Matthew 25:31-46 The Sheep and the Goats
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 place 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, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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 took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited 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 take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, 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 take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
“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 place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”
Once more, Jesus is speaking to an audience well-acquainted with farm animals. Even in cities and towns, goats and sheep freely roam the streets, leaving their droppings behind. Everyone knows that sheep are docile with sweet dispositions and are easily led, while goats are stubborn, willful, and will go their own way whenever possible. Experienced shepherds must handle sheep and goats differently if they are to succeed. And there’s also another thing: While sheep do have some odor, goats STINK! Bottom line: shepherds will separate sheep from goats and handle the two groups differently. Here the righteous are represented by the sheep while the unrighteous are represented by the goats.
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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 took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited 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 take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’”
One of our friends says, “It’s all about choices.” Throughout their lives, the righteous have consistently chosen to help and to minister to all those around them. Notice that the King says nothing about how deserving the people were who benefited from these efforts, for mercy gives freely without judging. We have many friends who work in various ministries, including prison Bible studies, half-way houses for those released from prison, projects such as Angel Tree for children from poor families, shelters for battered women and children, food banks, etc. At the mission hospital where we work, we support patients and their families who need food and medicine. Recently farming seasons have yielded little, leaving our rural population in great need. Nobody can do everything at once, but when you open your eyes, God can show you the needs He wants you to help address. Here Jesus is saying that whenever we help someone, it is as if we were helping Him.
“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 take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
At one point in Charles Dickens’ book A Christmas Carol, Marley’s ghost laments, “Business! Mankind was my business!” Sadly, it was only after Marley had died that he recognized his failure to care. But all of us are still alive and we can begin helping others today. It’s interesting but true that some of the most generous people we know are also the poorest because they know what it means to suffer and therefore have compassion on others. Mother Teresa made a similar observation working with the poor in Calcutta, India. You might feel that you have nothing to give; however, if you go through your closet, there are probably clothes you haven’t worn for some time that would bless someone else. We have a friend who must own 50 or more pairs of shoes, but nobody can wear more than one pair of shoes at a time. Look in the back of your cupboard and see if you don’t have cans of food that would bless others.
Helping others will not allow you to buy your way into heaven. We don’t help because we are trying to manipulate God but out of gratitude for what God has already done for us. Each one of us has been born with a sin problem and nothing we do is sufficient to wipe out our sin and make us acceptable to a holy God. But Jesus has shed his blood on the cross at Calvary as a sacrifice for our sins. When we confess our sins to God and accept what Jesus has done for us, God sees us as righteous. Once we are trusting in Jesus for our righteousness, we want to do things that will please him and not ourselves. Here Jesus is telling his disciples and believers in all times that if we have changed our nature from a goat nature to a sheep nature, we should show others mercy as we have received mercy.
Finally, we should heed the warning embodied in the final sentence of this parable. When we refuse to show others mercy and to help others, it is as if we have refused to help God. Each time we turn away or stop our ears so we can ignore the cries of the poor, we are turning away from God. God is not refusing us; we are refusing God and making eternal choices in the process.
This story follows the stories of the foolish virgins and the man who wasted the money his master gave him to invest. In each story Jesus is trying to warn his followers to be faithful, to be watchful, and to be merciful and charitable. Jesus knows he is about to die, and these are some of his final teachings. Jesus is desperate for his followers to understand the workings of the Kingdom of God because once he is gone, they must carry on.
This story also graphically illustrates a Kingdom principle that Jesus emphasizes repeatedly: the measure you give out is the measure you will receive. The more generous you are, the more God can give you to give others. When George Mueller began taking in orphaned children in Bristol, England, he started quite modestly. Before Mueller died, the orphanages he founded were caring for thousands of children at a time, not only feeding and clothing them but also educating them as well. In addition, Mueller was also supporting the China Inland Mission as well as other Bible teachers in various parts of the world, and he himself traveled the world preaching and encouraging others to trust God.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all those who read these words to trust You and to become your sheep, helping and caring for others. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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