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“THE PARABLE of the SHEEP and the GOATS” (Matthew 25:31-46)

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“THE PARABLE of the SHEEP and the GOATS” (Matthew 25:31-46) “THE PARABLE OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS” (Matthew 25:31-46) A common expression you’ve no doubt heard is that “there are only two kinds of people in the world.” • “There are those who give and those who take; those who follow and those who lead; those who simplify, and those who complicate.” • Someone said, “There are those you want to have a drink with, and those who make you want to drink.” • Mark Twain said there are two types of public speakers: “Those who are nervous and those who are liars.” He also said, ““There are those who work hard and those who let them work hard.” “There are those who accomplish things, and those who claim to have accomplished things.” The first group is less crowded. • Then there’s the smart aleck who says, “There are those who divide the world into two types of people, and those who don’t.” According to Jesus, as we will see today, there are only two kinds of people in the end: The sheep and the goats. The big question that we must consider this morning is: Which one am I and how do I know? For the past several weeks we have been studying Matthew 24-25 – Jesus’ famous teaching on the future of the world – called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus taught His disciples on the Mt. of Olives overlooking Jerusalem. Throughout the Olivet Discourse Jesus has contrasted two groups of people: Those who are ready for His Second Coming and those who aren’t. • There were two groups of people in Noah’s day – those who believed that God was sending a flood of judgment and prepared a boat, and those who mocked the coming judgment and were swept away in the flood. • Two men are working in a field – one is suddenly taken away in judgment and the other is left. • Two women are grinding wheat – one is taken and one is left. • In the parable of the bridegroom, five bridesmaids have oil in their lamps and are ready when the bridegroom appears, but the other five do not have oil, and are shut out of the wedding banquet. • In the parable of the talents, the faithful servants are rewarded when their master returns and finds them faithful, but the unfaithful servant is eternally judged. In the end there are really only two kinds of people: those who are saved and those who are not. Those who are saved enter into the kingdom, and those who are not saved will face judgment. This truth is nowhere better described than in the final part of the Olivet Discourse where Jesus tells the parable of the sheep and the goats. In 25:31-33 Jesus says, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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.” The parable of the sheep and the goats describes that great judgment day that will take place when Christ returns to earth. In this parable we see the judge – who is Jesus; we see the time of judgment, the place of judgment, and the subjects of judgment, the basis of judgment, and the final outcome of judgment. We begin with the judge. The central promise Jesus made – the promise that shapes everything we think and believe as Christians – is that He is coming back. While we await His coming, Jesus says that this present world – controlled by Satan – will grow increasingly wicked. And just as God judged the earth with a flood in Noah’s day, in the future God will judge the earth with a series of judgments – just prior to His coming – during the seven-year period called the Tribulation. The Tribulation will be a time of distress unequaled since the beginning of time – there will be wars and conflicts, earthquakes and other natural disasters, and all-out persecution of believers. The Tribulation will conclude with the armies of the world gathering at Armageddon to wage war on God and His people. Just when things could not get any worse, the heavens and earth will shake, stars will fall from the sky, and the glory of Christ will suddenly light up the sky. Every eye will see Him as He descends on the Mt. of Olives – the same place from which He is presently teaching His disciples – and He will vanquish His enemies with His sword. His Second Coming will be much different than His first coming. His first coming – 2000 years ago – was anything but glorious. He came in meekness and humility. Now at His Second Coming, He comes in glory. He comes in power. He comes riding a white horse – He comes not to die, but to rule. He’s ready to take back the world from the clutches of Satan and inaugurate His glorious kingdom on earth. He says, “The Son of Man will come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, and He will sit on his glorious throne.” Centuries earlier, God made a promise to David that one of His descendants would sit on his throne forever and ever. Now in the city of Jerusalem, Christ sits on His throne and rules and reigns over the world for 1000 years. This 1000 year period, known as the Millennium, is the culmination of all of God’s promises of a better world to come. Despite all the pain and turmoil of this world, it has a happy ending. Christ is going to take the world back from Satan and rule over a glorious kingdom. After the 1000-year Millennium, God will create a new heavens and a new earth, uniting them together, and this will be our eternal home. The prophet Zechariah tells us something fascinating about what happens when Jesus returns… “On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south” (Zechariah 14:4). Why is there a big valley? The prophet Joel predicted that when the Messiah comes, He will gather all the nations of the world to the valley of Jehoshaphat – a word that means “God judges.” You can picture in your mind Christ sitting upon His throne on the temple mount of Jerusalem, and below Him is a great valley – created by the Mt. of Olives being split in two – and in this great valley all those who survived the great tribulation and the battle of Armageddon are gathered. Joel calls it the valley of “decision”… “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near “in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:14). The “decision” is God’s decision of judgment. God gives us the opportunity in this life to decide about Him, and based on our decision, He will decide about us. As the nations of the world are gathered into this large valley, the Lord separates individual people “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Sheep and goats were a common sight in the Middle East. They often grazed together, but there were times when the shepherd separated them. Sheep and goats are similar in appearance, but in temperament, they are very different. Sheep are gentle and very dependent on their shepherd. Goats are independent and rambunctious. Sheep follow, goats go wherever they want. Once again, there is a division between two groups. The sheep represent believers, and the goats represent unbelievers. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Goats have no relationship with the Lord. Verse 33 says, “He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” In ancient culture the right hand was the hand of blessing. It was the hand of honor. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. The disciples argued over who would be seated at the right hand of Christ in the kingdom. In the early church they gave the “right hand of fellowship” to new believers. The right hand was also the position of inheritance. When the patriarch Jacob was close to dying, he had his grandsons – Manasseh and Ephraim, brought before him to give them his patriarchal blessing. Everyone expected that Manasseh, the first born, would receive the bigger blessing. When they entered the room, Jacob made sure that Manasseh was on his right side and Ephraim, was on his left. But when the pronouncement of blessing came, Jacob crossed his arms so that his right hand was placed on Ephraim’s head, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head. Here the true believers are placed to the right – in the position of blessing and honor – and unbelievers are placed to the left. Verse 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.’” When my father died seven years ago, all His money, property, and belongings went to my brother, sister, and me – we got it all because we were his kids. Because we belonged to His family, we received all the privileges of being His children.
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