Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Jesus teaches that when the He comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory...All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats...He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left...Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world...For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, “I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’...“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘LORD, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?...When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You?...When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit You?’...“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.”...
We realize that Jesus will return to earth...All those on earth when He returns will be brought before Him...He will separate the people as a shepherd does, His sheep from His goats....As we read this we realize that He never said that we are to go to the synagogue and find the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the stranger who needed help, and those in prison...What Jesus said was we are to help the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the imprisoned...When we help those in need we are doing for Him...The Good Shepherd's sheep will be saved...The sheep helped His needy ones...The goats did not...His sheep are charitable, loving, helpful, and forgiving...God’s people and followers are to love others, all others...Followers of Jesus are servers, serving others...They serve the hungry, the homeless, the suppressed, the imprisoned...