With that dispensational and
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literary framework set, our deep dive moves to the very first
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action of the text, verse 31, the arrival of the king.
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The text says when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all
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the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
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The material highlights the Greek syntax here.
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It points out the combination of the word houghtan.
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Whenever or when combined with Elsie, he comes.
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It operates like a royal decree. Yeah, it is absolutely certain
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that the King is coming, but the exact date is contingent on his
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timing. It is a guarantee shrouded in
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temporal mystery. That's a great way to put it.
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I have a question about the title he uses though.
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Why does Jesus use the title Son of Man here instead of Son of
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God? That takes us right back to
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Daniel 7, the title Son of Man bridges 2 Massive realities,
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true humanity and heavenly authority.
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Because he has to be both. Yes, by using this title, Jesus
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is a filing that He truly shares our nature.
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The judge of the earth is a man who knows what it is to bleed,
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to weep, and to suffer. But he is not just any man, no.
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He is the heavenly figure to whom the Ancient of Days gives
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universal dominion. It is a staggering claim to
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deity that still retains his incarnational reality.
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The Father has ordained that judgment be executed through the
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Incarnate Son. Right.
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And the text says He comes in his glory.
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The material spends a lot of time analyzing the Greek word
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doxa. It points out that He does not
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come in glory as some general atmospheric state, but in his
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glory. Yes, the distinction is massive.
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This is not borrowed splendor. He does not acquire this glory
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from the angels or from the Saints.
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This is the uncreated Shekinah glory of Yahweh.
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Spot on. During his first advent, that
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divine majesty was veiled beneath the form of a servant.
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When he walked the dusty roads of Galilee, he looked like a
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normal marginalized Carpenter. Even His miracles only revealed
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His glory to those who had eyes of faith.
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True, but at the second advent the veil is entirely removed.
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He returns in blinding, terrifying radiance.
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The contrast between the first advent and the second advent is
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an absolute reversal of human expectation.
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And he doesn't come alone, He has all the angels with him.
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The text clarifies that the angels are not equals here, they
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are attendance. It is a display of total cosmic
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supremacy. The despised Nazarene is
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returning with the armed forces of heaven.
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The one who was judged unjustly by corrupt human courts in the
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dead of night will now judge all human with perfect, unclouded
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justice in broad daylight. The text says then he will sit
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on his glorious throne. The verb used there is Cathisi.
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He will sit. That denotes A settled absolute
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judicial authority. Judges sit to render verdicts.
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Kings sit to reign. The throne is not contested, it
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is not up for a democratic vote, it is not provisional.
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The analysis highlights that this is a literal Davidic throne
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established in Jerusalem. This refutes any attempt to
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domesticate Jesus into a mere moral philosopher or a symbol of
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social harmony. He is the sovereign adjudicator
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of the universe, taking his rightful seat.
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Yes, and once the king is seated, the court has to be
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called to order. That brings us to verse 32, the
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first part of the verse, the Universal Assembly.
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Before him will be gathered all the nations.
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The material points out the passive voice in the Greek verb.
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Here humanity is gathered. They don't gather themselves,
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they don't form a line voluntarily.
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It is divine compulsion. Let's think about this like a
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legal proceeding. This isn't a town hall meeting
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where attendance is optional. Or you can send a proxy to
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represent your interests. It is a cosmic subpoena.
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That is a highly accurate analogy.
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The phrasing all the nations pantata ethni is highly
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significant. In Jewish literature, this
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specific term was strictly used to describe Gentiles,
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distinguishing them from the covenant people of Israel.
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Right. Tying this back to the
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dispensational timeline we discussed earlier, these are the
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unresurrected Gentiles who have survived the horrific events of
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the Tribulation. They are gathered to have their
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entrance into the Millennial Kingdom determined.
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The angels execute the subpoena and no one can resist the
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summons. There is a brilliant analysis of
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the human condition in this section regarding this forced
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assembly. There really is we.
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Live in an era of gated communities, encrypted messaging
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and private browsing? We want to curate our reality.
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Humans want a world without a summons.
