We saw that the Lord will gather the nations to Himself and separate them from each other, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on His right hand. In Scripture, the right is the position of priority and exaltation (Eph. 3:20; Col. 3:1). The left is a representation of being disadvantaged and of being humiliated.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in.
36 Naked, and you clothed me; I was weak, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.
from the foundation of the world
Here it is said that these peoples, previously presented as sheep (:33), will receive the Kingdom. It will be clear by now that the setting in which this is described is future and concerns the end of the aeon. We know from the context in which this is said that it is not about us as believers of the ecclesia, the body of Christ.
from and before the foundation of the world
And that is also evident from this, because there is a difference with the believers of the ecclesia. About these ‘sheep peoples’ it is said that they receive the Kingdom as an inheritance, which has been prepared for them ‘from the foundation of the world’. About the ecclesia it is said that ‘He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world’ (Eph. 1:4).
The Lord says that these nations will receive the kingdom as an inheritance because they fed Him, gave Him drink, took Him into their homes, clothed Him, and visited Him. The following verses show that the Lord identifies Himself with His people.
37 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You? Or thirsty, and give You drink?
38 And when did we see You a stranger, and take You in? Or naked, and clothe You?
39 And when did we see You infirm, or in prison, and come to You?
40 And the King will answer and say to them, Amen. I say to you, inasmuch as you have done it to one of these My brethren, the least of these, you have done it to Me.
My brethren
The least of His brethren, concerns His brethren according to the flesh (Rom.9:3): Israelites. Earlier we saw that the Lord bases this part of His speech on the prophet Joel, where it says: Then I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will come there with them to judgment for my people and my inheritance Israel (Joel 3:2).
Earlier in the Gospel of Matthew we read:
Matthew 10
40 He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sends me.
144,000 Israelites
These are words that the Lord spoke to His twelve disciples. Similar words, in which the Lord identifies Himself with His people, are found in Luke 10:16 and John 13:20. In Matthew 10:40, it is true that they are words spoken to the Twelve, but these words also find fulfillment with regard to the twelve times twelve thousand Israelites (the 144,000), who in the future will be sent out over the earth to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom, as a testimony to all nations (Matt. 24:14). The nations will be judged by the Lord on their attitude toward them and toward the entire people of Israel.
the life of the future aeon
When the description of the goats is done, we read that the righteous will go on into aeonian life (:46). This is usually translated as eternal life. We have seen that these righteous (>believers) will enter into the Kingdom in the aeon to come. Eternal life is therefore the life of the aeonto come. See also Mark 10:30 and Luke 18:30. It is the age in which the Kingdom is manifest on earth and Satan is bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20:2)