Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: Matthew 25:31-46 is a single integrated passage, but is too long to handle in our limited space. Please read it in its entirety, as we have to present it piecemeal on Daily Prayer both for reading and discussion. Many Christians are largely ignorant of, and even shy away from, the parts of the Bible dealing with the second coming of Christ. It is understandable why people might not want to tackle Revelation; and, indeed, there is little reason to bother with any but the first three chapters of Revelation if one finds it too weird or difficult. Reading it is a lot of work and we do not need it to find Christ or understand his commandments. But we get a general description of the second coming right here in Matthew, in Christ’s own words, and he certainly meant for us to understand them. It clears up misconceptions that might inhibit our life in Christ. Furthermore, there is a long lesson on the requirement of charity intertwined with the description of the Day of Judgment in this passage. Two magi, detail from illuminated manuscript How many people think that Christians believe that they go to heaven when they die? Almost all non-Christians and a great many who attend church, especially in mainline Protestant denominations. And there is a verse that gives some credence to the idea: 2 Cor. 5:8. But it is more complicated than that, for Christ indicated something different: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1–3). Both Christ and Paul called physical death “falling asleep,” and sleeping is a good way to look at it. (E.g. John 11:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ) There are two primary schools of belief in this regard. Most Protestant denominations believe that, once we go to sleep, we are simply unconscious. When Christ comes again, he will wake us up, so to speak, and take us to live with Him in heaven. On the other hand, Catholic, Orthodox, and several liturgical Protestant churches teach that we go through a process of purification, usually called Purgatory. I am not sure if Purgatory is a conscious state, but it is certainly a time of activity for the soul. And then we have the odd story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31, where Lazarus dwells with Abraham in a heavenly place after he dies, and the rich man is in the torment of Hades. Thus, a few Christians (including Augustine and Hippolytus) believe that the righteous await judgment in a pleasant state, often called the “the Bosom of Abraham,” although this is primarily a Jewish doctrine. We must, then, understand that there is no direct Scriptural statement detailing the intermediate period between death and our eternal home. Possibly, we are simply incapable of understanding it. We may believe as we decide, but we may not argue about it. “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 Cor. 1:10.) All agree on the really important issue: There will come a day when we will be “reawakened” to be judged by Christ; we will be found righteous and assigned to eternal life in heaven, receiving a new body and dwelling in a “new earth” where sin and pain do not exist, able to live with God in his full glory.