LESSON 23 – THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS
THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS
This last chapter of Matthew brings us to Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus describes His return to earth as Judge and King. Waiting time is over, and all who believe in Christ and was a servant to Him will be justified. He is the judge of all, and everyone on earth will answer to Him, as he sits on his magnificent throne with all the power, glory and authority of the one to decide the faith of those that are subject to judgment.
A few sites I’ve looked at refers to this chapter as the “Parable of the Sheep and the Goats”, and others declare that it is not a parable at all, but just a simple fact and narrative spoken with his disciples on the Mount of Olives. Jesus states in Matthew 25:31-33 NIV:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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.”
Remember, Jesus spoke these words looking over a city where even at that moment, his enemies were planning for his arrest and execution. The crowds who followed him were gone, his friends were afraid and powerless, and one was there to betray him. Yet, as he envisioned the centuries to come, and with certainty in his words in that hour of evil and defeat, he said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory…, he will sit on his glorious throne. [And] before him will be gathered the nations.”
The word “nations” has caused some confusion as to who will be included in this judgment, “however the word nations in Greek translates as “Gentiles”, and it is often referred to in the Bible as Gentiles, or all the non-Jewish peoples of the world, distinct from the nation Israel. So, it appears that this is the judgment of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people on earth. However, some Bible scholars suggest the judgment will only involve people outside of end-time Israel, others suggest this to mean all people except for Christians, and yet another view is it involves all the people of earth.
It is important to note that Jesus isn’t choosing between the obviously bad and the obviously good. There is no division between the opponents of the gospel and the believers in it. As you will see later, both the “Sheep” and the “Goats” believe they are the “Sheep”.
This act of judgment takes place immediately, and in the judgment of the sheep and goats, Jesus is distinguishing among all the persons who declare themselves to be Christians and claim to belong to him as members of the family of God. So, it is the separation of the true Christians from the hypocrites; of the false from the real, the righteous (sheep) from the unrighteous (goats). Jesus takes his place on the glorious throne and sits as the undisputed judge over all men. In Matthew 25:34-36:
“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.’”
The most striking thing is that Jesus is saying that the supreme achievement of a true Christian is not the knowledge of the Bible, or even his faith, but his compassion and help he shows to those who are in need. The core meaning emphasizes that acts of kindness toward others, especially those in need, are considered acts of love and service to Jesus Himself. To keep it simple, Jesus noted that when they had the opportunity to help someone in need, they did it.
The King then replies to the goats:
“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 need clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.
The seriousness of helping the needy is seen in the fury of our Lord’s words: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” And remember that these are people who honestly think that they are sheep. They can point to the fact that they are church members in good standing, and they take pride about the moment they professed belief in Christ, but the goats are condemned for what they failed to do, not for some heinous crimes, but for their inaction and indifference toward human suffering.
The feeling that both the sheep and the goats had in the Lord’s words was one of total stunning surprise. Both groups expected to be judged on a different basis. The sheep would surely feel that faith would be the basis, but the unusual thing is that not even one is given the chance to respond. Jesus already has settled the issue. All are simply told to which group they belong.
“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?’”
But, needless to say, faith is the issue. The sheep are instructed to take their place on the right hand of the throne. Jesus welcomes the righteous sheep into his kingdom, stating, “As you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me”. Their surprise reveals that their good deeds were a natural expression of their character, and that their genuine faith has been production its fruit of good works. Unconsciously, they have been responding to the pleas and needs of those about them. They didn’t expect any praise, and they were unaware that they were doing anything out of the ordinary.
As was previously mentioned, the goats are equally surprised:
“They will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick in prison, and did not help you?’”
They are making lists of how they have ministered to the needy, put in long hours working for charity, fighting for racial equality, and they are shocked, not realizing that neglecting the needy was a rejection of Christ. Then the King replies to these self-justifying people:
“Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.”
They did not recall Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. There Jesus tells us that deeds done “to be seen by men” already have their reward, and the deeds done are not to be done for personal gratification, even if the public is unaware of them. He says, “let not your left hand know what your right hand does.” Some scholars refer to this as the unconscious test.
How does God Judge? God judgment is predicated on the unconscious moments of our life. If deeds are not unconscious, they are planned deeds, carefully performed for man in the public eye, many times done in the hope that we may find favor from God. But God looks at the times that we do things when we are off guard or unaware because that reveals the heart with our unconscious reactions. He makes it clear that good deeds that are not the unconscious, spontaneous response of an ingrained by Christ are not good deeds.
Again, comes the word “Watch”. God is always testing us, and if we have not received him into our hearts and made ourselves available to him, we do not have life. We learn that as soon as we begin to obey and reach out to others in the love that he gives to us that we can meet the test. It’s not that good deeds earn salvation, but rather that true salvation inevitably produces good deeds.
So, what must we do? Our Lord says, we must obey the command he repeats over and over again . Watch means we are to help one another by relying on Christ for spiritual nourishment by studying the Bible. We must walk in the spirit, not depending on men, but on the power of an indwelling Spirit who is God himself, at work in us.
There was a Bible sentence I learned awhile back, and I memorized it. “To break the habit of sin, God forces us into circumstances in which we must walk in the Spirit”. I believe that if you pay attention, you will see that this is true.
Until next time, may peace, love and joy be with you always.