Section 139g
The olivet Discourse - Judgment at the Son of Man's coming
The Mount of Olives
Matthew 25:31-46
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, he will sit down on his throne of glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will set the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; 36I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you looked after me; I was in prison, and you came to visit me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and come to visit you?’ 40The King will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry, and you did not give me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you did not give me anything to drink; 43I was a stranger, and you did not take me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe me; I was sick and in prison, and you did not look after me.’ 44Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not take care of you?’ 45He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, neither did you do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Notes
Mount of Olives
The mountainous ridge called the Mount of Olives stretches totay from the Hebrew University Mount Scopus campus in the north to the Jewish cemetery and beyond, to the village of Silwan in the south. Between these two ends of the mountain are the olive trees from which the mountain takes its name. The area at the bottom of the mountain would have been the place for the olive gardens and an olive press, “Gat shemen” in Hebrew, from which the name “Gethsemane” comes.
The gospels record on more than one occasion Jesus’ sorrow for Jerusalem as he made his way down the slopes of the Mount of Olives. It was a path he would have known from childhood from His many visits to Jerusalem.
Down the road from Bethphage He came riding on a donkey colt with palm branches symbolic of Judaea strewn along the way. “Hosanna!” (“save now!”) was the cry upon the lips of the people (Matthew 21:1-9). This prayer from Psalm 118:25 was a request for salvation. Yet Jesus knew that these cries would be changed within a week to “Crucify him!” He wept again for Jerusalem, for He knew what would befall the people in less than one generation as the city would be besieged and taken.