The Last Judgment.

The last judgement.
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An analogy :

Teachers teach.

Students learn.

School conducts exams towards the end of the year.

Students write the exams.

Teachers value their answer papers.

Students score pass marks or fail marks depending on their performance in the answer paper.

Pass marks scorers are promoted and fail marks scorers are detained.

Now one question.

What is the place of the teachers in the process of promotion?

Do they promote or detain the students?

The teachers neither promote or detain.

The promotion list they prepare depends cent per cent on the performance of the students.

It is  the students who either pass or fail depending upon their performance in their answer papers.

In the same way our going to heaven or hell is our choice.

It depends cent per cent on our spiritual performance in this world.

The last judgment scene is explained by Matthew in chapter 25: 31-46.

While  interpreting the passage
we must keep in mind three important things.

1.Interpretation must be done in the context of God's unlimited love for us.

2. No Biblical passage  contradicts another passage in any part of the Bible.

3. Words don't matter, it is the message that matters.

We know that Jesus has come in search of sinners, (Luke. 5:32), to save them,  not to pass judgment on them. (John. 12:47)

Jesus will never contradict Himself.

God never changes.

Jesus is God,   so  He will never change.

God's love for us is eternal.

Let  us take a particular person and name him 'A'.

God loves A from all eternity.

He loves him at his birth.

He loves him all his life  even when  he  persists in sin rejecting all the graces God showers on him for his conversion.

God will surely love him at his death and after his death.

The sinner may reject God's love,  but God will continue to love him even if he is in hell.

If He stops to love the sinner,  how can we call His love eternal?

Then why does Jesus say that He will say, " And these shall pass on to eternal punishment,"?

Jesus is a very good teacher with unlimited practical wisdom.

Just read the verses dealing with the last judgment scene.

You will notice what lesson  Jesus wants to teach and how He  stresses the importance of that lesson.

Jesus wants to  tell us about  the importance of our love for our neighbours and our acts of love and kindness.

Whatever we do for our neighbour we do for God.

Only love and acts of love can give us salvation.

He stresses the point that without love and acts of love one cannot enter heaven.

To stress the  importance of  this teaching He says that He will say, " And these shall pass on to eternal punishment".

All the students know what a teacher would say to stress the importance of learning what is taught.

I know because I am a teacher.

I need not say what harsh terms  the teachers would use to make the students study well; all the readers should have been once  students.

Jesus said these words only to bring home to our minds the importance of His teaching on the love for our neighbours and on acts of  kindness and love.

Jesus gave full expression to His love for us by sacrificing His life for us on the  Cross.

He expects us to  give expression to our love for our neighbours by our acts of love  kindness.

The last judgment scene teaches us this lesson.

It is our duty to fulfill our Lord's desire.

Those who fail to fulfill Our Lord's desire choose hell themselves.

Those who fulfill His desire will be rewarded with everlasting life with Him.

Lourdu Selvam