The Sheep and the Goats Matthew 25.31-46 May 17, 2015 Introduction In the prologue of the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast, we re told how an old beggar woman came to the castle of a spoiled prince in hopes of finding shelter from the bitter winter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, he sneered at her and turned her away. Warning him that things are not always as they appear, she suddenly transformed into a beautiful woman. Though the prince tried to apologize, it was too late. She turned him into a hideous beast, cursing him that he would remain that way unless he could learn to love and be loved by another. It s a theme often found in stories: the danger of dismissing the ugly, the weak, the small, and the powerless in favor of those with beauty, strength, and power. It s a theme echoed in the passage we ll be studying this morning. Jesus is going to surprise those who stand before him at the final judgment, telling them that when they served those who were hungry and naked and imprisoned, they were in fact serving him. Remove the hood from the weak and insignificant and you ll find yourself staring into the face of Jesus. Let s take a look at what Jesus has to say about this by opening your Bibles with me to Matthew 25. This morning we ll be looking at the very last section of what is commonly called the Olivet Discourse. Over the past month we ve listened as Jesus answered a couple of questions posed by the disciples at the beginning of Matthew 24. First was the question of when the destruction of the Temple was to take place and second was when he would return to take up his throne. Jesus is still answering the second question in today s passage, although he now comes to the very end of what he has to say. In fact, this is the last section of teaching in Matthew until we come to the Great Commission. After this, the rest of Matthew s gospel is narrative material recounting the events leading up to his death and resurrection. So then, please follow along as I read v. 31-46 of Matthew 25. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the 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 food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the 1
devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer, saying, 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 he will answer them, saying, Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. We re going to break this passage down into three parts. First, we need to consider what it says about Jesus; second, what it teaches about those who are identified as sheep and third, we need to examine what it says about the goats. So let s start at the top and begin with our first point this morning, which concerns 1. The return of Jesus the King The first thing we need to recognize is that Jesus is speaking about his second coming when without warning he will come like a thief in the night to judge the nations. Jesus uses wording in v. 31 that echoes the prophetic book of Daniel where it talks about the coming of the Son of Man to judge the earth. It means his second coming isn t going to be like his first. In John 3:17, it says God did not send his Son into the world condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. His first coming was as one meek and lowly, in humility, come to suffer and die in order to atone for sin. But his second coming will not be like that. When he returns, it will not be Jesus meek and mild: it will be Jesus as glorious King, come with power and authority to judge the nations. So look again at v. 31. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. This is not Jesus incognito, lying in a manger as a helpless infant. It s not Jesus being silent before his accusers, allowing them to mock him, beat him, strip him, taunt him, and crucify him. Rather it is Jesus robed in glorious splendor, as only glimpsed briefly by human eyes during the Transfiguration, sitting on his glorious throne. And let s not overlook the fact that he doesn t come alone; we re told that all the angels are with him. How can our frail human minds ever begin to envision such an awesome scene? What will be it like to not only see the resurrected Lord unblemished in his full radiant holiness but to see him surrounded by thousands upon thousands of angels all in majestic glory? We cannot in our wildest imaginations come close to envisioning the weight of glory that will press upon our eyes in that moment. And what does Jesus and his angels come to do? Look at v. 32-33. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Jesus will come to judge. Every person from every nation will be gathered before his throne to face him. No one will escape it. The dead will be brought back to life and those living across the whole face of the earth will be gathered before him. Then he will separate them into two groups. Jesus uses a simile the disciples would have been familiar with: a shepherd separating sheep from 2
