Then shall the king say unto them on his right
hand
Before Christ is called "the son of man", now "the king"; who is
not only king of saints, but king of the whole world; the king of
kings, and lord of lords, the judge of all the earth; he
appearing in glory and majesty, sitting on a throne of glory,
being attended with his glorious angels, and all nations gathered
before him, waiting for the final sentence to be pronounced upon
them by him; and who accordingly begins with those on his right
hand, his sheep, the chosen, redeemed, and called of God, saying
to them,
come.
The Arabic version adds, "to me": by such a phrase he sometimes
had invited, and encouraged poor sensible sinners: to come and
partake of his grace: and here by it he calls the righteous, and
bespeaks them in the most tender and endearing manner, and yet
with the majesty of a king, and the authority of a judge, to come
near unto him, with intrepidity and confidence, and take
possession of a glorious kingdom; bestowing on them this high and
illustrious character,
ye blessed of my Father:
so called, partly because they were his Father's, not only by
creation, but by his choice of them to grace and glory, and
therefore most happy and blessed; and partly, because, as such a
choice shows, they were dear unto him, highly in his favour, and
loved by him with an everlasting love; as also, because they were
blessed by him as the Father of Christ, and theirs, with all the
spiritual blessings of the everlasting covenant in him; with the
pardon of their sins, the justification of their persons, the
sanctification of their nature, with adoption, and a right unto,
and meetness for the eternal inheritance: hence it follows,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the
world.
The happiness of the saints, in the other world, is here
expressed by a "kingdom", because of the glory, riches, grandeur,
and magnificence of it; as it is sometimes by a crown, for the
same reason, suitable to their character and dignity, who are
made kings and priests by Christ: and is likewise represented as
an "inheritance", as it is elsewhere, being not acquired by
industry, or obtained by merit; but is the gift of their heavenly
Father, and in right of adoption, as the children of God, being
made such by his free grace and favour, and denotes the stability
and perpetuity of it: and this is said to be prepared, not only
appointed and designed in the council purposes, and decrees of
God, but got ready; it is a kingdom erected, an inheritance
reserved, and a crown of righteousness laid up in heaven; a glory
really provided and secured in an everlasting covenant, and that
for you: for some, and not others; for the sheep on the right
hand, and not the goats on the left; for the peculiar favourites
of God, the objects of his love and choice, the redeemed of the
Lamb, and that are born of the Spirit; and that for them,
from the foundation of the world.
The place itself, where this happiness is to be enjoyed, was
actually made on the first day of the creation, when the heavens
were formed, and the foundations of the earth were laid, and the
glory itself long before. The Ethiopic version here reads,
"before the world"; and the Persic, "before the foundation of the
world was laid"; and Grotius himself owns, that the phrase is the
same as "before the foundation of the world"; and Dr. Hammond's
paraphrase is, "before all eternity": for as early were these
persons, the beloved, the chosen, and blessed of the Father: so
that this glory must be of free grace, and not merit, or owing to
any works of righteousness done by men; since it was not only
designed and appointed, but prepared and laid up for persons
before they had a being, and had done neither good nor evil. The
Jews F5 speak of the law being an
inheritance for all Israel, from the six days of the creation;
but a much more glorious one is here spoken of: nearer to this is
what they say F6 that Bathsheba was appointed to be
David's wife from the day that the world was created; and add,
but the mystery of the thing is, (alyeld atwklm) , "the kingdom that is above", which is
called by her name. So in 2 Esdras, "the kingdom is already
prepared for you":
``Go, and ye shall receive: pray for few days unto you, that they may be shortened: the kingdom is already prepared for you: watch.'' (2 Esdras 2:13)