Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Last Sunday of the Year

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, 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?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31–46)

For as much as God differs from a human being, so a heavenly judgment differs from an earthly one. For the splendor of an earthly judge rests on his appearance, but the majesty of Christ the judge rests in truth, as the prophet attests: “Our God comes manifestly, he does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, round about him a mighty tempest.” He says, “manifestly,” no longer veiled in the body as before so that scarcely even the good people could recognize him, but he will come manifest in glory so that even the evil people will confess him against their will, so that whoever despised him in his humility may recognize him in his power. And those who did not want to know how sweet his mercy is will perceive how dire his wrath is. “Our God … does not keep silence.” He did not say, “And he will be silent,” showing that he will keep quiet about himself, but his very glory will speak about him.…

Because he granted the grace to know him to all nations, he will rightly judge in each instance, so that neither the good will lose the fruits of their goodness without the doctrine of truth nor the evil will escape the punishment for their evil because of the excuse of ignorance. For just as at night the full shape of items does not appear but even a gem seems like a rock and a rock is thought to be a gem, so also before the coming of Christ the difference between human hearts is not apparent but also the evil are endured as if they were good and the good are despised as if they were evil. And whenever the illumination of the gospel has been preached and come to all nations, then the quality of all their wills has been revealed and all the nations rendered without excuse. And so then all people will be gathered justly to judgment because whoever gives a commandment beforehand implicitly proclaims that there will be a future judgment.…

You gave what you could not always hold on to; receive those things you may possess forever. Quite rightly you who sowed one thing on earth will receive a hundredfold in heaven. For the righteousness of people cannot earn as much as the kingdom of heaven was created to be, but it is based on the power of God that was able to prepare it. For if he had wanted to create the kingdom of heaven according to the limits of human righteousness, he would have created it at any rate after the works of human beings had been done. But now because he established the reward of the saints not according to what human beings deserve but according to his bountifulness, so before he created the saints in this age, he prepared the kingdom of heaven in heaven. For this reason he burdens with such labors those whom he knows to be his before the foundation of the world, and he makes them labor so long until they are made worthy of the heavenly kingdom because the kingdom of God is not plundered in accordance with the moderate capacity of people, but people are elevated in accordance with the greatness of the kingdom.…

“Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire.’” It is as though he could not endure their presence or to look on them, so he says, “Depart from me.” For just as carnal people delight to see the carnal appearance of the world, but if we see some things broken or deformed in any way, it is as though our sight has been wounded, so also God, who delights in the holiness of souls, cannot bear to look at sinful souls, as though he were weighed down by them. It is as though he were to say to them, “You are like rottenness and filth, nor can I endure you as long as you are standing in my court.”

Incomplete Commentary on Matthew 54.33–34, 41