goats. During the daytime both goats and sheep would graze together, but because of their sensitivity to cold, goats would be separated out from the sheep at night and given shelter in a barn or stable. So what Jesus is illustrating here is that a sharp distinction will be made when he returns to judge. Every person will be in one of the two groups: either as a sheep on his right or as a goat on his left. Jesus has often throughout this gospel warned of a two-fold division of humanity. He said either you re a wheat or a tare; either you re on the narrow road or the wide road; either you re building on the rock or upon the sand; either you re a good tree bearing good fruit or a bad tree bearing bad fruits. Two options and only two options. When Jesus returns he will divide everyone into one of those two camps: those on his right and those on his left. There s no middle ground when it comes to Jesus. So that s the first thing we need to see: when Jesus comes again, he s coming to judge. He s going to divide the whole human race into two groups and have something to say to each. But what will he say? That bring us to our second point, which concerns 2. The fate of the sheep Now look back in your Bibles at v. 34-36. 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 food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Jesus calls them to come and inherit the kingdom of God. They re being welcomed into paradise, into the joy of eternal life. And on what basis? Notice the word at the beginning of v. 35, For. That means what follows provides the reason why they are being welcomed into God s kingdom. It was because they did works of righteousness for Jesus. They gave him food and drink when he was hungry, shelter when he was out in the cold, clothing when he was without, and they came to visit him while he was sick or in prison. Now this all comes as a surprise to them. They don t recall Jesus ever being in such situations. So look at how they respond in v. 37. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Let me be clear about who Jesus is talking about. The least of these isn t referring to everyone in the world, although certainly we should demonstrate acts of love and kindness to all people. What does it say? As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers Jesus is talking about fellow believers. Repeatedly in the gospel of Matthew Jesus has warned against despising these little ones which was his way of 3
referring to his followers. They would be despised by the world because of their faith. They would find themselves in desperate situations as a result of persecution, suffering financial loss or being thrown in prison, where they would starve unless someone came and brought them food and drink. To demonstrate love towards those who have been made brothers and sisters of Christ by faith is the primary focus Jesus has in mind to whom these acts of kindness and love are directed. So what that means for us is that how you treat those in the church matters. This isn t about whether you send money to feed the starving children in Africa or whether you donate your used clothes to Goodwill. That s fine and well if you do that, but don t think you ve satisfied Jesus demands if you do those things but fail to lovingly serve those fellow believers who are part of your church. So if nothing else this means first and foremost you need to be part of a local church! The NT only knows of Christians who are members of a local church where they gather together regularly for prayer, teaching, the sacraments, and fellowship with one another. So that s assumed here. This isn t about vague nameless people over there. It s about Christians you re to be rubbing shoulders with on a regular basis. So unless you re a visitor here this morning, Jesus is talking about the person sitting down the row from you. The family sitting in front of you. The couple sitting behind you. Look around you so you are crystal clear who the least of these my brothers are in your life. How you interact with them, how you seek to meet their needs, to love them and show kindness to them that will be what Jesus will notice when he comes to judge. If Grace Fellowship is your church home, then Jesus is going to be looking at how you loved and served these people, right here in this room right now. Furthermore, we dare not forget who we re really dealing with when we deal with one another. Jesus said, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Jesus says what you do for them, you ve done it unto him. Let that sink in for a moment. There is no average, ordinary person. These people here who claim to follow Christ, who together with you each Sunday address God as Father, they are brothers and sisters in Christ, for Christ dwells in them by faith, and thus what you do or say to them is as if you ve done it to Jesus himself. This is how Jesus will judge your life. So weigh carefully your words and deeds. Jesus is present among us and he, like the haggard woman in the prologue of Beauty and the Beast, is hidden beneath the cloak of each of these men and women who call Grace Fellowship your church home, even and especially in those who are poor, who are socially awkward, who irritate you, who lack polish and sophistication. As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. But before I move on, I need to clear up a potential misunderstanding. One could be tempted to think after reading this that salvation is something one earns. You might think, Well, I better go feed the poor and clothe the naked and visit prisoners so that I can earn God s favor on Judgment Day. Let me be clear here that Jesus is not at odds with the apostle Paul. Salvation is always by grace, through faith, not by works so that no one can boast. The difference is between recognizing these deeds as effects, not causes. These deeds are the effects of faith, the result of a transformed 4
