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 glorious throne. 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, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters 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, ‘Truly I tell you, 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 tells us here in His Parable of the Sheep and the Goats that He will be the One who will judge the world...When Jesus said that the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’...“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...For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 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.’...“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?’..."He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’...“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."...Jesus wants us to live as He lived on earth and do as He did helping those in need...And the second great lesson in this teaching is that He is claiming to be our Judge...Jesus is saying it is He who will judge the world...
The Reverend John R. W. Stott, says this about the Sheep and the Goats, “Christ’s fourth indirect claim was to judge the world...This is perhaps the most fantastic of all His statements...Several of His parables imply that He will come back at the end of the world, and that the final day of reckoning will be postponed until His return...He will Himself arouse the dead, and all the nations will be gathered before Him...He will sit on the throne of His glory, and the judgment will be committed to Him by the Father...He will then separate men from one another as a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats...Some will be invited to come and inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world...Others will hear the dreadful words, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'...Not only will Jesus be the Judge, but the criterion of judgment will be men’s attitude to Him as shown in their treatment of His 'brethren' or their response to His word...Those who have acknowledged Him before men He will acknowledge before His Father: those who have denied Him, He will deny...Indeed, for a man to be excluded from heaven on the last day, it will be enough for Jesus to say, "I never knew you.”...