The Sheep and the Goats

Matthew 25 is, technically, a long parable. Okay, it is a series of parables, but they're connected. It begins with "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ..." and goes on to talk all about the coming kingdom. There is the story of the ten virgins. Jesus tells us His intent: "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour" (Matt 25:13). There is the story of the slaves and the talents. (Remember, "talents" refers to pieces of silver, not natural abilities.) Jesus concludes, "For to everyone who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away" (Mat 25:29). And then we get to the parable of the sheep and the goats in verses 31-46. In this story (parable?), He judges "the nations", separating them "as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats". He uses His own criteria to separate the two -- whether or not they fed Him and gave him drink and were hospitable to Him and clothed Him and tended Him when He was sick or in prison. Both sides, the sheep and the goats, want to know when they did (or didn't do) these things. Jesus says, "To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me" (Matt 25:40). The sheep, then, are welcomed into the kingdom, and the goats are banished to eternal fire.

What is the point of this parable? I remember Keith Green's song about it. His view is "The only difference between the sheep and the goats, according to this Scripture, is what they did, and didn't do!!" That, of course, is the simplest reading of this passage. At the final judgment, Jesus will examine what you and I did or didn't do. Based on whether or not we took care of people will determine your eternal destiny. End of story.

So ... why do I take up this passage? Pretty clear, isn't it? Why ask why? Well, if this was Jesus's message, we have a problem. If this is what Jesus was teaching, then we have a direct contradiction to the rest of the Scriptures that indicate that we are saved by faith, not by works. We would need to either toss out or at least thoroughly reexamine the rest of the New Testament. Well, Paul would definitely have to go. I mean, he was relentless in contradicting this concept that we are saved by what we do or don't do. But the rest is in question as well. Time to toss Christianity. There is nothing really distinctive about it. Thank you very much. That's why I take up this passage. What does it mean if not that plain reading?

First, let's note that He is not speaking in a vacuum. He is speaking to His disciples. This isn't a general message to everyone. And He has spoken before of sheep. What was it He said before about sheep and shepherds? In John 10 He uses the imagery of the shepherd and the sheep. He is the good shepherd. And in this passage, who are the sheep? He tells the skeptics, "You do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:26-28). Thus, the sheep are His own. Those not His own are, according to this passage, unbelievers. If this parallel holds, then, the sheep in the Matthew passage are believers and the goats are not.

Is that it? Is there any reason to think this might be the case? Yes, of course there is. Jesus speaks here of separating "sheep and goats". He speaks elsewhere of separating things as well. What is separated there? He speaks of separating "the tares and the wheat" (Matt 13:24-30) and the good fish from the bad (Matt 13:47-50). In these cases, these things looked a lot alike and needed to have the good and bad separated. But, as in the case of the tares and the wheat, they were not the same thing, and it wasn't what they did that determined what they were, but the opposite.

Another hint is in who Jesus is talking about caring for. While we tend to think of Jesus talking here about all the needy people in the world (because we've been conditioned to think that all religion is about the Universal Brotherhood of Man and the Universal Fatherhood of God -- not quite accurate), Jesus is not being that general. He references a specific set of people: "these brothers of Mine." Who did Jesus view as His brothers? "Whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother" (Matt 12:50). Thus, Jesus's concern in Matt 25 is not taking care of the needy in general, but tending to His people.

Is it possible, given these points, to conclude that Jesus was teaching something that didn't contradict the rest of the New Testament? I think so. He told His disciples, "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). Jesus's disciples love Jesus's disciples. James told us that our behavior will reflect our faith (James 2:14-26). Given all this, this parable of the sheep and the goats would be better understood as a warning to people who believe they are believers, but whose lives don't reflect it. If you think you are a follower of Christ ("sheep"), but you don't care for Christ's followers ("these brothers of Mine"), you are in danger of being found out as a goat, a non-follower of Christ. Those who belong to Christ obey Him and love the brethren. Those who do not do not. Just a heads up.