Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, accompanied by all the angels, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. 33 The ‘sheep’ he will place at his right hand and the ‘goats’ at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you made me your guest, 36 I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and make you our guest, or needing clothes and provide them? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 The King will say to them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!’
41 “Then he will also speak to those on his left, saying, ‘Get away from me, you who are cursed! Go off into the fire prepared for the Adversary and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 a stranger and you did not welcome me, needing clothes and you did not give them to me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, needing clothes, sick or in prison, and not take care of you?’ 45 And he will answer them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you refused to do it for the least important of these people, you refused to do it for me!’ 46 They will go off to eternal punishment, but those who have done what God wants will go to eternal life.”
We see that when the Messiah comes, He will sit on His throne.
“No kidding, Captain Obvious. This is believership 101.”
I know, but do you really know this to be true? We can all agree that He will sit to judge but have you put yourself in that position yet? I mean, seriously put yourself in the hot seat of judgment. Close your eyes and look. Can you see it?
All of the nations will be assembled before Him with the sheep on the right and the goats on the left. Blessing on the right, curse on the left. This language stirs up a remembrance of something drawn out way back in Deuteronomy.
In Deuteronomy 27, we learn of a somewhat odd assignment of blessing and curse. Mt Gerizim and Mt Ebal were two mountains separated by a small valley called Shechem, and Moses separated heads of tribes to stand on each mountain to proclaim either the blessing or the curse:
Deuteronomy 27:11 That same day Moshe commissioned the people as follows: 12 “These are the ones who are to stand on Mount G’rizim and bless the people after you have crossed the Yarden: Shim‘on, Levi, Y’hudah, Yissakhar, Yosef and Binyamin; 13 while these are to stand on Mount ‘Eival for the curse: Re’uven, Gad, Asher, Z’vulun, Dan and Naftali.
Then on into chapter 28 we see an exhaustive breakdown of the blessings and curses associated with keeping the commands or ignoring them.
What is interesting is that both Mt Gerizim and Mt Ebal are well known and identified even today. They are aligned north and south with Mt Ebal on the north, and Mt Gerizim to the south. Using the directions of the Bible, we know that orientation is measured from facing east. We can use the name of Benjamin as an example. His name means “son of my right hand”, or more literally, “son of the south” since he was the only son born south of Laban’s land. Now, when you face east, the south is on your right. Ok, got your bearings now?
With Mt Gerizim to the south of Mt Ebal, this puts the Messiah looking east from His throne, Mt Gerizim to His right and Mt Ebal to the left. Blessing on the right, curse on the left. Sheep on the right, goats on the left.
We can now see this is not a figurative parable but an event that takes place in real time and space.
The blessing is on the right. The sheep will be sorted to the right and these are the people who have done what God wants.
The goats, however, will be gathered to the left onto the mountain of curses.
Is it a crap shoot when we show up on that day? How can we know for sure which side we’ll end up on? The quick answer is that we will most assuredly end up on the right side, but we need to open this up a bit to make absolutely certain.
Remember in the Sermon on the Mount when Yeshua said that your needs would most certainly be met so there was no need to worry?
Matthew 6:25 “Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, 29 yet I tell you that not even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. 30 If this is how God clothes grass in the field — which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven — won’t he much more clothe you? What little trust you have!
In the beginning of His ministry, Yeshua gave the explanation that you’d be taken care of so don’t worry. Contrast this with what is said in this parable given at the end of His ministry:
I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you made me your guest,
I needed clothes and you provided them,
I was sick and you took care of me,
I was in prison and you visited me.
Now we see the pinnacle of this all is that we are the ones responsible for making sure others don’t need to worry.
People taking care of people. This is the dividing difference between the sheep and the goats.
Sheep caring for others, while the goats ignore them.
And it isn’t just any person. It’s the least important of the brethren. You know, those people that could never pay you back. Making sure His people have everything the Messiah promised them. His name is on the line for actions we are called to live. He’s put His trust in us to do as He would do, and that’s to take care of everyone.
If you claim to be one of His, then you should do as He did. Identify needs and meet those needs. Continually.
The Messiah is counting on you to walk out what He promised to His people. It will happen. His people will be taken care of.
It just may not be you that He can trust to do it. But there will be someone.
If He can’t trust you because you are so busy building up wealth for yourself, you may go off to eternal punishment. You and all of your excuses, gone forever.
“But those who have done what God wants…“
Those will be the ones who will go to eternal life.
Being one of the sheep is not just an exercise of belief. It is one of action. Yeshua didn’t just believe in the Father, He walked out who His Father was, who His Father is, and who His Father always will be.
WWJD?
Well, He healed, He fed thousands, He loved, He corrected, He gave Himself fully to everyone else.
Do you look like Him?
You’re supposed to.
Now, go. Feed those that are hungry and give a drink to the thirsty. Shelter the stranger and make sure people are clothed. Take care of the sick and visit those in bondage.
Go, sheep, go.