Sheep or Goat?

Reading my Bible today, I revisited some verses that are familiar to many. It's the passage in Matthew where Jesus is talking about judgment day and how the "Sheep" will be separated from the "Goats". I'll just let you read it for yourself:

Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)

The Sheep and the Goats

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All 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. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

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. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

I was troubled by this passage as I read it today for one main reason: in my mind there is no distinction between believers and non-believers here. In fact, it seems to me that both the "sheep" and the "goats" are groups of Christians. I am persuaded to this conclusion by a few key elements of this passage.

First, both the "sheep" and the "goats" respond to Jesus by calling Him "Lord". For me this isn't solid evidence that both groups are followers of Christ, for in Philippians 2:9-11 it says:

9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

It is prophesied that at Judgment day, everyone will acknowledge that Christ is Lord. I think that the fact that both the "sheep" and "goats" call Christ "Lord" doesn't show that both were followers of Him in their lives. There is other evidence in this passage, though, which I believe points more clearly towards that.

The second piece of evidence I see is that both the "sheep" and the "goats" respond in nearly identical ways. Both don't see how they have either helped or mistreated their Lord, Jesus ("Lord, when did we see you hungry...?"). To me this hints toward the idea that both groups are Christians, because they are surprised (and seemingly excited/depressed, respectively) to learn that they had been serving (or not serving) Jesus. I feel that this suggests that they both desired to see/serve Jesus, but didn't think they were doing so in their earthly lives.

Lastly, but I believe most convincingly, is that salvation by faith is never mentioned in this passage, even in reference to the "sheep" who "are blessed by [the] Father." Clearly salvation by faith is stressed elsewhere in the Bible (Ephesians 2:8-9), and its lack of mention here suggests to me that their salvation by faith is to be assumed (they are already "saved"). If what I am seeing is right, then both the "sheep" and the "goats" are believers, but the "sheep" are being rewarded while the "goats" are being punished (even though they both trusted in Jesus).

Why is this passage so troubling to me? First, I don't believe in a "works based" salvation (again, Ephesians 2:8-9), but this passage seems to contradict that in some ways. According to this passage, there seems to be more than just belief in Jesus that is required in order to gain eternal life. Second, the punishment for not following through on helping "the least of these" is pretty severe! Eternal punishment? I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound good to me!

I'm still not quite sure what to make of this passage. What I've said is what I've been thinking about recently, but it is by no means a solid/immovable conclusion that I have come to. I'm still exploring this, but I have definitely been convicted into looking at my life and asking the question: "What am I doing to help 'the least of these'?" I hope that this might help you do the same and I also hope that this will open up some discussion so that we can try and figure this out together. One thing is for sure, though: when Judgment Day comes, I want to be standing on the side with the Sheep, and not with the Goats (and I'm sure you feel the same way). Well, there you have it. Sorry it's been a while since my last post, but school has been pretty intense lately. Maybe this will generate some response, though. I'd love to hear what you think!


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