The Second Coming

   The Holy Orthodox Church remembers our Lord’s Second Coming on this Sunday each year—the Sunday that begins Meatfare Week.

The Gospel reading begins: ““When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.”

The words from this first verse of today’s Gospel that always capture my attention are, and ALL the holy angels. 

There is no scriptural reference detailing the total number of angels in heaven.  St. Paul goes so far as to say, But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. (Heb 12:22)  In short, there are so very many of them that perhaps only God Himself could number them!

The next phrase in today’s Gospel says, All the nations will be gathered before Him.  How many people is this?  Given today’s statistics, it is nearly 8.3 billion.  All of those angels.  All of us.  All gathered before the Judge, before one Man.  He returns to do what St. Matthew describes next: He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 

What identifies the difference between a sheep and a goat?

A sheep is one who “does” without taking note of their good deeds.  They feed, they give drink, they shelter those in need.  They clothe those who are naked.  They visit the sick and imprisoned.  The goats also take no note of their “inactions” in not doing for others.  And the fascinating part of the account is that neither sheep nor goat sees their connection with the Lord.  Both ask the same question: When did we see You in need, Lord?  The difference is in the Lord’s answer.  You did (or did not) do it for Me when you did (or did not) do it for….  Those separated as sheep are surprised to find that it was in fact Jesus for Whom they were providing.  Those goats are surprised to find that it was in fact Jesus Whom they were ignoring.  Each group does what they do because of their character (or lack thereof).  Wise virgins wait.  Good servants serve.  Sheep also serve.  The difference compared with nature is that we are free to choose to be a sheep.  We are free to choose to be a goat!

Who are those who benefit from the goodness of the sheep?  The least of My brethren.  The Greek word used for ‘brethren’ carries a connection between people as being joined by a common womb. It is yet another view of the Parable of the Good Samaritan—everyone is my neighbor, and all of us are one people, we have a common Father, we are all brothers and sisters.

Minimally at every Divine Liturgy, but also for most of us within our own daily prayer rule, we pray the Nicene Creed, within which are these words: And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.  We echo the words of today’s Gospel reading in our daily prayers!  Do we call to mind Matthew 25 when we pray the Creed?  If not, why not?  If not, do we look for the Second Coming as being a certain event, one that looms on the human (and my personal) horizon?