ACC ~ Matthew 25 v32 - 33

GATHERED BEFORE HIM

EPIPHANIUS THE LATIN: How can he be the Son of man when he is God and will come to judge all nations? He is the Son of man because he appeared on earth as a man and was persecuted as a man. Therefore this person who they said was a man will raise all nations from the dead and judge every person according to his works. Every race on earth will see him, both those who rejected him and those who despised him as a man. They will see him then, but not everyone in the same way: some will see him in punishment and others in heavenly bliss. [1] All nations will be gathered together by the angels from the foundation of the world, beginning first with Adam and Eve down to the last person on earth—whoever experienced human birth. “And he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” He, our Lord, who knows our thoughts, who foresees all human works and knows how to judge righteously, will separate them according to the merits of each person, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 38. [2]

[1] Dan 12:2.

[2] PL Supp 3:899.

HE WILL SEPARATE THEM

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: “And he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” So then, people on earth are intermingled, and not only intermingled in that the righteous live side by side with the wicked, but they are also indistinguishable. Between the righteous and the wicked there is no apparent difference. Even as in wintertime you cannot tell the healthy trees apart from the withered trees but in beautiful springtime you can tell the difference, so too each person according to his faith and his works will be exposed. The wicked will not have any leaves or show any fruit, but the righteous will be clothed with the leaves of eternal life and adorned with the fruit of glory. In this way they will be separated by the heavenly shepherd and Lord. The earthly shepherd separates animals by their type of body, whereas Christ separates people by their type of soul. The sheep signify righteous people by reason of their gentleness, because they harm no one, and by reason of their patience, because when they are harmed by others, they bear it without resistance. He refers to sinners as goats, however, because these vices characterize goats: capriciousness toward other animals, pride and belligerence. HOMILY 54. [1]

[1] PG 56:942.

RIGHT AND LEFT

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: “And he will place the sheep at his right hand but the goats at the left.” When someone is brought into the presence of a king or a judge, on the very spot where he is ordered to stand he will learn whether he has been brought in because of the good he did or the evil. If he has been brought in because of the good, he is immediately made to stand close; if because of the evil, he is ordered to stand at a distance. So too God will place the righteous at his right hand but the goats at the left. Each one will know what his merits are, then and there. When judgment is passed, the punishment of shame will follow. He will justly place the righteous at his right hand, because they never knew the left side; he will justly place the wicked at the left, because they never wanted to know the right side. HOMILY 54. [1]

[1] PG 56:943.