Matthew 25:46

The goats (unbelievers) will go into eternal punishment in hell eventually instead of entering the messianic kingdom (cf. Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 13:40-43). This is the only place in Scripture where the term "eternal punishment" appears. Some interpreters believe that "eternal" here does not mean "everlasting" but pertaining to the age to come, which is eternal. [Note: E.g., France, The Gospel . . ., pp. 966-67.] They favor understanding Jesus to mean that the lost will suffer annihilation. This view is sometimes called "conditional immortality." [Note: See Robert A. Peterson, "A Traditionalist Response to John Stott’s Arguments for Annihilationism," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:4 (December 1994):553-68; idem, "Does the Bible Teach Annihilationism?" Bibliotheca Sacra 156:621 (January-March 1999):13-27; Millard J. Erickson, "Is Hell Forever?" Bibliotheca Sacra (July-September 1995):259-72; and Bruce W. Davidson, "Reasonable Damnation: How Jonathan Edwards Argued for the Rationality of Hell," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 38:1 (March 1995):47-56.]

"At the time of Christ the punishment of the wicked was certainly regarded as of eternal duration." [Note: Edersheim, The Life . . ., 2:440. See ibid., 2:791-96, on eternal punishment according to the rabbis and the New Testament.]

Immediately these unbelievers will enter Hades, the place of departed spirits, until God resurrects them at the end of the millennium and sends them to hell (cf. Revelation 20:11-15). The sheep (believers) will enter the kingdom that will be the first stage of their ceaseless life with God. Whereas eternal life begins when a person trusts Jesus Christ, the first stage of life in the King’s presence for these believers will be the messianic kingdom. Elsewhere God revealed that there are degrees of happiness and responsibility in the kingdom (Matthew 25:14-30; cf. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15) and degrees of punishment in hell (Matthew 11:22; Luke 12:47-48). Jesus described the sheep as "righteous."

"This whole discourse again reflects the Lord’s emphasis on righteousness [cf. the Sermon on the Mount]. It is a righteousness founded in faith in God which in turn, by God’s grace, empowers the whole man to live a new and righteous life." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., pp. 291-92.]

Does this passage (Matthew 25:31-46) teach us anything about the time of the Rapture?

"Although the question of whether Christ will come for His church before the tribulation (the pretribulational view) or at the time of His second coming to earth (the posttribulational view) is not dealt with in this passage, the implications are clearly in favor of the pretribulational view. If the rapture and translation of the church occur while Christ is coming from heaven to earth in His second coming to set up His kingdom, and the church meets the Lord in the air, it is obvious that this very act would separate all the saved from the unsaved. Under these circumstances, no judgment of the nations would be necessary subsequent to the second coming of Christ, because the sheep and the goats would already be separated." [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 203. See also Paul D. Feinberg, "Dispensational Theology . . .," pp. 229-35.]

Thus ends the Olivet Discourse. Revelation 6-20 provides further exposition of Jesus’ teaching in the Olivet Discourse. [Note: For other expositions of the whole Olivet Discourse, see Walvoord, "Christ’s Olivet Discourse on the End of the Age," Bibliotheca Sacra 128:510 (April-June 1971):109-16; 128:511 (July-September 1971):206-14; 128:512 (October-December 1971):316-26; 129:513 (January-March 1972):20-32; 129:514 (April-June 1972):99-105; 129:515 (July-September 1972):206-10; 129:516 (October-December 1972):307-15; and Pentecost, Thy Kingdom . . ., pp. 247-62.]

"Taken as a whole, the Olivet discourse is one of the great prophetic utterances of Scripture and provides facts nowhere else given in quite the same way. In it, Christ, the greatest of the prophets and the master Teacher, described the end of the age as the climax of the troubles of earth in a great tribulation. The time of unprecedented trouble will be terminated by the second coming of Christ. The saved and the unsaved will be separated, and only the saved will enter the millennial kingdom. This is the final word, which Matthew brings in answer to the leading question of this first gospel, concerning the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament of a glorious kingdom on earth. Matthew states clearly that while Christ, in His first coming, suffered and died and was rejected as both King and Saviour by His own people, He will come again and, in triumph, will bring in the prophesied kingdom literally, just as the Old Testament prophecies had anticipated. There is postponement but not annulment of the great prophecies of the kingdom on earth." [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 204.]

In one sense Matthew 25:46 is the climax of Matthew’s argument in this Gospel. [Note: Kiddle, p. 44.]

"He has at this point accomplished his main purposes in presenting the credentials of the King and the kingdom program of the Jews. The King has shown Himself by His words and His works to be Israel’s Messiah. Because Israel refused to accept Him as their King, the kingdom is taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth fruit worthy of repentance. However, this situation will exist only until the son of Man comes in His glory. At that time, all unrighteousness will be vindicated and Christ shall reign as Israel’s King over the nations of the earth." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 292.]