Sheep and the Goats (Not the “Greatest Of All Time)
Matthew 25:31-46, NIV - “But when the Son of Man
comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his
glorious throne. All the nations will be
gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. He
will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you
who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the
creation of the world. For I was hungry,
and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and
you invited me into your home. I was
naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in
prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we
ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to
drink? Or a stranger and show you
hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?
When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you
did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it
to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say,
‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil
and his demons. For I was hungry, and
you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me
into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in
prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help
you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you
refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing
to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the
righteous will go into eternal life.”
“If we believed this passage, the orphanages would be
empty.” I read that in online commentary
on this verse. This comment sums up why
I have always struggled with this passage.
I really resent the statement, but it’s true. There are more Christians than orphans in the
world, so if all Christians never refused to help an orphan, they would all
have homes.
Jesus seems so black and white in this passage. If you’re a sheep you will always feed the
hungry, show hospitality, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners. If you’re
a goat, you won’t. One of my problems
with this is that I don’t know one person who always does those things. The truth about human beings is that for
those of us who try to follow Christ, we’re sheep on some days and goats on
other days. So what do we do with this?
The next problem makes the first problem even worse. Taking Jesus at his word, goats are cast out,
sheep are invited in. So if I have ever
refused to help those in need (and Jesus says he is those people), than I am a
goat. I am cast out. Three decades of ministry
ruined in a moment!
I have to confess that I don’t have easy answers. One option is to try and soften Jesus words
somehow – “he didn’t really mean that!” and come up with what he really did
mean. I always try not to do that. I believe Jesus said what he said
intentionally. Besides, if we did that
whenever Jesus seems too harsh, than Jesus sure did misspeak a lot.
My best thought at the moment is that this is a
polemic. A polemic is “an aggressive
attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another.” (Meriam-Webster
dictionary) Polemics are often used by
prophets and other change agents to bring urgency to something that needs to
change. Polemics often are
black-and-white by nature to draw contrast between what is and what should
be. They are used to create tension in
those who here them.
The polemic idea fits with another peculiar aspect of this
passage – the fact that the sheep and the goats don’t know they are sheep and
goats until the Lord sorts them out. It isn’t a labeling system that we get to
use. This is a good thing because I
would always be a sheep and I certainly have some ideas of who the goats
are. See how dangerous the labeling
system is in my hands? No, only Jesus
can be trusted to apply the judgement.
So my job is to shoot for sheeplike behavior and trust Jesus’s
judgement.
If the “sheep and the goats” is a polemic, then it is an
effective one. As I talked about above,
it creates tension in me. It brings
laser-focus to Jesus desire that I am to act like a sheep and not a goat. I can’t say I’m a follower of Jesus and then
not show it by my actions. It makes me
want to shed my goat-like tendencies.
Mission accomplished Jesus.
Question: Thinking
over the last week, when were some times you may have encountered Jesus in the “least
of these?”
Prayer: Jesus, we want to be your sheep. Help us to look for you in those we encounter
who are in need. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for the “least of these” today.
Song: Keith Green - The Sheep and The Goats (live)
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