This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King. This passage from Matthew is particularly dense with OT references, uses language that has already appeared in earlier Matthean verses (thus already having a contextual meaning), and because of its eschatological setting, invites comparison with other sacred writers, especially, St. Paul. Hence a bit more “context” is needed, or better said, background.

Who is being judged? Our first impression is that this is a general judgment on all humanity. But coming at the end of Matthew’s gospel, one in which the meaning of discipleship has been an important message, we might be tempted to think that this judgment is one upon Christians and not necessarily a general judgment. Who are “all the nations” and who are “the least”? The usual interpretation understands “all the nations” as including all humanity, and “the least” as including people in distress of some kind. Therefore, at the final judgment all humanity is to be judged according to acts of kindness done to poor and suffering people.

But is this what Matthew and his community understood by the story? In Matthew’s Gospel, “nations” and “all the nations” usually refer to people other than Israel (see 4:15; 6:32; 10:5, 18; 12:18, 21; 20:19, 25; 21:43; 24:7, 9, 14; 28:19). In several passages (see 10:40–42; 18:6, 14), the “least brothers” seem to be Christians. If these terms have the same meaning in our gospel passage that they have elsewhere in the Gospel, “all the nations” are the Gentiles who have not explicitly accepted either Judaism or Christianity, and (in a strict interpretation) “the least” are Christians with whom the Gentiles have had some contact. According to this interpretation, the Gentiles will be judged according to acts of kindness done to Christians (see 10:40–42). [The Collegeville Bible Commentary, 1989, 898]

Can both be correct understandings? Certainly, but take note of the implications of Gentile (i.e., non-believers) being judged according to the acts of kindness done to Christians; and perhaps to non-Christians.

Either way, the theme of readiness comes to its climax in a vision of the judgment when, in fulfillment of the vision of Dan 7:13–14, the Son of Man is enthroned as judge over “all the nations,” and the great division will take place between those who are ready and those who are not ready. Where readiness was the primary theme (preparedness and active engagement), now we find a more explicit statement of the criterion of judgment, in the way people have treated “the least brothers of mine.”

How are they being judged? This passage has traditionally been an embarrassment especially to Protestant readers because it appears to say that one’s final destiny—and nothing could be much more final than “eternal punishment” or “eternal life,” v. 46—depends on acts of philanthropy, a most un-Pauline theology and one which sounds uncomfortably like Pelagianism. Some point out that the righteous don’t earn the kingdom, but they inherit it (v. 34) and that an inheritance is determined by the giver, not the receiver. The verb “to inherit” (kleronomeo) is used only three times in Matthew, with three different objects:

• The meek inherit the earth (5:5)
• Those who have left everything will inherit eternal life (19:29)
• The righteous inherit the kingdom (25:34)

But there is one feature of this scene that has led probably the majority of recent interpreters to a different conclusion. The recipients of the acts of kindness are Jesus’ “least brothers,” and what is done to them is done to Him (v. 40). So, is the final judgment concerned not with response to human need in general, but to the need of disciples in particular, and thus indirectly with how people have responded to Jesus himself in the person of the least of my brothers? Has their response to disciples in need been their way of “acknowledging Jesus,” which was presented as the basis of judgment earlier in Mt 10:32–33: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father”? [France, 2007, 957-8]

While this addresses strict Pelagianism (pure works-righteousness) it does not address the Matthean emphasis on doing the will of God as the characteristic of God’s people. Some interpreters point out that this is Matthew and not Paul. Just as the preceding parables have told us that the master on his return will praise the slave who has been getting on with the job (24:46) and who has achieved good results (25:21, 23), this too is a call to good works which will be rewarded. The “For” which begins vv. 35 and 42 at least states that these acts of kindness are the evidence that the reward or punishment is deserved; but it may equally be read as stating the actual basis, or at least part of the basis, for the judgment given.

That interpretation has a firm foundation in the earlier language of this gospel, which has spoken of true disciples as Jesus’ brothers and sisters (12:46–50; cf. 28:10) and has used the phrase “these little ones” to denote members of the disciple community (10:42; 18:6, 10, 14—note in particular 18:6, “these little ones who believe in me”). In 18:5 we have been told that to welcome one such child in Jesus’ name is to welcome him, and that child becomes the basis for the phrase “these little ones” in the following verses.

Image credit: Jacob Adriaensz Backer: Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-33), National Museum in Warsaw, PD-US