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We want privacy from God. We want to be the authors of our
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own moral universe. The modern heart says my
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identity is self defined and I am accountable to no one.
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The text shatters that illusion entirely.
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The passive voice of that gathering means no one possesses
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privacy from the creator. Think about the psychological
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terror of that moment for someone who has spent their life
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avoiding God, the public atheist, the respectable
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moralist, the secret hypocrite and the forgotten poor.
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They all have no escape from this universal gathering.
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Kings and peasants are dragged before the same bench.
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The illusion of human autonomy is ripped away the moment the
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angels compel the assembly. You cannot hide behind your
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wealth, your political connections, or your carefully
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crafted public image. The entire world is gathered.
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They are standing before the blazing glory of the Son of Man
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that leads to the central, most terrifying action of the
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passage. Verse 32, the second part, and
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verse 33 the absolute separation.
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He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd
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separates the sheep from the goats.
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He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
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Jesus uses this agrarian analogy that would have made total sense
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to his listeners. In the ancient Near East, sheep
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and goats grazed together during the day.
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They mingled in the same fields. But at night the Shepherd easily
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divided them. I want to bring up a metaphor to
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explain how this works. It's like an apple tree.
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Stapling apples to a dead branch doesn't make it an apple tree.
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No it doesn't. The tree produces apples because
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it is already alive at the root. Does a shepherd separate these
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people based on what they did, like stapling apples to a
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branch, or based on what they inherently are at the root?
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That is the crucial question, and the material dives deep into
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the ontology of this separation. Ontology, meaning the study of
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being or the inherent nature of a thing.
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So the separation is based on their inherent nature, yes.
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A goat does not become a sheep by acting like a sheep.
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You do not become a sheep by doing sheep like things.
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The division is based on their fundamental nature, which,
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according to the theological framework we are examining, is
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established by sovereign regeneration.
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God changes the nature of the person.
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They are separated because of who they fundamentally are, not
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because they earned a certain status through actions.
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The shepherd does not need the animals to wear name tags.
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He knows what they are by looking at them.
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Jesus separates them infallibly. He places the sheep on the right
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hand. In ancient culture, the right
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hand signifies the position of covenantal blessing, ultimate
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favor and honor. And the left hand signifies
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disfavor, cursing and rejection. The separation is absolute.
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There is no middle ground. You are either on the right or
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on the left. Right.
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Wait, I have to push back here. We just spent all this time
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establishing that the Reformed view is faith alone.
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We just talked about the tree and the root.
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We did. But the very next verse has the
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king separating people based on whether they fed the hungry,
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clothed the naked, and visited the prisoners.
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It does say that. That sounds exactly like earning
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your way in through charity. How do these sources resolve
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that glaring contradiction? If I am listening to this, it
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sounds like works based salvation.
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It is a vital question. The harmony is found in
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understanding the relationship between the root and the fruit.
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OK, I'll lay that out for us. The Reformed view insists that
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justification is by faith alone. You cannot earn your way on to
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the right hand of the judge by racking up charitable deeds.
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However, the faith that justifies is never alone.
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Spot on. It always produces fruit.
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The works of the sheep which Jesus lists later in the chapter
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are the evidence of their new regenerated nature.
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They are not the meritorious ground of their salvation.
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No, they are not. So the works prove that the
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faith is real. Yes, the sheep act out of love
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for Christ's brethren because they have been given a new heart
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by Christ. Their works vindicate the
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reality of the grace they have received.
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The material we are analyzing aggressively contrast this view
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with Arminianism and Roman Catholicism.
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It does. The argument states that
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inserting any human merit into justification is a fatal
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theological error. Systems that suggest humans can
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cooperate with God's grace to earn salvation are viewed as
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fundamentally opposed to the biblical gospel.
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The authors point out that in the text, the sheep are actually
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surprised by their own righteous deeds.
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They ask, Lord, when did we see you hungry?
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This proves the sheep weren't calculating their works to earn
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a reward. Yes, the works flowed naturally
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and unconsciously from their regenerated state.
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Let's step back and look at the sheer terror of this scene.
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The King is blazing with uncreated glory.