life of faith. They are not the cause of faith or merit salvation; they re only the fruit that demonstrates the validity of one s faith. Understand this: you re saved by grace, through faith alone, but the way God will know whether you had genuine faith is by your works. Our works - our thoughts, words and deeds - will be judged. They will be the evidence used to determine whether you had true faith or were just blowing smoke. If you don t have the works, then it shows you didn t have the faith, just as surely as apples on a tree demonstrate conclusively it s not an orange tree. Works don t save you, but they will be what God judges you upon to see whether you truly were his adopted son or daughter by faith in Christ. Listen to how Leon Morris puts it, We should not understand this in the sense that these good works have earned them their salvation; grace is as important throughout this Gospel as anywhere in the New Testament. Jesus is not saying that these are people whose good lives have earned them salvation as their right. He is saying that God has blessed them and brought them into his kingdom, and he proceeds to cite evidence that shows that they do in fact belong in that kingdom. Their lives are evidence that God has been at work in them. 1 Furthermore, Jesus words in v. 34 decisively speak against salvation by works. Look at v. 34 once again. What does Jesus say to the sheep? Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Notice he calls them blessed. To be blessed is to be the recipient of God s good and gracious favor. Such a blessing is shown next when Jesus speaks of them coming to inherit the kingdom. You don t earn an inheritance. You don t labor for it. It is given to you graciously by your father. Then third, these blessed ones are to inherit a kingdom that has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. It s hard to earn something that s been prepared for you long before you were born and had ever done anything good or bad. This is a gift of God s grace, given to his elect before the world began, apart from anything they would or would not do. In fact, keeping these phrases in mind, turn ahead just for a moment to Ephesians 1:3. I want you to see how Paul echoes the words of Jesus here. Ephesians 1:3 can be found on pg. 976 of the pew Bible if you re using one of those. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Salvation is all grace. God blesses us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, which includes his eternal kingdom, as he chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in him. We don t choose him: he chooses us. We don t earn it. God graciously gives it. All that the sheep receive is given by grace alone. 5
So then, those are the sheep: blessed by God, chosen before the foundations of the world to be called, justified, sanctified, and glorified, who will bear the fruit of righteous deeds, seen by God as evidence of their love of him and faith in him. But what of the goats? What has Jesus to say to them? Let s turn our attention now to our third point and consider 3. The fate of the goats Please look back at v. 41 with me and listen to what Jesus says to the goats. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Let s stop right there for the moment. It s easy to recognize the parallel between what Jesus says to the sheep and the goats because he uses similar language throughout, but not everything is identical and it s important for us to notice the differences between v. 41 and v. 34. First, instead of inviting them to come, Jesus says to the goats, Depart from me. Jesus is casting them from his presence. Second, instead of saying they are blessed by my Father he says they are cursed. Whereas the blessing came from God, their cursedness is of their own doing. They are responsible for it, not God the Father. Third, whereas the kingdom was prepared for the sheep, the goats will go into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. While God prepared heaven for his elect, he did not do the same for the rest of humanity. What this means then is that the wicked will go to hell, but the responsibility for them going there is their own: salvation is by God s grace; damnation is by man s choice. There is an asymmetrical relationship between the two. Thus the notion that God choses some people for salvation and some for damnation is a false dichotomy: God only choses to save some, the elect, by grace: the rest he does not chose but simply allows them to reap the consequences of their own sinful choices. So in the end, salvation is solely the responsibility of God s sovereign grace and damnation can only be blamed on man s sinful choices. Those who go to hell go there because of their own choice to reject God instead of love him. God is simply giving them what they have insisted on all their lives: for God to leave them alone. As C. S. Lewis said, There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, Thy will be done, and those to whom God says in the end, They will be done. All that are in Hell, choose it. 2 Just as he did with the sheep, Jesus then goes on to examine the evidence of their lives and finds it lacking. Unlike the sheep, they didn t feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, or visit the prisoner. It s interesting to notice that what Jesus calls them out on the mat for isn t all the wicked things they did but rather the things they didn t do. It as their failure to bear positive fruits of righteousness through clear and tangible deeds of kindness. We must remember there are sins of commission 6
