When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
All Commentaries on Matthew 25:31 Go To Matthew 25
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
But when the Son of Prayer of Manasseh , &c. . . . upon the seat of His majesty, as Judge of all, sitting upon a glorious cloud. Here Christ graphically sets forth the manner and idea of the Last Judgment, that all may imprint it on their minds, and so by the constant remembrance of it, stir themselves up to purity of life and zeal for good works.
The majesty of Christ will appear1st By the previous sounding of the awful trumpet of the Archangel, which will be heard throughout all the world2d By the previous lightnings and thunderings, tempest and hail, according to the words in Ps. xcvii3. 3d Because Christ shall appear in His glorious body, brighter than the sun, as it is said in Isaiah , "Then shall the moon be ashamed and the sun be confounded, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign," taken in the mystical sense. For there is another and literal interpretation of these words, as I have shown in commenting upon the passage4th Because He shall descend from Heaven accompanied by innumerable legions of angels5th Because there shall stand before Him in judgment all emperors, pontiffs, kings, prelates, princes, philosophers, orators, and all men and nations whatsoever6th. Because He shall judge them not as belonging to others, but as His own Servants. For all men and angels are the Servants of Christ not only as He is God, by the right of creation, but also as He is Prayer of Manasseh , by virtue of the Hypostatic Union with the WORD, and by right of merit. For Christ merited this by His lowly obedience even to the death of the Cross, according to what the Apostle says ( Philippians 2:7-8), "He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name; that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Though men, indeed, are the servants of Christ by the peculiar right of redemption. For Christ hath redeemed them from death and hell, and bought them with the costly price of His own Blood.
And all the angels with Him. Therefore in the Day of Judgment not one angel shall remain in Heaven, but all shall descend at the same time with Christ. They shall accompany Him to do Him honour, as God, and Lord, and Saviour, that they may surround and minister to Him as He is Man. Moreover, it is probable that the angels shall then assume bodies of condensed air, and in them shall appear in glory. For otherwise this glory and power of Christ, as encompassed by the angels, would not be beheld by the wicked, on whose account chiefly it will then be manifested. Nor would that army of angels increase His outward majesty, which is what Christ is here describing. When, therefore, there shall be that innumerable multitude of angels, their many thousands of thousands will fill the higher regions of the air, far and wide, in every direction, yea, the very sky itself, affording the appearance of an infinite army.
It is also exceedingly probable that the devils also will assume bodies, and appear in them, but bodies that are foul, dreadful, and horrible.
And there shall be gathered together before Him all nations, i.e, all men sprung from Adam, from the first even unto the last, of every family and nation, however fierce and barbarous. Also little ones and infants, although the case and judgment of infants is not here properly treated of, but only that of adults, who by their good or bad works have deserved Heaven or hell Wherefore there will be there very many millions of men, so that the valley of Josaphat could not contain them all. Wherefore God shall at that time turn the Mount of Olives and the other mountains into a plain, that there may be space to hold so many myriads of men. For all the reprobate shall stand upon the earth. But the Saints, especially the more eminent ones, such as the Apostles, shall be raised up into the air, where they shall sit as assessors with Christ.
That little children will appear in the Day of Judgment is exceedingly probable, though Durandus denies this (2 , disp33 , quæst3). The reasons that make it probable are:—1st Because Christ is the Judge of all men whatsoever, therefore also of infants2d Because infants shall rise again as well as adults, and that "in a perfect Prayer of Manasseh ," as the Apostle says ( Ephesians 4:13), that Isaiah , adult age and stature. They will see therefore and know that all men are rising with them, to stand and be judged at the tribunal of Christ3d Because many infants have been made Saints and Martyrs by Baptism or martyrdom. Such were the infants who were slain by Herod. These therefore, as well as adults, shall hear from Christ the words, Come, ye blessed of My Father4th Because the infants who have died in original sin among all nations, for so many thousands of years, will be very many. Lessius thinks that their number will be a thousand millions (de Perfect. Divin. cap22 , Numbers 143). And these cannot be hid; but rising again, they will appear upon earth. And these too, being separated one from another, shall receive their sentences from Christ. They shall neither be condemned, like the adult reprobate, to the fire of hell; neither shall they be adjudged to Heaven to see God, as the adult elect.
And He shall separate them. He compares the elect to sheep, because of their innocence, modesty, humility, obedience, and patience; the reprobate to goats, because this creature has a fetid smell. It is fierce, immodest, lascivious. It walks in precipitous places. And it is quarrelsome. Such are the wicked. Wherefore under the Old Law goats were wont to be offered as sin-offerings.
There was a type of their separation in the case of those who blessed on Mount Gerizim, and those who cursed on Mount Ebal ( Deuteronomy 27).
And He shall set the sheep, &c. For the right hand is the symbol of felicity, glory, and victory. The left, of unhappiness and disgrace.
