No matter how we expect the Cosmic Son of Humanity to come in his glory......we must hold in tension that the Earthed Son of Humanity, glorified on the cross (JN makes the point!) has never left us. OK, physically, yes; but by his Spirit in & among us his Body (of believers), he is with us always.... However much the apocalyptic aspects of his reign appeal to us, to lose sight of the glorified Jesus remaining earthed by his Spirit is to lose the plot of what God's agenda for Planet Earth is all about.

It's not always easy to tell sheep from goats. Jesus has this in mind when speaking of judgment as he does here. Like the wheat & the weeds. But God knows & we can discern. Though he speaks of judgment, Jesus is still consistent in his "judge not that you be not judged" approach. Which reminds me that in an article about Rowan Williams in The Tablet (27.07.02) Donald Allchin quotes the now A B of C writing in the introduction to 'an anthology of Anglican spiritual writing': "I am first not called to pass judgment on my neighbour's holiness or orthodoxy, but to stand before the revealed mystery of the Triune God..." I've been taken to task very firmly by an ultra-conservative colleague for not 'seeing' the devil as he sees it. Thank God for that! But perhaps I can still hope to be a sheep after all (even if a black one). Which doesn't make my colleague a goat, by the way!

God's blessing is upon us & acting out through us when we, not just in Jesus' name but as little Jesuses feed all the other hungry Jesuses, give drink to the thirsty ones, welcome those who present as strangers, clothe the naked ones, minister to those who are sick, visit the ones imprisoned. Wherever they are marginalised.

Jesus tells us not to ignore the world's starving. To provide adequate water supply for the thirsty. To meet refugees & asylum seekers with compassion & not obsessive, xenophobic - if vote-winning - hostility (as the Australian government does). To be a little Jesus is to clothe, etc., those needing shelter to survive (shades of New Orleans), & not pander to the rag trade with its models strutting their catwalks in clothing only for the rich & celebritous; to provide adequate health care for all who need it, including hospitals accessible by everyone; to treat prisoners humanely, whether at Guantanamo Bay, Baxter, or our local prison system. All very much 'at Jesus' right hand' kind of stuff!

God's Rule always includes looking out for & looking after God's 'little ones'. Not to do that is left hand stuff!

Is 'everlasting punishment' anything else than living without the Cosmic God for ever by choosing to live without the Earthed One here & now; extending our own free choice to be a 'goat' on earth by taking up the option of living as one forever? Who needs hell-fire & damnation (if that's your line) when such a fate looms?

Speaking of looming, the Passion looms in the very next verses!