Sheep and the Goats

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

“‘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 took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’

“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 take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and f of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’

“Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?

“Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46 (CSB)

There’s a throne room scene in the book of Daniel that is a prophetic vision of the final days.It’s Daniel 7:9-14, and while it’s too long to post here, it’s really, really worth (necessary) reading as a backdrop to what Jesus is talking about here. In it, the Ancient of Days enters the scene coming before the thongs of people, surrounded by all nations,  including the great many rulers who are seated at the front of the audience chamber. The whole scene is alight with haunting images of glory and power with the Son of Man (human) entering to receive the crown alongside the Ancient of Days. It’s a coronation scene, as the Son of Man is given all authority, and dominion, and power by the Ancient of Days and all nations bow before him. After the coronation, all the tyrannical beasts and its followers — those that rebelled against God (Ancient of Days) — are also judged and destroyed. 

It’s a stunningly beautiful, or chillingly haunting scene, depending on how you look at it. (If you haven’t stopped this yet to go read it, do it now, I’ll wait.) It’s evocative, and supposed to be. Here is true power. Here is true judgment. Nothing else will bear before that throne. 

Again, this is one of those moments in scripture where C.S. Lewis gets it dead right. You don’t get to claim Jesus a good man with good moral teaching and not believe what he says. He is either really the Lord, a liar, or lunatic. Why? Because he is talking about himself in the middle of the scene. Ordinary, nice people don’t do that. And, in keeping with yesterday’s theme, as these are the final moments before he is betrayed, what he says is severe. This is not the nice-guy-Jesus we see in the memes. 

In that final moment, and at that final judgment, do you want to be in or out? He is asking.

Now, fire and brimstone sermons have fallen out of favor, and probably rightly so, as they are manipulative, and brutal, and tended to be used to control. But if your heart doesn’t skip a beat at this text, you haven’t been listening to Jesus, and when he said it, I’m sure you could cut the tension with a knife.

Jesus continues, those who are in, will do as I say. Those who are out, will do what they say. 

And what is this thing that they are supposed to do? Love others. 

The stranger. The foreigner. The tired. The sick. The lost. The hungry. The prisoner. The orphan. 

Whether or not you like this, it’s what he says. As a result, this text has been a motivating text for Christians for millennia to act with a social conscience. They stole babies that were being killed out of the garbage heaps of Rome. They started orphanages and hospitals. They took care of widows and orphans (James 1:27) ran clinics for the chronically ill, cared for the victims of the plague when others were terrified, and fought for political rights of the vulnerable and oppressed. People don’t do this under normal motivations. It was this passage that compelled them.

Following Jesus isn’t just saying the right thing, or even believing the right thing. As said by the book of James, even the Demons believe God and they shudder (James 2:19).Rather, It requires a response of the will. It requires obedience. Because love is not a feeling or emotion. Love is not a belief. To love, is to will the good of the other, in prayer, in action, and in word. And, as I’ve said before, if we want to be with God, in the end, we must be like God. Which is to internalize this reality and to allow him to transform us to act and be like him. There is no other way. 

It’s still our choice. Love, and the Kingdom of God are never forced upon us, but again, this is what Jesus’ Kingdom looks like. 

If you don’t like God’s Kingdom, you can have your own.

Perhaps, better quoted by Lewis again, 

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.”