| Matthew 25 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Book | Gospel of Matthew |
| Category | Gospel |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 1 |
Matthew 25, the twenty-fifth chapter of theGospel of Matthew, continues theOlivet Discourse or "Little Apocalypse" spoken byJesusChrist, also described as theEschatological Discourse,[1] which had started inchapter 24.[2]
American theologian Jason Hood, writing in theJournal of Biblical Literature, argues thatchapter 23,chapter 24, and chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew form the fifth and finaldiscourse in the gospel. In his reading, these three chapters together "uniquely infuse Jesus' distinctive teaching on discipleship,Christology, and judgment with the dramatic tension running throughout Matthew's plot".[3]
The original text was written inKoine Greek. Some earlymanuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
It is also found in quotations fromIrenaeus (AD 180) inAdversus Haereses.[4]
This chapter isdivided into 46 verses.Pope Francis treats this chapter as "the 'protocol' by which we will be judged at the end of the world":
What is the protocol by which the judge will evaluate us? We find it in Chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew.[5]
The chapter continues a discourse commenced atMatthew 24:3 where the disciples come to Jesus to speak "privately".[6] TheParable of the Ten Virgins (verses 1-13) and theParable of the Talents (verses 14-30) are both unique to Matthew,[7] but the Parable of the Talents has a corollary in Luke 19:11-27.
This verse begins a new parable, that of the talents or minas. There is no reference to the "kingdom of heaven" in this verse or in the parable, but the words, which mirror verse 1, are added in theKing James Version and some other English translations "for the sake of grammatical completeness".[9]
The final section (verses 31-46) is sometimes referred to asThe Sheep and the Goats[10] but other times referred to as "The Judgment of the Nations".[11] Although often called a "parable", it is not a story as such, but the portrayal of the Son of Man as a shepherd and the people under judgment as sheep or goats can be treated as "parabolic elements".[11]
The narrative quotes Jesus teaching that all of the people will be assembled before him and "he will separate them one from another", with some who will "inherit the kingdom" while others who will go to "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels". Jesus is said to have said that the basis of this separation is whether or not someone:[11]
"Matthew 25:21" is a song title inspired by this verse on the albumThe Life of the World to Come that was released by the American bandThe Mountain Goats in 2009.[12]
