Separating The Sheep From The Goats

Jesus finished off his teaching about the Lord’s return with one final illustration about a shepherd separating his sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-33.  “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”

Sheep and goats are very different by nature.  Sheep tend to be somewhat timid, hesitating to do anything unless they see others doing it.  Goats, on the other hand seem to delight in doing something everyone else is afraid to try.  As a result, the sheep tend to flock together while the goats tend to go off on their own.   If left to themselves, the goats tend to find their own way home while the sheep get lost.  As a result, it is frequently necessary to separate the sheep from the goats so that the goats do not lead them into trouble. 

The sheep tend to follow their shepherd, going where ever he leads and doing what he directs them to do simply because they have learned to trust him.  The shepherd leads them to safe places and sees that they have what they need as a result.  Matthew 25:34-36 describes those who follow Christ completely.  “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” 

Like sheep, the believers have learned to trust Christ to take care of them and lead them in the right way.   They tend to simply do what he says without giving it much thought, often not even realizing what they are doing, as Matthew 25:37-40 describes.  “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” 

They don’t work particularly hard or agonize over what is right because it is their nature to just do what the master says, as II Corinthians 5:17-18 makes clear.  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ…”  It is a totally different attitude than the Goats, who are focused on doing as they please.   Matthew 25:41-45 demonstrates the attitude of those who have not submitted themselves to Christ.

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” 

God’s people have a genuine concern about what is best for other people, while the goats, those who do not follow Christ are only concerned with what they want at the moment and never even think about how their actions affect others.  In their pride, it never occurs to them that what they want may result in others being hurt.