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The assembly is inescapable. The separation is absolute and
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infallible. If the judge is this absolute,
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and human righteousness is, as the prophet Isaiah says, just
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filthy rags, what is the refuge? How can anyone possibly stand on
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the right hand of this holy Judge without being consumed?
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This raises an essential question that leads us into the
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Christological fulfillment of the past.
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The material breaks down the threefold office of Christ,
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prophet, priest, and king. He is the Prophet infallibly
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declaring the end of the age and the final judgment.
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He is the King possessing the Universal Dominion to execute
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the judgment and separate the nations.
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But crucially, for anyone to survive this scene, he must be
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the great high priest. That is actually a staggering
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paradox when you think about it. The man sitting on the throne
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demanding absolute perfection is the exact same man who allowed
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himself to be slaughtered to provide it.
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The only refuge from the wrath of the judge is the grace of the
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judge. That completely flips the script
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on how we usually view a courtroom.
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It is the core of Christian soteriology, soteriology being
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the doctrine of salvation. Remember the historical context
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we discussed earlier? The cross was only days away
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when Jesus spoke these words on the Mount of Olives.
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That impending cross was the substitutionary atonement
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required to place the sheep on the right hand.
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The sheep survived the judgement because the judge is the lamb
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who was slain for them. He endured the wrath of God on
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the cross so that his sheep would not endure it at the final
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judgement. He takes the penalty they
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deserve, but it goes further than just clearing the debt,
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right? Yes, it is a double transaction.
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It is not just the removal of guilt, it is the imputation of
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His perfect righteousness. Imputation means legally
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crediting something to someone else's account.
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The sheep are placed on the right hand not because they
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possess inherent flawless righteousness of their own, but
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because the flawless righteousness of the king has
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been legally credited to their account.
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Prophet, priest and king meet perfectly in the Son of Man.
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Without his priestly sacrifice, the royal throne would mean
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certain doom for everyone. Understanding that massive
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theological framework reveals what Matthew wanted his first
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readers to feel. Let's look at the authorial
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intent and the original audience.
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Imagine being a 1st century Jewish Christian.
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You are marginalized. You are ostracized by your
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family. The synagogue has kicked you
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out. The Roman Empire views you with
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suspicion and hostility. You are a haunted minority.
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Why did Matthew think that recording a terrifying judgment
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scene would be effective pastoral care for a suffering
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community? It seems counterintuitive to
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comfort suffering people with a vision of a terrifying judgment.
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It does, but the material details how this text had dual
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intended effects on the original audience.
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Unshakable comfort and holy fear.
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First, consider the comfort when you are oppressed by unjust
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human courts. Nothing brings more comfort than
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the promise of a perfect, absolute, infallible judge.
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The text assures these suffering believers that their tears are
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seen. Their oppressors will not have
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the final word. Ultimate vindication belongs to
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Christ. It completely removes the need
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for personal revenge. If you know that the ultimate
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judge is coming to settle all accounts perfectly, you don't
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have to take matters into your own hands.
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That is the psychological relief it provides.
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Revenge is unnecessary because absolute perfect justice is
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guaranteed. They could endure persecution
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with patience, knowing the Sovereign Lord would right every
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wrong. But the second intended effect
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was a severe prophetic warning meant to produce holy fear.
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It forces the visible church to examine itself.
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Because there are sheep and goats mixed together in the
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visible church, proximity to the flock is not the same as
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belonging to the shepherd. Right.
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The early church had hypocrites within its ranks, just as the
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church does today. The text strips away false
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assurances. You cannot rely on ethnic
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heritage, superficial church association, or outward
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religious vocabulary. The shepherd separates based on
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true regenerated nature. The warning was designed to wake
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up the careless and drive them to genuine faith.
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It forces the reader to ask, do I possess the root or am I just
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stapling apples to a dead branch?
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That dual effect of comfort and warning was not just for the 1st
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century. The argument demands that this
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text be applied directly to the modern church today.
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Let's look at the contemporary application.
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The text poses a direct challenge to the unbeliever, the
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true sheep, the modern pulpit and the mission of the church.
