The Sheep And The Goats
THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS
MATTHEW 25:31-46
Judgment day will be a day of settling accounts.
The setting of this judgment scene was familiar to the hearers and probably to the readers: the coming of the Son of Man with attendant angels (cf. 16:27) and his sitting on his glorious throne (cf. 19:28), the gathering of all nations for judgment (cf. Joel 3:2,11,14) and the allocation of bliss or doom were themes of contemporary apocalyptic literature, derived ultimately from Old Testament revelation. It is in the criterion on which the verdict is based that the distinctive feature of the parable consists. The parabolic element, strictly speaking, is confined to the words: “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left” (25:32f.). A mixed flock of sheep and goats is not uncommon in Palestine: superficially they may look alike, apart from their tails, but from time to time they must be separated.
They may be gathered as nations but they are judged as individuals. And this, says Jesus, will be the principle of judgment: how have they treated me in the person of “the least of these my brethren”? He is fittingly called “the King” (25:34,40) because of his enthronement.
The expression “these my brethren” suggests that they are present: the followers of the Son of Man, “the saints of the Most high,” are associated with him in the judgment (cf. Daniel 7:22; 1 Corinthians 6:2f.). His kingdom is their inheritance (21:43), but here it is revealed that it has also been prepared “from the foundation of the world” for those who have treated them kindly (25:34ff.) and in so doing are deemed to have shown this kindness to the King himself (cf. 10:40-42; 18:5). No wonder these Gentiles are amazed (25:37); readers of this passage have been amazed in generation after generation, and have found difficulty in fitting the teaching here given into their theological scheme. But which must be altered—the teaching of Jesus, or our theological scheme?
For the same essential insistence on the care of those in need cf. Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 13:2f.,16; James 2:15f.; 1 John 3:17. Those on the left hand are as surprised by their condemnation (25:44) as the others are by their acceptance; but the awards are completely impartial. As elsewhere in Scripture (cf. 16:27; Romans 2:6-11) divine judgment is rendered to men according to their works, be they good or bad. The “eternal fire” (25:41) is probably Gehenna (cf. 5:22-29f.; 18:8f.). As “eternal life” (25:46) is the life of the age to come (cf. 19:16), so “eternal punishment” consists in exclusion from that life; for those so sentenced there is no portion in the age to come.
Consider Do modern agencies such as VSO, Christian Aid, War on Want and Shelter qualify for the commendation of Matthew 25:40?