Why Those Who Rest In This Life Have No Rest In Eternity

Описание: Matthew 25:31-46 is read every year on the Sunday of the Last Judgment as the final preparation before Great Lent begins. The icon of the Last Judgment, typically painted on the back wall above the church entrance, depicts Christ enthroned in glory with the saved on His right and a river of fire flowing from beneath His throne carrying those cast into hell. This glory of Christ is the hallmark of His judgment. When we encounter Christ in His glory, that light permeates into each soul and reveals everything within.

Throughout the Gospels we see this pattern: sinners encounter Christ's glory and are drawn to Him in love and gratitude, while the self-righteous Pharisees encounter that same glory and become hardened, angered, and bitter because His presence reveals the sickness of their souls. At the final judgment, Christ's glory will shine into every person and reveal whether they became like Him or remained absorbed in themselves.

Western Christianity has created a theology where being saved is a one-time event based on belief alone, regardless of how you live. People claim they are already saved and usurp what Christ says He alone will do at the judgment. But Christ is explicit in this gospel about the criterion He will use. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, He will separate the sheep from the goats based on concrete actions: did you feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned? Those on the left also call Him Lord, suggesting they are Christians who acknowledge Him, yet He says they did not do these things to the least and therefore did not do them to Him. Christ is not making an abstract theological statement about imputed righteousness. He is talking about the actual mode and way of your life, how you treat the people around you, whether your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees in how you live and serve.

This gospel forces each person to reflect on their own life, not judge anyone else.

Are you ignoring needs around you that you could meet?
Are you grumbling about having to serve others in the church or wider community?
Are you actively avoiding service because you feel you don't have the time or energy?
Is your life absorbed in your own ease and comfort, your own bubble, while the stranger shows up at church and you wonder if there's room for them?

The man who stored up his wealth and said his soul could take its ease was called a fool by Christ that very night. You cannot enter into rest in the next life if you've been resting your whole life. You only get to rest if you've been exhausted from struggling and pouring yourself out in service. If you think you can take your ease now and sail into eternity because you believe the gospel, you are going to encounter someone who disagrees with you, and that someone is Jesus Christ, the judge of the universe.

Your most valuable commodity is your time and energy. Your life is not for yourself. It is for glorifying Christ through service to others. When you live like that, you become like Him. When you become like Him, His glory will shine into your soul at judgment and you will know Him.