The Parable of the Sheep and Goats is part of the Olivet Discourse. It is found in Matthew 25:31-46. A parable is a short, simple story of comparison. Jesus used parables to teach spiritual truths by means of earthly situations.
THE PARABLES OF JESUS TOWARDS HIS END
Towards the end of Jesus’ministry, as it got closer and closer to the time when He would be crucified,
The Ten Talents, we learned that a man returned from a long trip to see what his servants had done with gifts they had been given before he left. The two servants were faithful with their gifts and were rewarded by their master, but the third servant didn’t even try to use his gift. Because of this, it was taken away from him completely.
Similarly The Parable of The Sheep and The Goats is about a shepherd who returns to divide his flock into two groups, sheep on one side and goats on the other. The sheep are rewarded by the shepherd, and the goats are sent away from the shepherd and punished.
The sheep on Jesus’ right hand are blessed by God the Father and given an inheritance. The reason is stated: “For 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (verses 35-36).
The righteous will not understand: when did they see Jesus in such a pitiful condition and help Him? “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’” (verses 39-40).
The goats on Jesus’ left hand are cursed with eternal hell-fire, “prepared for the devil and his angels” (verse 41). The reason is given: they had opportunity to minister to the Lord, but they did nothing (verses 42-43). The damned ask, “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?” (verse 44).
Jesus replies, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (verse 45).
Jesus then ends the discourse with a contrast: “They will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (verse 46).
COMPARING TO THE EARTHLY SITUATIONS
Sheep are the people redeemed and saved, and the goats are the condemned and lost people. The salvation is the result of good work. The “sheep” acted charitably, giving food, drink, and clothing to the needy. The “goats” showed no charity. This seems to result in salvation for the sheep and damnation for the goats.
Jesus taught this parable not to imply that work could bring salvation, but to show that there are many who merely pretend to know and love God, saying the right things, observing the right rituals, but never truly living a changed life that loves others like He has loved us. Jesus’teaching in this parable is echoed elsewhere in scripture, especially Leviticus 19:18, James 2:26, and 1 John 4:19
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHEEP AND GOATS
“The Son of Man will come in all His glory. All the angels will come with Him. Then He will sit on His throne in the glory of heaven. All the nations will be gathered in front of Him. He will separate the people into two groups. He will be like a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep to His right and the goats to His left.” – Matthew 25:14-15
Goats look alike, their noises are the same, but their personality and behaviour are very different!
Goats are very independent animals. If the shepherd leaves them, they can survive on their own
They have huge appetites and will eat anything and everything to satisfy their hunger and they are selfish, when it comes to their food.
Goats are motivated by their own desires. Goats like the taste of the shepherd’s hair. He always aims at his hair to take a bite. The shepherd punishes the goat, when he does it. But the goats tries to eat the sleeping shepherd’s hair.
Let’s look at sheep: They are always all together, hanging out in their pasture, grazing on yummy grass all day, playing with other sheep in the sunshine.
But the truth is, sheep require a lot of attention to stay alive! Did you know that if a sheep falls on its back, it can’t figure out how to get up without help and will eventually die if the shepherd doesn’t show it how to roll over and stand up again?
Also, sheep have a strong tendency to panic and they are timid.
But sheep also feel very calm when their shepherd is around. They will follow him anywhere, because they have learned to trust him. They know that the shepherd is the one who cares for all their needs.
“He is our God. We are the sheep belonging to His flock. We are the people He takes good care of. Listen to His voice today.” (Psalm 95:7)
They are totally helpless without their shepherd to guide them and take care of them. We’re like those sheep, and God is our good shepherd. Because of our trust Him, He provides us everything we need.
THE REDEEMED AND THE CONDEMNED
In this Parable, we are looking at man redeemed and saved, and man condemned and lost. A casual reading seems to suggest that salvation is the result of good works. The “sheep” acted charitably, giving food, drink, and clothing to the needy. The “goats” showed no charity. This seems to result in salvation for the sheep and damnation for the goats.
However, Scripture does not contradict itself, and the Bible clearly and repeatedly teaches that salvation is by faith through the grace of God and not by our good works (see John 1:12; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:22-24; Romans 4:4-8; Romans 7:24-25; Romans 8:12; Galatians 3:6-9; and Ephesians 2:8-10). In fact, Jesus Himself makes it clear in the parable that the salvation of the “sheep” is not based on their works—their inheritance was theirs “since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34), long before they could ever do any good works!
The good works mentioned in the parable are not the cause of salvation but the effect of salvation. As Christians we become like Christ (see Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; and Colossians 2:6-7). Galatians 5:22) tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Good works in a Christian’s life are the direct overflow of these traits, and are only acceptable to God because of the relationship that exists between servant and Master, the saved and their Savior, the sheep and their Shepherd (see Ephesians 2:10).
The core message of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats is that God’s people will love others. Good works will result from our relationship to the Shepherd. Followers of Christ will treat others with kindness, serving them as if they were serving Christ Himself. The unregenerate live in the opposite manner. While “goats” can indeed perform acts of kindness and charity, but, their hearts are not right with God, and their actions are not for the right purpose – to honour and worship God.
Lets pray:
Lord, lets not prove ourselves as Christians through our good works alone, let our relationship be right at the sight of God bearing the fruit of the spirit. Amen.
Glory be to God
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