Seeing Jesus (Part 1)
*The following is the first half of an outline for a sermon I delivered on Matthew 25:31-26:6. The second half of the outline will be in tomorrow’s post. —NLC—
Introduction
1. Express gratitude
a. Elders
b. Worship team
c. Tech team
d. TRC family
e. Angela and Anna—tell Anna: “Mija, te amo.”
2. Express excitement to preach—to proclaim the word
of God to the people of God.
a. This includes the covenant children.
b. At several points I’ll speak directly to las ninas y
los ninos
3. Mention a word about my preaching style
a. Note that I’m a mestizo (“mixed”) preacher in two
senses
b. Bring a mixture of personal traditions from mi
familia and upbringing
i. Southern Pentacostal from Mamaw
ii. Presbyterian-Pentacostalism from Puerto Rico
iii. The Black Church’s dialogical rhythms
c. Bring a mixture of voices from within and without
the Church
i. Trying to read Scripture with Scripture.
Developing a biblical theology
Help folks see how Scripture holds together
ii. Try to read Scripture with those across the
centuries that the Spirit of God has equipped
to be preachers and teachers for the Church.
iii. Read special revelation with general
revelation, letting forms of revelation
illuminate each other.
d. Y’all will see all these parts of my mestizaje in
today’s sermon.
4. Today’s sermon is entitled “Seeing Jesus”
a. We’ll be considering Matthew 25:31-26:6
Getting a lay of the textual land
· Before reading and preaching on today’s passage
from Matthew, I want to offer a lay of the book’s
textual land.
o This 30,000-foot view will help us locate today’s
text in Matthew’s broader terrain.
· Recall that after a two-chapter prologue treating
Jesus’s genealogy and childhood, Matthew’s Gospel
presents snapshots from Jesus’s adult teaching
ministry, his passion, and his resurrection.
· The snapshots comes through a distinctively
Jewish lens focused on the kingdom of God. For
example:
o The prologue establishes that Jesus is a son of
Abraham and David
o The chapters three and four establish Jesus as the
long-awaited Messiah
o and the ultimate Israel who is faithful where
Israel and Adam failed.
o And chapter five begins establishing that Jesus is
not just any prophet, but is the greater Moses
whose liberating, salvific work ushers in the
kingdom of God.
· Now Matthew’s presentation of Jesus as the greater
Moses is the first of five discourses that frame his
Gospel.
o By “discourses,” I mean lengthy passages in
which Jesus verbally teaches.
1. The first discourse (5:1-7:29) is what we call the
Sermon on the Mount.
· It focuses on the norms of the kingdom of God.
2. The second discourse (10:5-11:1) comes after Jesus
commissions the twelve disciples.
· This discourse focuses on mission and
martyrdom for the kingdom of God.
3. The third discourse (13:1-53) is Jesus’s response to
mounting hostility to him, his ministry, and the
kingdom of God.
· Here Jesus offers parables that highlight the
reversal of kingdom expectations many had.
4. The fourth discourse (18:1-19:2) returns to themes in
the Sermon on the Mount.
· Here Jesus offers a second take on the kingdom of
God’s norms.
5. And In the fifth and final discourse (24:1-25:46) Jesus
offers his disciples what we call the “Olivet Discourse”
· The Olivet Discourse focuses on end-times issues
such as the uncertainty of the hour or day of
Jesus’s second coming, and the need to be watchful
for his return.
· Our passage is the conclusion of the Olivet
discourse.
· We are considering the discourse’s final remarks
about Jesus’s triumphant second coming, when he
will judge the nations and consummate God’s
kingdom.
· With this landscape in mind, let us give careful
attention to the reading of God’s word.
Day’s Passage: Matthew 25:31-26:6
Matthew 25:31-26:6 English Standard Version (ESV)
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
26 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”
6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,[b]
Pray before outlining the text and sermon
Outlining the Text and Sermon
· Our passage has four parts:
1. Verses 31-33 place us in the eschatological
gathering of the nations and divine separating
of peoples;
2. Verses 34-39 detail the Lord’s benediction to
those who inherit the kingdom the Father
prepared for them from the foundation of
creation;
3. Verses 41-46 detail Lord’s banishment of those
who are to experience eternal punishment;
4. And Matthew 26:1-6 is a concluding transition
from the Olivet discourse to Jesus’s passion.
· We’ll consider these parts in two stages.
1. First, we’ll examine each unit’s literary features.
2. Second, we’ll take a deep dive into considering
what this passage as a whole reveals about
seeing Jesus.
Stage one: The passage’s literary features
Part One: Verses 31-33
· Return with me to verses 31-33.
· They read:
o 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and
all the angels with him, then he will sit on his
glorious throne. 32 Before him will be
gathered all the nations, and he will separate
people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will
place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the
left.
· Jesus begins our passage with an allusion to Daniel 7:13-14
13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
o For Israelites in exile at Babylon or oppressed by
Roman colonization within Israel, Daniel’s
vision of a divine Son of Man establishing
Davidic Dominion was a profound source of
comfort.
o It reminded them of what Rev. Timothy Wright
taught us to sing:
“Trouble don’t last always.”
o A divine person was coming to reign upon
David’s throne. Exile and Empires would not get
the last word.
· This opening allusion and verses 31 & 32’s
mention of a “throne” and “the nations” recall
Psalm 2
o There we read of nations that vainly plot against
God and God’s anointed.
§ In response, God declares to the one on
David’s throne:
“You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
o The ultimate Son of David, the Son of Man
begotten but not made, is the one who receives the
nations as his inheritance. He is the one in which
the blessed take refuge.
o On the last day, the nations will gather before
Jesus, the Son of Man and Son of God.
§ They are his inheritance and he is their King.
§ As Paul teaches in Philippians, Jesus earned
this inheritance through his obedience to the
Father.
§ Paul writes (Phil 2:8-11):
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
· But although all the nations from every time and
place are Jesus’ inheritance, not every individual
person has the same relationship to the King.
NOTE THAT THE INDIVIDUALS INCLUDE CHILDREN
(Aquinas emphasizes this point)
o Jesus separates all of humanity into two groups:
metaphorical sheep and metaphorical goats.
§ NOTE METAPHOR FOR L@S Nin@S
o The sheep he places at his right hand; the goats he
places at his left.
o Notice then: whereas sheep and goats mingle
before Christ’s return, Jesus will separate them on
the last day.
o This end-times separation should remind us of
Ezekiel 34, which depicts the divine shepherd
separating destructive goats from his flock.
o And it should remind us of Jesus’s teachings
about wheat and tares in Matthew 13.
o Though the godly and ungodly mingle in the
nations and Church before Christ’s return, God
will separate them on the last day.
§ Trouble don’t last always.
