Matthew 25:31-46

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31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

This, along with other verses, tells us that this judgment will be a truly awe-inspiring event. Consider the way Jesus, and folks’ reaction to him, are described in Acts 9:1-9 and Revelation 1:9-18.  See also Genesis 18:1-5,  Isaiah 6:1-6, Revelation 4, Revelation 7:9-12. Also consider the descriptions of how people reacted when they encountered angels. Joshua 5:13-15, Revelation 19:10.  Consider also that the people in these passages were strong people, two of whom had an intimate relationship with God. 

This also gives us a glimpse of what Jesus gave up in His incarnation. He had ultimate power, but he gave it up to save us. See Philippians 2:5-11. It also explains why the demons groveled before Him in the gospel miracles, they apparently were aware of His true status.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Same dynamic as Luke 14:12-14

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’   See Proverbs 19:17

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Jesus puts the weight of His authority behind the “the least of these.” He models the behavior of righteous ruler described in Psalm 72:4, 12-14.

The fact that Jesus puts His power and glory (see the comments on vv. 31-33) behind the poor and down trodden gives strong, strong, reason to treat them with respect. See Deuteronomy 15:7,  Tobit 4:7,   Sirach 4:1-10, Sirach 29:8-9,  James 2:1-7

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”