Parables #46 Sheep And Goats Will Be Seperated
Parable #46 – Matthew 25:31-46
Sheep and goats will be separated
This is the last parable in chronological order that Jesus told to reveal and teach us the spiritual truths by means of earthly situations.
Some Biblical scholars regard these verses as a parable; others call it a word picture of the last judgment.
It doesn’t matter…..what does matter is the message that Jesus wants us to take from it to impact our lives today.
The Parable of the Sheep and Goats is part of the Olivet Discourse.
The Olivet Discourse is the name given to the orderly and extended teaching given by Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives. His subject is the end times.
This discourse is recorded in Matthew 24:1 – 25:46.
We find the parable of theheep and goatsinMatt.25:31-46.
The Final Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man[a] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations[] will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.34 “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 creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[c] you were doing it to me!’41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[d] 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
The three parables that precede this one (The Talents, Bridesmaids, Unfaithful and Faithful Slaves) all stress waiting for and preparing (or not) for the return of Christ. This parable takes listeners forward to the moment the Son of Man comes in glory.
Jesus begins the parable by saying it concerns His glorious return to set up His kingdom
31 “But when the Son of Man[a] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.
Therefore, the setting of this event is at the beginning of the millennium, after the tribulation.
The millennial kingdom is the title given to the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth.
Six times in Revelation 20:2-7, the millennial kingdom is specifically said to be 1000 years in length and gives the precise time period of the millennial kingdom.
Even without these scriptures, there are countless others that point to a literal reign of the Messiah on the earth.
The fulfillment of many of God’s covenants and promises rests on a literal, physical, future kingdom.
There is no solid basis for denying the literal interpretation of the millennial kingdom and its duration being 1000 years.
All those on earth at that time will be brought before the Lord, and He will separate those(verses 32-33)
32 All the nations[] will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
Where will all the nations be at Christ’s return?
Gathered in his presence (25:31-32)
Who are the people gathered before Jesus in this final judgement:
Are they Gentiles, Jews, Samaritans, believers, non-believers, all humanity?
The identity of those who are gathered is disputed, but it is probably all humanity.
The passage belongs to a long section full of stories and examples for believers and one might expect here a solemn appeal is to those within the church.
Several commentators call this the “Gentile Judgment,” but in the passage itself there is no support for this limitation.
He says he will divide all peoples as a Shepherd would do, dividing his sheep, from the goats ?Is it difficult to separate sheep from goats?
The sheep on Jesus’ right hand are blessed by God the Father and given an inheritance.
What will Jesus say to those on his right (the sheep)?
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. The reason is stated: verses 35-36
“35 For I was hungry, and you fed me.
I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.
I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.
36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing.
I was sick, and you cared for me.
I was in prison, and you visited me.’
The righteous will not understand, how will the sheep respond to Jesus’ words on that day?:verses 37-40
‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
How does Jesus respond to their questions? 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[c] you were doing it to me!’
What did Jesus say to those on his lift (the goats)?
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[d] , “
The reason is given:
That they had opportunity to minister to the Lord, but they did nothing (verses 42-43).
42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
The damned ask, verse 44
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
How did Jesus reply to them?verse 4545 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’5. How do people today usually determine whether they will be nice to someone? 6. How would your behavior change if you treated every person in your life as if he or she was Jesus? 7. In several recent parables, Jesus emphasizes being faithful and using your gifts (talents, minas, watchful servants) but didn’t say what that means. Here he lists six specific things that we are to do. They are:Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Invite strangers into your home
Clothe the naked
Care for the sick
Visit those in prison
Who are the needy or “the least of my brothers” that we are to serve?
Proverbs 19:17
17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord— and he will repay you!
Matthew 10:40-42
40 “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. 41 If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God,[a] you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. 42 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”
Matthew 12:46-50
46 As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak to you.”[a]
48 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. 50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”
This story sounds as if Jesus is saying that he is going to judge us based on our works, or on our deeds.
But surely we’re saved by our faith, not by works?
However, Scripture does not contradict itself, and the Bible clearly and repeatedly teaches that salvation is by faith through the grace of God and not by our good works
John1:1212 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.Acts 15:1111 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”Romans 3:22-2422 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Romans 4:4-8
4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God whoforgives sinners. 6 David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:7 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven,whose sins are put out of sight.8 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”[aGalatians 3:6-96 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”[a] 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”[] 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
Ephesians 2:8-108 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
In fact, Jesus Himself makes it clear in the parable that the salvation of the “sheep” is not based on their works—their inheritance was theirs “since the creation of the world”
Matthew 25:34long before they could ever do any good works!34 “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 creation of the world.
The good works mentioned in the parable are not the cause of salvation but the effect of salvation.
As Christians we become like Christ Colossians 2:6-7
6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Romans 8:29
29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[a] among many brothers and sisters.
2 Corinthians 3:18
18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Good works in a Christian’s life are the direct overflow of these traits, and are only acceptable to God because of the relationship that exists between servant and Master, the saved and their Savior, the sheep and their Shepherd
Ephesians 2:1010 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.Surely it doesn’t depend on what we do, does it? James 2:14-18Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead
14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
So… if you are relying on your faith in Jesus to save you on judgment day, but you are carrying on living the same kind of selfish life as the people around you who don’t believe in him, watch out. Watch out.
The Bible doesn’t give you any reassurance at all that you will really be saved.
Good works aren’t the reason we are saved;
Good works are the evidence that we are saved.
