In Mathew 25:31-46, Jesus is speaking and he says:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. ‘And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (ESV Bible).”
The previous quote also appears to be in some way relevant to Ezekiel 34:17 which said:
"And as for you, O My flock, thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, even the rams and the he- goats (JPS Tanakh)."
I will not even try to interpret this for you. I am just posting it so you have the opportunity to read it and decide for yourself what you think.
References:
ESV Bible
JPS Tanakh
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3 comments:
The greek word for eternal in verse 46 is "Aionios"
The following link perhaps contains one of most detailed definitions of the word: "Aionios."
http://www.word-gems.com/time.aionios.html
The opening verse is also, seemingly, related to the following passages: Daniel 7:13-14, Jude 1:14 and The Book of Enoch (Ethiopian Enoch) 2:1.
I think that some time ago, I was chatting with some friends on Facebook about this post, and I said that the focal point in this story is really what we do with "the least of these.” So, even if we want to dwell on the eschatological significance it still doesn’t matter as much as our love in action. Moreover, I think that Pope Benedict XVI summed it up best in the opening lines of Caritas in Veritate when he said:
"Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth (CARITAS IN VERITATE)."
Reference:
ENCYCLICAL LETTER CARITAS IN VERITATE OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF BENEDICT XVI
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