The Sheep and the Goats

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. Before Him will be gathered all nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left.

“Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in. I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and come to You?’
“The King will answer, ‘Truly I say to you, as you have done it for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you have done it for Me.’

“Then He will say to those at the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve You?’

“He will answer, ‘Truly I say to you, as you did it not for one of the least of these, you did it not for Me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

Two categories of people were mentioned by Jesus - goats and sheep. It is obvious that goats are cursed and sheep are blessed. 

"Independent, adventurous, stubborn, persistent, voracious and agile, the goats were trouble if they were ever off of their tethers. The smelly billy goat could be downright dangerous!" (Becky Bennet, Life, Hope and Truth)

"Sheep are a prey species, and their only defence is to flee. Sheep display an intensely gregarious social instinct that allows them to bond closely to other sheep and preferentially to related flock members. Flock mentality movements protect individuals from predators." (Gary M. Landsberg, Sagi Denenberg, MSD Manual )

Sheep have a flock mentality, depending on each other for protection and comfort. Goats are independent, stubborn and very troublesome and dangerous. No wonder Jesus compared those who portrayed a lack of compassion to goats and those who cared for the down and out to sheep. 

The distinction Jesus made between the two groups of people is very clear. The goats disregarded the plight of those who were hungry, homeless, hospitalised, imprisoned, and thirsty. In spite of the fact that they could alleviate the sufferings of these people by making voluntary contributions, the goats refused to render any help. On the other hand, the sheep had compassion on the people who were suffering and were commended by Jesus. 

The goats are ungodly whereas the sheep are considered righteous by Jesus. The consequences for the unrighteous are dire - everlasting punishment whereas the sheep and godly will reap eternal life. The question that arises is why would there be such a serious consequence for people who refuse (for whatever reason) to reach out to the less fortunate. Interestingly, it seems that the groups of the sick, hungry, homeless, thirsty, imprisoned comprise people from all walks of life. They are those who have fallen on hard times, are disadvantaged, who have been maligned, are facing health challenges, etc. 

There have been interpretations by theologians of this parable. Some say that the people referred to here are the Jews because Jesus said that the sheep mentioned had done their benevolent acts towards His brothers. Jesus was a Jew and from that perspective the Jews are His natural brothers. That may just be part of it but in reality, as descendants of Adam we are all brothers and sisters. That is to say we are all related to one another. We learn from Scripture that born-again believers are adopted by God as children

"But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:4-6, NKJV)

The Bible also says that 

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: " (John 1:12)

True Christians are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17). So, in a sense, we are brothers and sisters of Jesus. The poor and the needy are also our brothers and sisters. Interesting, isn't it?

The Bible Commentary by the Theology of Work (TOW) project puts it this way

"Individually and corporately, we are called to help those in need. We are “bound in the bundle of the living under the care of the Lord your God” (1 Samuel 25:29), and we cannot ignore the plight of human beings suffering hunger, thirst, nakedness, homelessness, sickness, or imprisonment. We work in order to meet our own needs and the needs of those dependent on us; but we also work in order to have something to give to those in need (Hebrews 13:1-3)." (Theology of Work (TOW))

We have an obligation to serve those who are in need because God created everyone. We do not get to pick and choose. We should be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We should also remember that the only time we would have opportunities to help the needy is while we are alive on this earth and that our attitudes have eternal consequences depending on whether we do good or bad. It has to be said that the grace to help the needy comes from God and that is why we must have a thriving relationship with Jesus. 

No one who has a thriving relationship with Jesus will ignore the needy because Jesus would never ignore the needy. So our reactions or responses to the needy could very well serve as an indicator of the level of our relationship with Jesus. One cannot say he or she has an intimate relationship with God and disregard the needy. If we are rooted in Jesus, then our hearts will be filled with compassion. We will consequently see the lost and needy as sheep without a shepherd and we will be moved to do something practical for them.

ARE YOU A SHEEP OR A GOAT? Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you today so that by the grace of God you can be an instrument of blessings in His hands. Have a blessed day.