Judgement

This passage takes place within what has been called the Olivet Discourse, a sermon that Jesus
delivered on the Mount of Olives which was an area that directly overlooked the temple in Jerusalem. Within the Olivet Discourse, Jesus teaches His disciples about two critically important events: (1) the forthcoming judgment upon the nation of Israel that would take place 40 years after Jesus’s ministry (in 70 A.D. the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem, including the temple) and (2) the return of Jesus at the end of history. In this passage Jesus promises that there is coming a final judgment, a day when He will come in his glory with his angles to judge everyone who has ever lived. For those who are God’s sheep there is a guarantee of eternal life. For those who have rejected God there is only eternal punishment.