Then shall the King say to those on the right hand, &c. "Come from darkness to light, from slavery to the liberty of the children of God, from labour to perpetual rest, from death unto life, from the society of wicked men to the company of angels, from contest to triumph, from the billows of temptation to the light of glory, and the Heaven of eternal happiness."
In a moving manner does S. Hippolytus, the Martyr, enlarge upon these words (Tract. de Consummat. Sculi), speaking of the different Orders of the Saints. "Come, ye Prophets, who were banished for My Name"s sake. Come, ye Patriarchs, who were obedient unto Me before I came into the world, and who deserved My Kingdom. Come, ye Apostles, partakers of My sufferings, for the sake of the Gospel, when I lived amongst men. Come, ye Martyrs, who confessed Me before tyrants, and endured great torments and sufferings. Come, ye Priests, who offered pure sacrifices unto Me day and night, and immolated day by day My precious Body and Blood. Come, ye Saints, who practised self-denial in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth, who by continence and prayers did service to My Name. Come, ye Virgins, who chose Me for your Bridegroom, and loved not another besides Me, who by martyrdom, and the diligent practice of religion, were united to Me, your immortal and incorruptible Spouse. Come, ye who love the poor and strangers. Come, ye who kept My love, who am Love. Come, ye friends of peace, for I am peace."
Christ judges and rewards the elect before He punishes the reprobate; for it is natural to Christ to reward; it is His strange work to punish.
The King. Christ the judge has on His thigh a name written, "King of kings and Lord of lords" ( Revelation 19:16).
Blessed of My Father. Those whom My Father, whose special attributes are omnipotence, empire, and predestination, "hath blessed with all spiritual benediction in heavenly things" ( Ephesians 1:3),—that Isaiah , "whom He loved and predestinated from eternity, justified in time, and now will glorify: to whom He gave grace and perseverance in good works until the end of their lives, and therefore He has now, through Me, given them for their merits the reward of celestial glory." Come therefore, ye Blessed, thrice and again Blessed, whom God loved and predestinated before the world, cleansed and sanctified in the world, and now will magnify after the world, as S. Augustine says in his Soliloquy.
Observe: the judgment of Christ will not be performed in a moment of time, as will be the case with the general Resurrection (1Cor. xv52), but will occupy some considerable period. For there will be an examination and opening of the conscience of each person, in which Christ will lay open to every man his own and others" deeds by an inward illumination, and will pronounce His own sentence upon each, according to his deserts. And He will cause all to see that this sentence is just and right; and He will not give any opportunity for taking exception or for prevarication. "It will be," says S. Augustine (de Civit. xx14), "an effect of the Divine power, that every one will have recalled to their memory their deeds, both good and bad. And by a glance of the mind they will be perceived with a marvellous swiftness, so that this knowledge will either accuse or excuse their consciousness." All this will occupy time, though but a very short time. After this will Christ pronounce, as it seems, the general award of eternal felicity, with an audible voice, to all the Saints, when He says, "Come, ye blessed of My Father," &c; and then will pass sentence upon the reprobate, saying, "Depart, ye cursed."
Possess ye (Vulg.); Gr. κληζονομήσατε, inherit (Eng. vers.). "For if ye are sons, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. viii.). "0 of what great glory, of what great blessedness, are those words! He does not say, Receive ye; but, Inherit ye, as though it were your own, your Father"s; as though it were your very own, belonging to you from the beginning."
The Kingdom: the highest Heaven, with all its goods, such as the vision and fruition of God, the society of Saints and Angels.
From the constitution of the world; Arab. before the constitution of the world. That is to say, from eternity. It means that the whole universe was created by God for the sake of the Blessed, that they may be eternally blessed in Him. Moreover, this glory of the Saints had been prepared and predestinated-1. From eternity. For God from eternity determined to create the Saints and the world, that He might bless them in it, and cause them to share in all His goods2. From the creation of the world. For God created the empyrean and the world for this end, that it might be the seat and kingdom of the Blessed. As S. Chrysostom says (Hom1 , in Epist. ad Titum), "Herein is manifested our dignity, that not just now merely, but from of old, from the very beginning, have we been loved." And (Hom34 , in Gen.), "Behold the excellence of the goodness of God; how great is the mercy which He hath extended to our race, that before the foundations of the world were laid, He deigned to prepare for us the fruition of the Kingdom of Heaven."
0 how sweetly will this voice of Christ fall upon the ears of the elect! What thanks will they render Him! How will they exult! We cannot doubt but that with the utmost reverence they will prostrate themselves before Him, and gladly confess that it is by His Blood and merits they have been brought to such great felicity. This is plain from the Apocalypse (chaps. v. and vii.), where we may hear their doxologies and songs of victory, which in full chorus they sing to God and Christ.
