Shall be gathered (Matthew 24:31). The angels shall gather them, the dead being first raised to life. All ( τα Ì, the) nations. Not the heathen only, but all mankind (see preliminary note). The criteria upon which the judgment proceeds, in the following verses, seem to imply that all men have the opportunity of receiving or rejecting the gospel.
How this can apply to those who died before the incarnation of Christ and the consequent evangelization of the world, we know not, though we may believe that, ere the end comes, Christ will have been preached in every quarter of the globe.
That some process of enlightenment goes on in the unseen world we learn from the mysterious passage, 1 Peter 3:18-20; but we have no reason to suppose that probation is extended to the other life, or that souls will there have the offer of accepting or repelling the claims of Jesus (but see Philippians 2:10; 1 Peter 4:6).
By describing mankind as "all the nations," Christ shows the minute particularity of the judgment, which will enter into distinctions of country, race, etc., and while it is universal will be strictly impartial.
He is the Shepherd of all mankind, whether considered as sheep or goats, and can therefore distinguish and class them perfectly. Those who have never heard of Christ (if such there shall be) can be tried only by the standard of natural religion (Romans 1:20).
Shall separate them ( αὐτου Ìς). Individuals of all the nations. Hitherto good and bad had been mingled together, often indistinguishable by man's eye or judgment; now an eternal distinction is made by an unerring hand (Matthew 13:49).
The ideals already found in Ezekiel 34:17, "Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats." As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. The flocks of sheep and goats generally keep together during the day (Genesis 30:33), but are separated at night or when being driven.
The Syrian goat is usually black. The Lord delights in employing simple pastoral illustrations in his teaching.