Matthew 25:31-46

In Matthew 25:31-46 the Apostle Matthew records a disturbing episode. It was an encounter by Jesus not with the Pharisees or Sadducees or others who openly opposed him.  No, it was an encounter with those who called him Lord.

The setting is before the judgement throne of Jesus.  Those who call him Lord are divided into two groups: sheep and goats.  Those in each group have presented themselves as followers of Jesus but there is a problem.  One group will enter heaven, the other group will be consigned to hell.

Mat 25:46
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

What is the difference between the two groups?  Why is one group, the sheep, going to heaven and the other group, the goats, going to hell.  The simple answer is awareness and action.  The sheep were those who saw hurting people, people in need and took action.  Further the sheep didn’t cater only to those with status, power, wealth.  They could be found helping the helpless and hopeless as well.  The goats were oblivious to what was going on in the lives of those around them and in their world except as it directly pertained to them.

The sheep were motivated by God’s love to act on behalf of those in need.  The goats, in reality, used Jesus as fire insurance against the fires of hell. They were only concerned about themselves.

If we call Jesus Lord, we need to examine our lives to determine which group, sheep or goats, we belong to.  Love in Scriptures is a verb. It calls for action not only for our relationship to Jesus but on behalf of those around us and those God puts on our hearts.

1 Corinthians 1:18-19

1Corinthians 1:18

For the       word          of the cross

is folly        to those

who are perishing,

but                                     to us          who are being saved

it       is the power        of God.

The phrase “word of the cross” used by the Apostle Paul in verse 18 is a strange phrase. Stranger still that he would point to such a cruel instrument of punishment as central to his message about Jesus. The Romans crucified enemies of the state and hardened criminals on crosses.  Jesus was treated as little more than a common criminal, an enemy of the state.

Yet the word of he cross is not that Jesus was a common criminal and enemy of the state. Instead it is a symbol, a picture, a message that reveals the ultimate extent of God’s love for man. In all our stories the hero overcomes and destroys his enemies.  He/she is powerful and cunning, a super-hero and he/she use their power to destroy all that stands against them.  They do not die ignominious deaths. They overcome all that is thrown against them. They are heroes.

The cross tells a different story, one that seems foolish to us on its face.  Jesus does not, at first, appear as a super hero.  Who would believe that one overcomes through humility rather than arrogant power. Such an idea seems foolish to even contemplate.  Who would believe that God would humble himself and suffer such indignities and brutality at the hands of mere mortals?  Who would believe that God would allow us to treat him as we did? Who would believe that God would allow us to attempt to murder him and in the most torturous manner?  Who would believe that by doing so he was able to save us from eternal punishment.  Such an idea would seem to be sheer folly: a God of unlimited power making himself powerless and thus overcoming the powers of darkness..

Arrogance is at the root of man’s being.  It informs all that we think and do. It was arrogance that brought the curse in the garden and it is arrogance that colors all we do to this present day.  We are like our father the devil.  He was arrogant to the extreme and encouraged us to be the same way.  Arrogance is Satan’s way, humility is God’s way.

Psalm 149:4
For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

To the average man, God’s way seems to be foolish but when we commit ourselves to the way of the cross, we find true wisdom and salvation.  The way of the world, the way of arrogance, is the way that brought the curse of death upon all mankind.  The way of the world, the way of arrogance is the way that motivated us to attack God himself and treat him as a common criminal, an enemy of the state.

The thinking of the world leads to destruction because it is the way of arrogance.  It led to death in the Garden, it is leading to eternal punishment now. We live in an arrogant world where people blithely proclaim there is no god or that we all are gods.  They deny Jesus as Lord in their lives and determine their own course, declaring for themselves what is good and acceptable.  Even those of us who claim to be Christians must watch our lives for all signs of arrogance and ask God to help us live humbly before him.

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

! Corinthians 1:9-17 Part 2

The Apostle Paul highlighted the problem of divisions when he asked: “…is Christ divided?” The answer, of course is a resounding NO. The gospel message is the same regardless of the personality that proclaims it. 

Act 16:31
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved….”

Jesus is the only person that can save. 

Thus, those who proclaim him are merely messengers.  Regardless of how sophisticated or eloquent the speech; regardless of how erudite or plain spoken the speech, the message is still the same “…Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved….”

If they brought any other message, they were working on the side of Satan.

Gal 1:8-9
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

It was the message, not the messenger that mattered.  To focus on the messenger was to empty the cross of its power.  No matter how eloquent or plain spoken the messenger, the astounding fact remained the same. God, himself had left his place in heaven and come to earth.

