Jesus' Parable of the The Sheep & Goats
Matthew 25: 31-46

By Gary DeLashmutt

Teaching t08788

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Introduction

Briefly reiterate the theme of these three parables—what will happen when Jesus returns to establish God's kingdom. We come now to the final one (read 25:31-46).

This last parable is technically not a parable; it is a simile. It is straightforward teaching about what will happen when Jesus returns, likening Jesus' separation of all humanity into two groups to the way shepherds separated sheep from goats in the morning (after the goats huddled together with the sheep for warmth during the cool nights). The rest has nothing to do with shepherding. This passage is also a challenge to interpret . . . 

What does it mean?

This passage was one of the few Bible passages I heard (at least part of it) in my liberal Protestant church growing up. The pastor's explanation was that it doesn't matter at all what you actually believe about God and Jesus. As long as you are nice to and help people, you're going to heaven. People who perform acts of kindness to needy people are “Christians unaware” (including atheists) and going to heaven—like everyone else.

The first problem with this, of course, is that the rest of the Bible (and Jesus' teaching) makes it crystal clear that the content of our faith is absolutely critical to salvation. God rebuked Israel for idolatry as spiritual adultery, and swept them away in exile when they refused to repent. Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for replacing the content of God's Word with their own religious traditions (Mark 7), and warned them of God's judgment if they kept doing this (Matthew 23). John states that people who deny that Jesus is God's unique Savior/Son are not accepted by the Father (1 John 2:23).

Another problem is that he didn't take the text seriously—he never read the last half of the passage because he didn't believe in hell. So this passage was amputated and mangled into an insipid moralistic platitude: Be nice, help people, everything will work out in the end anyway regardless of what you believe.

There is another interpretation of this passage that is fairer to the text. Conservative Christians with sensitive social consciences often say on the basis of this parable that believers will be damned by God unless we are actively involved in serving the poor, oppressed and needy. Ron Sider, President of Evangelicals for Social Action, holds this view: “Jesus . . .  spent considerable time ministering to lepers, despised women, and other marginalized folk. He healed the sick and the blind. He fed the hungry. And he warned his followers in the strongest possible words that those who do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners will experience eternal damnation . . . The meaning (of Matthew 25:31-46) is clear. Jesus intends that his disciples imitate his own concern for the poor and needy. Those who disobey will experience eternal damnation.”¹

I have a lot of respect for Ron Sider. We have had him speak here at Xenos. His book is a must read. The Bible is very clear about God's concern for the poor and oppressed, and about the responsibility of his people to care for them. The failure of the middle-class American evangelical church to develop and express a Christian social conscience is one of the real blemishes of our day. Our ministry to the poor (Urban Concern) and our emphasis on economic development in our missions work grow out of this conviction.

But having said this, there are real problems with interpreting this passage in this way. If we say that our salvation is based on serving the poor, then we are directly contradicting what Jesus and the apostles teach—namely, we can never earn God's acceptance by our good works (Galalatians 2:16). Rather we receive God's acceptance as a gift (paid for by Jesus' perfect and finished work) by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Good works (like the ones mentioned in Matthew 25) are a result of our salvation and not a condition for it (Ephesians 2:8-10). For this reason, no matter how important caring for the needy is, it plays no part whatever in our salvation.

What then shall we do with this passage? Ignore it? Excise it? No, there is another way of understanding this passage that takes the text seriously and is consistent with the rest of scripture.

One interpretive clue is the identification of “these brothers of mine, even the least of these” (25:40, 45). There are four parties in this parable: the King, the sheep, the goats, and “these brothers of mine.” Is this fourth group anyone who is poor and oppressed—or is it a more specific group? If we read Matthew's gospel in one sitting (as we should), by the time we came to this parable we would know that Jesus uses this phrase to refer to his followers (and specifically his disciples) as his true family members.

Read 12:46-50. Here, Jesus redefines his true family. He loves his biological family, but his kinship is with those who follow the Father's will (by responding to his teaching) are his true family.

Read 23:8,9. Jesus doesn't mean this literalistically in the sense that we cannot address our biological family members as “mother.” “father,” “brother,” or sister.” He means that our primary, most important relationships with others is mediated by him: we are first of all children of God and brothers/sisters in his family.

Another interpretive clue is a parallel passage in Matthew 10. Jesus is training his disciples for their future mission work by sending them out as his spokesmen to communicate the gospel to a number of cities in Israel.

He warns them that many people will not receive them into their homes because they reject the message they bring. And he tells them 10:14,15 (read)—sound familiar? To reject Jesus' spokesperson is to reject Jesus and invite judgment (unless they change their minds).