Think about this,
‘If you were put on trial for being a follower of Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict you?’
Jesus is saying in Matthew 25 that on judgment day, he will look for evidence that we belong to him—evidence in how we’ve treated the least of his brothers and sisters.
Some commentaries about the sheep and the goats
One commentary says in no uncertain terms that this is the Judgement of the Gentiles :That “the sheep are praised and inherit the kingdom.
The goats are rebuked and cast into hell.
That the cause for praise or rebuke is how the Gentiles in question treated believing Jews during the Tribulation. (http://www.faithalone.org/index.html)
A number of other commentators write convincingly that “these brothers of mine” refers to other believers: pastors, missionaries, Christian workers. (http://www.facingthechallenge.org) says, “Let’s take a moment to look at a couple of earlier verses in Matthew’s Gospel that would help us to understand who Jesus has in mind here.
In Matthew 10, Jesus is sending out his disciples on a training mission. This is what he says to them: Matthew 10:40-4240 “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me
So here, Jesus is talking to his own followers, and he says, ‘he who receives you receives me.’
That is the same thought as in Matthew 25.
Then in Matthew 12:46-50
46 As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak to you.”[a]48 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. 50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”
Back to chapter 25: If we put these two quotations together with what Jesus says in chapter 25, we can see that he is talking about his own people, his true family. He’s talking about Christian believers.
If we compare those verses then we can identify the “least of these” with the needy in general.
This is consistent with Jesus’ commands to ignore distinctions between insiders and outsiders and with Jesus’ command to love one’s enemies.
Jesus then ends the discussion with a contrast: verse 46
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, we are looking at man redeemed and saved, and man condemned and lost.
A casual reading seems to suggest that salvation is the result of good works.
The“sheep”acted charitably, giving food, drink, and clothing to the needy.
The“goats”showed no charity.
This seems to result in salvation for the sheep and damnation for the goats.This parable is similar to the Rich Man and Lazarus in that there is a time to repent and be converted and the time to care for the poor on one’s doorstep, is past because judgment has arrived.
The parable emphasizes the connection between seeing a need and acting on it.
It is reminiscent of the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke. The parable says that all three observers of the man in the ditch “saw him.”
The first two engaged in a twofold action.
They “saw him” and then, their response was, they “passed by on the other side.”
The response of the third person is threefold. He “saw him,” he was “moved with pity,” and then he took concrete action to express his compassion and assist the injured man
The sequence of seeing, having compassion, and acting is a common one in the gospels.
In Luke’s Gospel, when Jesus “saw” the woman weeping at the death of her only son, he “had compassion for her,” and brought her son to life (Lk 7:13).
When the father “saw” the prodigal son “still far off . . . he was filled with compassion” and ran and embraced him (Lk 15:20). Matthew and Mark repeatedly tell us that Jesus himself, when he “saw” the crowds, had compassion on them and healed, fed, and taught them (Mt 9:36 14:14 15:32 Mk 6:34 8:2).
Here in the parable of the Last Judgment what makes some blessed is the fact that, though they didn’t realize it, in seeing the poor and helping them, they saw and helped Jesus. By contrast, what makes others cursed… is that they never really did see Jesus suffering and in need because they never really saw the poor. The king addresses each of the two groups as either blessed or cursed and announces the consequences—enter into the kingdom or depart from him.
Jesus states his condition for making these remarks as a need that they either met or did not meet: “I was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or in prison and you fed, gave me drink, welcomed me clothes me, visited me, came to see me.”
The core message of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats is that God’s people “the sheep”will love others.
Good works will result from our relationship to the Shepherd. Followers of Christ will treat others with kindness, serving them as if they were serving Christ Himself.
The sheepwill always walk in the spirit.
They are not concerned with worldly politics they are more concerned about the welfare of others and sharing the gospel with others. They are not argumentative.They are peace makers and put Christ’s love into action. They forgive even when it is hard and sometimes stand alone in their cause. Like Jesus when he came into the world, many did not recognize him because he was not dressed or magnified as a king. He ate with sinners and fed and healed the poor. This life is not about give me what is mine or you are not entitled to my stuff because I work harder than you.
Whereas the unregenerate(not renewed in heart and mind or reborn in spirit)“the goats”those who are not spiritually reborn and not repentant , they live in the opposite manner.
While “goats” can indeed perform acts of kindness and charity, their hearts are not right with God, and their actions are not for the right purpose – to honor and worship God.
The Goats symbolize the self righteous.
Many today who claim to be Christian but treat illegal aliens and people on welfare as parasites. They say they have no right to sponge off us hard working people.
They are always fighting for moral values which is good but they forget the most important such as Peace, love, and patience, long suffering.
The holy spirit is not in control, the flesh is. They bully others and are not meek. They vote for greedy politicians who claim to be Christians, but fleece the common man. The goats who think they know it all will be thrown into outer darkness with the unbelievers because of the hardness of their unrepentant hearts.
The goats represent the churches today which are filled with religious worldly self righteous blind but educated people with horns.
The sheep are those who represent the character of Jesus who are moved with compassion, humble and in God’s sight, worthy of the kingdom. Many will come on that day and say:I wrote religious booksWas at church every week and paid my tithe
And Jesus will say He did not know them. Just as the Shepherds did not want the sheep and goats to breed so they separated them, so it is in this day…. we need to separate ourselves for God’s Holy purposes, compassion and meeting needs or choose to be separated on that day
What specific act of kindness toward a needy person can you do today?