those things you did you should not have done as well as sins of omission those things you should have done yet failed to do. The goats may have been very nice respectable people with beautifully landscaped lawns and well-educated children. They may have voted for the right candidate each election and held positions of honor in the community. But they were so wrapped up in their own little worlds that they didn t have time to notice the plight of those suffering around them, especially those of Christians. It didn t cross their minds that they were overlooking the needs of others less fortunate. It s what they didn t do that Jesus calls them out on. In fact, they re so oblivious that they respond with asking Jesus When? Look back at v. 44 with me in your Bibles. Then they also will answer, saying, 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 he will answer them, saying, Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. Here s the difference between the sheep s question and the goat s question. The sheep were so busy loving their neighbor and gladly giving of themselves to others out of a loving gratitude towards God for their salvation they didn t even think about the fact they were serving Jesus. But the goats, they were too busy being concerned only with themselves that they neither thought of Jesus nor the needy whom Christ identified with. The sheep were blessedly ignorant while the goats were selfishly neglectful. Listen! If you think you can slip on by doing religious things like attending a church service once a week but not lift a finger to welcome the stranger in our midst or help with the needs of the poor within the church or give of yourself in service to those who are lower than you on the socio-economic scale, then you had better listen hard to those words that Jesus will say to you one day. Depart from me! Your faith will be shown by your works or your lack of faith will be shown by your lack of works. The apostle James warns us of this very thing. In James 2:14-17, he says, What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. God will not be fooled. You faith is not shown by whether you raised your hand at an camp meeting or a Sunday school class years ago; it s shown by what you do, in the here and now, to fellow Christians at the church you are part of, and especially to those who have less than you, whether economically, socially, emotionally, or otherwise. Jesus will look at your deeds or lack thereof, done towards the least of these, and determine whether you had genuine faith or were just blowing smoke. So then you have two and only two options of what your eternal future will look like. Look at v. 46 in your Bibles. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. It doesn t get any clearer than this. For each one of us, we will face upon death either eternal life or eternal punishment. Heaven or hell. This is not a fairy tale, not myth, a fable, or a legend. It is what will happen to each 7
and every one of us and is far more certain than the sun rising tomorrow. It is the inescapable historical future that we are one day closer to experiencing today than we were yesterday and there is no guarantee we get tomorrow because today either Jesus might return or you may die. Either way, when it happens, this will happen, and what you are merely reading about in black and white words on a page this morning will surround you in the vivid color of the reality of the presence of the resurrected Christ and his angelic host. Conclusion So then, who are you? A sheep or a goat? When Christ comes in glory, will he place you on his right and welcome you into the kingdom prepare for you before the foundations of the world or will he say, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels? The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. This passage here at the end of Matthew 25 would be an excellent reason why we ought to do this. This is not a passage to take lightly or treat glibly. It s a passage which should rightfully scare you into a sober-minded evaluation of your life. I fear to hear the words spoken to the goats said to me and I long to hear the words of welcome Christ has for the sheep. Better to take a long, hard look at myself and repent of my laziness, my self-centeredness, my uncaring and indifference towards others than to brush this off and forget about it and pretend everything is alright or that I still have time yet before I need to really get serious about this. My friends, the time is now. You don t know when the reality depicted in this passage will come crashing through this fleeting dream that is your life. Let us who long to hear our Lord s voice welcoming us into his kingdom believe, repent, and obey, for the Day of the Lord is coming soon. Let s pray. Endnotes 1. Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to Matthew. William B. Eerdmans Publishing: Grand Rapids, 1992. 2. Lewis, C. S. The Great Divorce. Macmillian Publishing Co.: New Yoork, 1946. This sermon was addressed originally to the people at Grace Fellowship of Waterloo, IA by Pastor Rob Borkowitz. Copyright 2015. 8