Here Jesus again speaks using allegory as he explains the time of death, and the possible courses that result according to how we lived our lives.
The key to Jesus' statement is the word "comes," which is derived from the Greek word ἔρχομαι (erchomai), which can mean, when used in the physical sense, "to come from one place to another, and used both of persons arriving and of those returning," according to the lexicon. But when used in the context of Jesus's previous statements and analogies - the events immediately following the moment of death, the lexicon describes the word to mean, "to appear, make one's appearance."
This, with the rest of Jesus' statement, indicates that when Jesus appears at the time of death, he is not alone, but rather, is accompanied by angels.
What is "his throne" refer to? If a person were "coming," they would not be sitting on a throne, because thrones are not considered moving vehicles. Rather, Jesus is describing, with allegory, the process of judgement that occurs immediately following death. This is also called "judgement day."
Judgement day is not some single day in the future where everyone whose ever died in the past assembles in front of Jesus. This literal concept of Jesus' parable is simply not practical. If this were what Jesus was discussing, then that would mean that billions of people who have died over the past thousands of years would be waiting somewhere for this event. How long do they have to wait, and where are they waiting? Some Roman Catholic teachers saw this problem centuries ago (after they had wrongly predicted the end of the world for several centuries) and speculated that there must be some sort of waiting room (they called it "purgatory") where everyone would be waiting for judgement day.
Their mistake is that they failed to understand the concept that Jesus was trying to teach. He used several analogies - the ten virgins, the master and the talents, the thief and the house, and the servants who beat others. All of these were symbolic stories that explain how the death of our body will come when we least expect it, and each of us will be judged at the time of death as to the choices we made during our lifetimes.
Jesus goes on to explain how those who helped their brothers and sisters during their lives would be on his right side, while those who did not would be sent away. What is this describing?
It is describing spiritual advancement. Those who advance spiritually do so by following Jesus' instructions to love God and "like unto it," love one another. Love of God is therefore the trait that drives one to love and help others. (And diametrically opposed to the popular claim that we must love ourselves before we can love others. This is merely selfishness being disguised as wisdom.)
Jesus isn't talking about just helping the poor and the sick, or doing healings. If he did, then he would not have said previously:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matt. 7:21-23)
We can see from this clear instruction by Jesus that the story being told above about helping others is not to be taken literally - as though just being kind to others will result in going to heaven. Jesus is speaking allegorically. Helping someone in need is being used symbolically for serving God by helping others to remember Him. "I was in prison..." for example, is not a literal event. Jesus is not saying that we have to have helped him when he was in prison, or when anyone else was in prison in order to get to go to heaven. Helping someone in prison is symbolic for helping someone who is drowning in the ignorance of the physical world understand that love of God will save them.
We must remember that this discussion is taking place between Jesus and some of his disciples, privately (Matt. 24:3). Jesus is instructing his disciples to teach his message on to others.
Jesus is using symbolism to request that his disciples serve God. This is why Jesus said "but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" previously. Doing someone else's will means serving them. It means living in a way that pleases them.
The bottom line is that being "righteous" in Jesus' symbolic description means learning to love God and then living ones life in such a way that pleases God. And what pleases God the most? When we help those around us to remember Him and think of Him. This is because God loves us and wants all of us to return to Him. This is why Jesus' most important instructions were:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matt. 22:37-40)
“When the son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For 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 invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matt. 25:31-46)
