SHEEP OR GOAT?
Matthew 25
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “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.’”
It is possible to misunderstand the Gospel as a free ticket into the kingdom of heaven because Jesus has paid the fare; it is also possible to approach the Gospel as a way to game the system and avoid the implications; but there are also those who whole-heartedly embrace the opportunity to be free from sin and be in the presence of God, and gratefully respond to God’s generosity by enlarging their hearts and and being a blessing to those around them.
All the parables in this chapter are about people who are of equal standing: The 10 virgins, the 3 servants, and the people who are gathered before the Judge; the difference is in what they did. This is why I think that they represent people who have already responded to the Gospel and are now in church. The way they responded is what differentiates them. 5 virgins did the minimum and were found wanting while the other 5 did more than enough. 2 servants took to their commission with gusto and did the best with what they have. The third thought it was enough not to lose what he was given.
The sheep were not consciously trying to impress the Lord; they were just doing what came naturally. So too the goats; they were naturally selfish and uncaring; they did not attempt to express the love of Christ. Over time these people had become truly sheep and goats. When they first entered the church it might not have been possible to differentiate them. They could enter the kingdom on the basis of their faith at that point in time, just like the thief on the cross next to Jesus. But over time (the bridegroom was delayed), because some did little with what they had, they lost what little that was there. When the time came all Jesus could say to them was “I do not know you”.
Make no mistake: this is what Jesus tells us about what the kingdom of heaven is like.
If you think “being saved” is about going to heaven and not to hell you are only half right. Being invited into heaven or being cast into hell is about who you are, sheep or goats, as Jesus taught here. To want a ticket to heaven is to want to be righteous; the issue was that even though you wanted to be righteous, you could not achieve it. Jesus sacrificed himself for those who want to truly be saved and each one who comes to him receives the seed of the Gospel—justification, and a new beginning, through Jesus’ sacrifice, the love of the Father, the grace to forgive our sin, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the power of prayer, the Scriptures and the Church—more than enough to get you there.
We should take the resources made available to us by him to embrace the life of love that God calls us to, to die and to live in Christ as we journey through life, as Paul taught us in Galatians 2. The bible is clear that none of us will be perfect, but the bible is also clear that who we are will be clear to the One on the throne. The fruit of our life will be the evidence of the state of our heart.
To assume that all you needed to do was to raise that hand and say that prayer, and you can remain unrepentant and persist in unrighteous living, is to run the terrible risk of being found to be a goat after all.
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”