On the other hand, he tells them that some will receive them into their homes (or help them in other ways) because they receive the message they bring. And he makes this promise concerning these people. Read 10:40. To receive Jesus' spokesperson (that is, to receive the message he brings) is to receive him and his Father (which brings salvation—John 1:12). He goes on to say 10:41,42 (read)—sound familiar? In the same way that God would reward people in the Old Testament times who received a prophet/righteous person “in their name” (as a spokesperson for God), Jesus will reward all who receive his followers—even giving them a cup of cold water.

The point of Matthew 10 & 25 is the same. Jesus is going to take the gospel to the world (“nations”) through his followers. He so identifies himself and his mission with his followers that the way people respond to his ambassadors is a true indication of how they are responding to him. When Jesus returns as King and brings people before him to decide their eternal destiny, this will be based on how they responded to his followers as they communicated his message.

This is exactly what Paul emphasizes in 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (read). He has made us his ambassadors in the sense that we speak the terms of salvation to people in his place and with his authority.

Luke traces this same theme in Acts.

Paul considered himself a follower of God and a member of God's kingdom. But he was persecuting Christians. When Jesus struck him down on the road to Damascus, he introduced himself to Paul by asking him a question: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” When Paul asked him “Who are you?” Jesus replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4-5). Notice Jesus' identification with his followers: the way Paul treated Christians was the way he was treating Jesus. Paul was convinced that since the Christians disagreed with his beliefs they were excluded from God's kingdom. But Jesus tells him that the opposite is true: “You are excluded from God's kingdom because you disagree with my followers.”

Later, Paul was wrongly imprisoned in Philippi. When God sends an earthquake that frees Paul from his bonds, the jailer recognizes that Paul is a spokesman for the one true God. He casts himself at Paul's feet and (read 16:30-34; 16:33-34 echo Matthew 25:35-36). The jailer's treatment of Paul did not earn his salvation; it indicated his salvation because it was out of gratitude for the message (spoken through Paul) that he believed.

How does it apply to my life?

Now we can move from interpretation (“What does it mean?”) to application (“So what?”). The truth taught in this passage has at least two very important implications—one for those of you who are seekers, and one for those of us who are followers of Jesus.

If you're here as a seeker, you may be thinking “God will probably reveal himself to me through a vision or a personal appearance by Jesus.” If you wait for this, you will probably be waiting for a long time—and then the result won't be positive! According to what we've learned this morning, God is already speaking to speak to you through Jesus' followers. This is Paul's point in the passage we already looked at (2 Corinthians 5:20).

In fact, God is speaking to you right now through me. Not because I'm righteous, not because I hold some office in the church, not because I'm so wise or have a hot line to Jesus, not because God speaks only through me. But because he (by his grace) has made me his ambassador to speak what he has revealed through his Word. He has authorized me to tell you how to know him. You have to admit to him that you have sinned against him and fall short of his righteous character, and that your good works can never earn God's acceptance. You have to admit your need for Jesus as your Savior, because he alone has lived the righteous life that you owe God, and he alone has qualified to suffer the penalty of death you owe God. You have to be willing to ask God to forgive you through Jesus, and you have to ask Jesus to come into your heart and make you God's child.

If you want to know God, you have to receive this message that I just gave you. If you decide, “No, I can reject the message of Jesus' followers and still be OK with God in the end”—you are fatally mistaken. There is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus. And your response to what Jesus is saying to you through his followers is how your eternal destiny will be determined. If you reject the message of Jesus' followers, you are rejecting God's invitation to his kingdom. This requires a positive response on your part (RSVP to PARTY). What do you say?

What does this passage have for us who are followers of Jesus? God gave us the ministry of reconciliation. God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are Christ's ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). What an amazing expression of God's grace—that he would not only give us the free gift of salvation even though we deserve his judgment, but that he then gives us (with all of our sins and problems) the privilege of communicating for him to others.

With this privilege comes a sober responsibility—we need to open our mouths and tell people about God's offer.

Yes, you are a child, a spouse, a parent, an employer or employee, a citizen, a neighbor, etc.—but above all you are Christ's ambassador, and you need to tell people about Christ! You are positioned by God to reach certain people for Christ that no one else is better positioned to reach.

Yes, you should pray for open doors, be sensitive, tactful, loving, etc.—but you need to tell people about Jesus because this is the most important news in the world. If you wait until you can say it perfectly, you will be waiting forever. But if you love people, trust the Holy Spirit and speak sincerely, God will honor this (MOODY AT CAMBRIDGE).

If you do this, no matter how tactful, loving, sensitive you are (and you should be), sometimes you're going to take some flak. There is no virtue in being offensive, but if you are being faithful you will offend people because you have pricked their pride, exposed their commitment to sin, etc. Don't take this personally. Jesus told us to expect this and that the reaction is really directed at him anyway (John 15:18-21). Aren't you glad someone has the love and courage to tell you about Christ, even if you gave him flak? Let's worry less about how people might hurt us and think more about this privilege and the good we can do for others!

Footnotes

Kingdom Parables Teaching List

Teachings of Matthew