Matthew 25:45

Mat 25:45. Τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, of the least of these) Our Lord does not add, My brethren, as in Mat 25:40. The wicked are ignorant of the relation which the righteous stand in to Christ, and will remain so.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

45. Inasmuch as ye did it not] Men will be judged not only for evil done, but for good left undone.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment,.... Their excuses will not be regarded, their pleas will be of no avail, their pretensions to interest in Christ, and love to him, will be set aside; the sentence will remain irrevocable, and there will be no appeal from it, for there is no higher tribunal to bring the cause before; judgment having passed, the execution of it immediately follows: these goats, or formal professors, shall be obliged, whether they will or not, to depart from the presence of Christ; the angels will be ordered to take and cast them into everlasting burnings; they will be driven by them into hell, the place appointed for them; where they shall endure "everlasting punishment", as the Jews (p) also express it; and that both in soul and body, as the just desert of sin; which being committed against an infinite God, cannot be satisfied for by a finite creature; who therefore must ever bear the punishment of it, because its pollution and guilt will always remain:

but the righteous into life eternal; such as are justified by the righteousness of Christ, and who, though they have done works of righteousness under the influence, and by the assistance of the grace of God, yet have not depended upon them, but upon Christ, for life and salvation: these shall go into heaven, the place appointed for them, to enjoy that eternal life in soul and body, which is the free gift of God, through Christ; and will be a life free from all the sorrows of the present one; a life of perfect holiness and knowledge, and inconceivable pleasure; a life of vision of God, and communion with him, and which will continue for ever; and which ascertains the eternity of the punishment of the wicked: for as the happiness of the righteous will be eternal, the punishment of the wicked will be so too; for no reason can be given why the word which is the same in both clauses, should be taken in the one for a limited time, and in the other for an eternal duration. The Jews have a saying (q) which agrees with this last clause, "the world to come is not made but for the righteous",

(p) Caphtor, fol. 113. 1. Shalshelet Hakabala, fol. 71. 1. (q) T. Bab. Yebamot, fol, 47. 1.

Next: Matthew Chapter 26

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Ver. 45. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one, &c.] Omissions then are damnable sins. Ammonites and Moabites were bastardized and banished the beauty of holiness, the tabernacle of God, to the tenth generation, because they met not God’s Israel with bread and water in the wilderness, Deu 23:3-4, Not to do justice is injustice; not to show mercy is cruelty. Where then will oppressors appear, that grind the faces of the poor, that quaff their tears, and make music of their shrieks? "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl," &c., Jas 5:1-3. If not relieving of the poor damns men, what shall robbing do, but double damnation?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Inasmuch as ye did it not ... - By not doing good to the “followers” of Christ, they showed that they had no real love to Him. By not doing good to the poor and needy, to the stranger and the prisoner, they showed that they had not his spirit, and were not like him, and were unfit for his kingdom. Let it be observed here that the public ground of their condemnation is the neglect of duty, or because “they did it not.” We are not to suppose that they will not also be condemned for their open and positive sins. See Rom 2:9; Eph 5:5; Col 3:5-6; 1Co 6:9-10; Rev 21:8; Psa 9:17. But their neglect of doing good to him and his people may be the “public” reason of condemning them:

Because he wished to give pre-eminence to those virtues, to excite his followers to do them. People should be punished for neglect as well as for positive sin. Sin is a violation of the law, or refusing to do what God commands. Nothing better shows the true state of the heart than the proper performance of those duties, and the true character can be as well tested by neglecting them as by open crimes.

If it is asked how the pagan who never heard of the name of Christ can be justly condemned in this manner, it may be answered:

1.That Christ acknowledges all the poor, and needy, and strangers of every land, as his brethren. See Mat 25:40.

2.That by neglecting the duties of charity they show that they have not his spirit are not like him.

3.That these duties are clearly made known by conscience and by the light of nature, as well as by revelation, and people may therefore be condemned for the neglect of them.

4.That they are not condemned for not believing in Christ, of whom they have not heard, but for a wrong spirit, neglect of duty, open crime; for being unlike Christ, and therefore unfit for heaven.

One of the least of these - These on my right hand. My brethren. Those who are saved.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

45. Ye did it not to me — He here imputes an infinite demerit to their character and conduct. All their sins of omission and commission were against the very person of him — of him, the incarnation of the infinite mercy of God. By the infinite dignity of his person does he measure the infinite demerit of their sin. Hence eternity alone can measure the length of their penalty.

We have already shown clearly to our readers, we trust, that the phrase “these my brethren” refers to the apostles and messengers of the Gospel of Christ. The rejection, by these wicked ones, of these was a rejection of the Gospel and a rejection of all faith in Christ. No positive crimes, no murders, treasons, sacrileges are in this colloquy imputed to them. Their primal and all-comprehensive sin is the rejection of Christ through the ministration of his Gospel. From this cause, whatever sins they have committed stand all unforgiven. They stand without a cover in all their life’s guilt, in complete exposure to the full unrestrained measure of justice without mercy. There is no need then for our Saviour to call over their catalogue of sins.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Inasmuch as, etc. The Judge at once disallows all such pleas. He exacts nothing which any good man, Christian or not, might not have done. As before, identifying himself with the human race, he shows that, in neglecting to perform acts of mercifulness and charity to the afflicted, they disregarded him, despised him, dishonoured him. One of the least of these. He adds not "brethren," as above (ver. 40), because the evil acknowledge no such brotherhood; they live for self alone, they own not their real relation to the whole family of man.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

45. Then shall he answer them. The answer is exactly the same as that given to the righteous, save that it introduces not.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

45. ἐφʼ ὅσον κ.τ.λ. Men will be judged not only for evil done, but for good left undone. In this view sins are regarded as debts (ὀφειλήματα) unpaid.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

45.] See note on ver. 37.

The sublimity of this description surpasses all imagination—Christ, as the Son of Man, the Shepherd, the King, the Judge—as the centre and end of all human love, bringing out and rewarding his latent grace in those who have lived in love—everlastingly punishing those who have quenched it in an unloving and selfish life—and in the accomplishment of his mediatorial office, causing, even from out of the iniquities of a rebellious world, his sovereign mercy to rejoice against judgment.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

45. Then shall He answer them, saying, Forasmuch as ye did it not to one of these least, ye did it not to Me.]

(L)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.