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Looking at the current cultural landscape of Christianity, one
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of the authors makes a heavy claim.
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They state that modern evangelicalism often trades
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majestic divine realities for seeker sensitive trivialities
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and psychological therapy. How does this specific passage
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act as an antidote to that? Let's run through the specific
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applications provided, starting with the unregenerate or the
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hypocrite within the Church. If you are listening to this and
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you think, well, I do a lot of good things, I'm generally a
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good person, I go to church. The authors are directly
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targeting that exact mindset. They're trying to pull out the
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rug from under your assumptions. For the hypocrite, relying on
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outward rituals, infant baptism, Orthodox vocabulary, singing
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hymns or conservative political affiliations is entirely
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useless. The passage shatters the
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illusion of safety through proximity.
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Regeneration is absolutely required.
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If the heart has not been changed, the outward religion
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will not save you from the left hand of the judge.
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What about the application to the true sheep?
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For the genuine believer, the text offers transcendent
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comfort. The world may mock biblical
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convictions, label them as backward or intolerant, and
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inflict suffering. But the shepherd knows his own
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by name. Their position is secured by His
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grace. However, the material is quick
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to add that this assurance should never produce antinomian
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laziness. Antinonian meaning anti law.
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The idea that because we are saved by grace, we can live
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however we want. Correct.
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The reality of the approaching throne should produce a burning,
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fierce zeal for holiness. Living in light of this judgment
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means rejecting secret sin and ordering priorities by eternity.
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The tradition we are looking at directs heavy fire toward the
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modern pulpit as well. It does.
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The argument is that preachers must declare A weighty Christ.
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They must reject the pragmatism that seeks to measure success by
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attendance numbers or market appeal.
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The pulpit cannot be a place for religious entertainment or
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therapeutic vagueness. It must proclaim the glory, the
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return, the throne, and the judgment of Christ.
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People walking toward a final judgment do not need a comedy
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routine. They need the life saving word
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of the coming King. The text demands absolute
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seriousness from anyone who claims to speak on behalf of
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God. What does this mean for the
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mission of the Church? How does this cosmic judgment
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impact evangelism? The connection to missions is
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vital because the text explicitly states that all
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nations will be gathered. The Church must have a fierce,
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unwavering urgency to evangelize all nations.
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The material tackles a common misunderstanding here.
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It argues that the Reformed doctrine of sovereign election
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does not weaken evangelism, it actually fuels it.
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Because Christ already has sheep among the nations who simply
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need to hear the call of the shepherd.
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Yes, evangelism is the ordained means by which the shepherd
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calls his sheep. Every evangelistic conversation
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takes place under the shadow of this future throne.
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The nations are not just sociological categories, they
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are individual people who must stand before the Son of Man.
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Therefore, the Church must go to them with the gospel while
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there's still. Time election guarantees the
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success of the mission, which should give the church immense
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boldness. It brings the massive cosmic
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scope of history right down to our immediate reality.
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Let's summarize the sweeping trajectory of what we've covered
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today. The central claim of this text,
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and of the rigorous theological traditions that have pulled it,
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is that history is not an endless circle of recurring
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troubles. It is not chaos governed by
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tyrants, economic markets or political fashions.
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History is a straight line, and it is moving directly toward a
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glorious throne occupied by the Son of Man.
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The timeline is faced. The king is coming.
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The assembly of every human being is compulsory, and the
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separation between the sheep and the goats is infallible.
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That is the sober reality the text presents.
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There is no middle ground. You will stand on the right or
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you will stand on the left. I want to leave you with a final
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concept to Mull over based on the text we've examined today.
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If every calendar date, every hidden sin, and every act of
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mercy exists under the shadow of this approaching throne.
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How does that reality reshape the way you look at the
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smallest, most mundane choices you will make tomorrow?
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When you wake up, when you interact with your family, when
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you go to work, how does knowing that the Son of Man is coming in
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His glory alter the way you live your Tuesday?
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A question we all must face. Thank you for joining us on this
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deep dive. We will see you next time.
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Goodbye.