Mat 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Joh 14:9
Jesus said …Whoever has seen me has seen the Father….

But more than that he had come with the express purpose of sacrificing himself for the sake of his rebellious creation.  He allowed his creation to abuse him, mock him, curse him, beat and brutalize him and finally attempt to kill him.  The Lord of the universe humbled himself and let his creation abuse and attack and try to kill him all in an effort to save them from themselves.  What matchless humility.

Philippians 2:8 ESV
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Why? The Apostle Paul says it is because he loves us so much.

Rom 5:8
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

His sacrifice was the only one that was large enough and pure enough and sufficient to cover all the sins of all mankind, past, present and future. Only God was able to supply what was needed in the way of sacrifice and he without hesitation was willing to do it for us. The cross was not only proof of his love but also a measure of the depth of that love.  With divine intent he willingly submitted himself to the brutalities and indignities imposed on him by those to whom he had given life and breath itself.

With his sacrifice came the possibility of salvation and eternity in the presence of God.  All that is required is to believe and accept his freely given gift to us. When we do we become part of his ecclesia/church regardless of who the messenger is who brought us the message.

1 Corinthians 1:9-17

1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV

God is faithful,

by whom                         you                            were called

into the fellowship of his Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

 All through the Apostle Paul’s writings there is the expectation of the soon reappearing  of Jesus to consummate history and usher in the eternal reign of God over his people.  No one knew when that would happen but it was expected in the near future.

Matthew 24:36 ESV
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

 The Corinthian Christians were an undisciplined and, in some cases, immoral group of people who were expectantly looking for the return of Jesus in judgment. Despite their failures and short-comings God was faithful to keep his word of salvation and Jesus would welcome them home on the day of judgment.  What a gracious God we have.

App

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV
I appeal to                 you,

brothers,

.

by the name of our          Lord Jesus Christ,    

that all of you agree,

and                                            that there be no divisions           among you,

but                                             that you be united

in the same mind

and                                                             the same judgment.

1 Corinthians 1:11-12 ESV
For           it               has been reported

to me

by Chloe's people

that there is quarreling

among you,

  my brothers.

What        I mean      is

that each one of you says,

“I follow Paul,”

or                                                                                                                                  “I follow Apollos,”

or                                                                                                                                  “I follow Cephas,”

or                                                                                                                                  “I follow Christ.”

1 Corinthians 1:13 ESV
Is   Christ                        divided?

Was                Paul                          crucified   for you?

Or             were         you                            baptized   in the name of Paul?

1 Corinthians 1:14 ESV

I     thank                         God

that           I                baptized   none of you

except   Crispus

and                                                                                                               Gaius,

1 Corinthians 1:15 ESV

so that                                       no one

may say that you were baptized

in my name.

 1 Corinthians 1:16 ESV

(I    did baptize                also the    household of Stephanas.

Beyond that,

I     do not know                               whether I baptized

anyone else.)

1 Corinthians 1:17 ESV

For                            Christ                        did not send me

to baptize

but                                                                                               to preach the gospel,

and                                                                                                               not with words of eloquent wisdom,

lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

 

Tit 2:14
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Col 1:13-14
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The old adage about not talking about politics or religion because such conversations often lead to arguments seems to be an impossibility.  To speak of religion, even if at first it is about Jesus, soon devolves into a discussion of what some personality has to say about him.

So, it was with the Corinthian Christians and so it is with us today.  Religion is intimately connected to religion.  The Corinthians began to identify themselves as follower of particular personalities especially those who had baptized them into the new faith. Of course, such division of allegiances leads inevitably to arguments and disputes.  We can look at the many “divisions” of the church and see this principle is still at work in our world today.

The Apostle Paul’s response is a strong one: Jesus is not divided. He is the message and the message has always been and always will be:

Act 16:31
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

What exactly were they to believe about him?

 Rom 10:9-10

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Regardless of the personality or even regardless of a person’s style of worship or form of the sacraments or other differences, anyone who believes what the Apostle Paul says in  Romans 10:9 will be saved

For Paul, as there should be for us all, there is only one ecclesia, one church.  Small groups of this ecclesia/church meet from time to time in different places but they are all of one whole: the church, the bride of Christ.  But egos, religious politics and traditions disrupt the unity of this truth and the ecclesia appears divided both to the world and even to the followers of Jesus. When asked about our faith one of our first descriptions of ourselves or of others is to name the denomination to which we or they belong. 

When we die we all claim that our faith in Jesus will open the gates of heaven for our entry.  If Jesus receives all who confess faith in him and we are all together in heaven, then why are we so adamantly opposed to each other on earth?