Today we solemnly celebrate the universal kingship of Jesus Christ. Not only our savior, but our king. The Gospel reading from Matthew 25:31 - 46 brings to our attention the judgment of our king at the end of time, and it brings home a crucial point which I feel can be neglected: when our king makes his final judgments, '
he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats.' That actually cuts both ways. Not only will his judgments pronnounce rewards, they will also pronnounce justice: '
“Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.”'
We can lay this out gently, knowing how full of love and mercy our king is. The bottom line remains: those pronnounced guilty will reap eternal misery, and that is a tragedy we must avert for ourselves, our family and for those whose lives we may touch. Better still, there is a great surprise awaiting those who do sow in faith, hope and love: '“Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world...”'
Update: Suggested reading on this topic:
Our King and Shepherd from Heart, Mind and Strength blog.
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