The New Testament: A Translation by David Bentley Hart/Matthew 25:31-46


Matthew 25:31 And when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his throne of glory; 32And all the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the kid goats, 33And will set the sheep to his right, but the kid goats to the left. 34Then the King will say to those to his right, ‘Come, you blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the cosmos. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you gave me hospitality, 36Naked and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the just will answer him, saying, ‘When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and give you hospitality, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you ill or in prison and come to you?’ 40And in reply the King will say to them, ‘Amen, I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say to those to the left, ‘Go from me, you execrable ones, into the fire of the Age prepared for the Slanderer and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat, I was thirsty and you did not give me drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not give me hospitality, naked and you did not clothe me, ill and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44Then they too will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and did not attend to you?’ 45Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Amen, I tell you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these my brothers, neither did you do it to me.’ 46And these will go to the chastening* of that Age, but the just to the life of that Age.”

The New Testament: A Translation by David Bentley Hart. Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. (p. 52-53). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.

*The word κόλασις (kolasis) originally meant “pruning” or “docking” or “obviating the growth” of trees or other plants, and then came to mean “confinement,” “being held in check,” “punishment,” or “chastisement,” chiefly with the connotation of “correction.” Classically, the word was distinguished (by Aristotle, for instance) from τιμωρία (timōria), which means a retributive punishment only. Whether such a distinction holds here is difficult to say, since by late antiquity kolasis seems to have been used by many to describe punishment of any kind; but the only other use of the noun in the New Testament is in 1 John 4:18, where it refers not to retributive punishment, but to the suffering experienced by someone who is subject to fear because not yet perfected in charity. The verbal form, κολάζω (kolazō), appears twice: in Acts 4:21, where it clearly refers only to disciplinary punishment, and in 2 Peter 2:9 in reference to fallen angels and unrighteous men, where it probably means “being held in check” or “penned in” [until the day of judgment].

The New Testament: A Translation [Footnotes](p. 62). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition

GOD’S STANDARD OF JUDGMENT–William Barclay



‘When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him

Matthew 25:31–46 ‘When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will take his seat upon the throne of his glory, and all nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate them from each other, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right hand: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, enter into possession of the kingdom which has been prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you gathered me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you came to visit me; in prison, and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him: “Lord, when did we see you hungry, and nourish you? Or thirsty, and gave you to drink? When did we see you a stranger, and gather you to us? Or naked, and clothed you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?” And the King will answer them: “This is the truth I tell you – insomuch 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 the left: “Go from me, you cursed ones, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and angels. For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and you did not give me to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not gather me to you; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and you did not come to visit me.” Then these too will answer: “Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not render service to you?” Then he will answer them: “This is the truth I tell you – in so far 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 to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go away to eternal life.’

Barclay’s translation of
Matthew 25:31–46

THIS is one of the most vivid parables Jesus ever spoke, and the lesson is crystal clear – that God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human need. His judgment does not depend on the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame that we have acquired, or the fortune that we have gained, but on the help that we have given. And there are certain things which this parable teaches us about the help which we must give.

(1) It must be help in simple things. The things which Jesus picks out – giving a hungry person a meal, or a thirsty person a drink, welcoming a stranger, cheering the sick, visiting the prisoner – are things which anyone can do. It is not a question of giving away huge sums of money, or of writing our names in the annals of history; it is a case of giving simple help to the people we meet every day. There never was a parable which so opened the way to glory to us all.

(2) It must be help which is uncalculating. Those who helped did not think that they were helping Christ and thus piling up eternal merit; they helped because they could not stop themselves. It was the natural, instinctive, quite un-calculating reaction of the loving heart. Whereas, on the other hand, the attitude of those who failed to help was: ‘If we had known it was you we would gladly have helped; but we thought it was only some insignificant person who was not worth helping.’ It is still true that there are those who will help if they are given praise and thanks and publicity; but to help like that is not to help, it is to pander to self-esteem. Such help is not generosity; it is disguised selfishness. The help which wins the approval of God is that which is given for nothing but the sake of helping.

(3) Jesus confronts us with the wonderful truth that all such help given is given to himself; in contrast, all such help withheld is withheld from himself. How can that be? If we really wish to bring delight to those who are parents, if we really wish to move them to gratitude, the best way to do it is to help their children. God is the great Father; and the way to delight the heart of God is to help his children, our fellow men and women.

There were two men who found this parable blessedly true. The one was Francis of Assisi; he was wealthy and high-born and high-spirited. But he was not happy. He felt that life was incomplete. Then one day he was out riding and met a leper, loathsome and repulsive in the ugliness of his disease. Something moved Francis to dismount and fling his arms around this wretched sufferer; and in his arms the face of the leper changed to the face of Christ.

The other was Martin of Tours. He was a Roman soldier and a Christian. One cold winter day, as he was entering a city, a beggar stopped him and asked for alms. Martin had no money; but the beggar was blue and shivering with cold, and Martin gave what he had. He took off his soldier’s coat, worn and frayed as it was; he cut it in two and gave half of it to the beggar man. That night he had a dream. In it he saw the heavenly places and all the angels and Jesus among them; and Jesus was wearing half of a Roman soldier’s cloak. One of the angels said to him: ‘Master, why are you wearing that battered old cloak? Who gave it to you?’ And Jesus answered softly: ‘My servant Martin gave it to me.’

When we learn the generosity which without calculation helps others in the simplest things, we too will know the joy of helping Jesus Christ himself.

Barclay; William. The Gospel of Matthew, Volume Two: 2 Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.