First Mennonite Church
January 11, 2026
The Parable of The Sheep and the Goats
Text: Matthew 25:31-46
The parable of The Sheep and the Goats is particularly in the mind of do-gooders. They feel reassured that their practical expressions of love for the poor, the less fortunate, and all who could count as “the least of these” are what will matter in the end. But one other reason for clinging to this passage in isolation from the rest of the gospels is because the larger aspect about religion becomes unnecessary for them. The issues about faith in Jesus, living in community, matters of doctrine—such as the incarnation, justification, resurrection, and proclamation of the gospel, they believe could be set aside. In their view, acts of mercy like feeding the hungry and caring for the stranger are what will give them entry into the kingdom.
Our world’s condition needs all the compassionate and merciful people it can get. There is ample space to cover with acts of kindness. This is what Christians are called to do. However, to believe that this parable allows anyone to do away with the other aspects of the Christian faith is to fail to see the larger context in which Jesus told the parable. Jesus’ teaching in Matthew’s gospel is all interconnected. In this gospel, Jesus reveals his identity as the Son of God, who was sent to “save his people from their sin.” Jesus also invites people to follow him. He gives instruction of how to live together as a community, on how to forgive each other, on how to restore those who are drifting away, and every essential theological and Christological concept necessary to ground his people. Besides all of this, we should not forget that Jesus tells this parable shortly before his passion, which is central to the Christian faith. For that reason, taking any of Jesus teachings in isolation not only distorts the meaning of his words but also fails to understand the broad and wholistic implications of God’s work of salvation given to us through his Son involves.
One more comment: We need to note that Jesus did not give a setting when he told this parable. It is not like the two previous ones where he began by saying, “The kingdom of heaven will be like….” Here, Jesus seems to be responding part of the question his disciples had asked him in chapter 24, verse three: “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Thus, when Jesus begins here, he says, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.” And because of this, some interpreters of the Bible say that this passage of the sheep and goats is not a parable, but an apocalyptic prediction (Bultmann). Others call it “an apocalyptic drama.” However, regardless of the literary genre, the story does bring into view an eschatological scene using every characteristic of a parable.
Jesus’ words in this passage come after he had given six parables warning his disciples on the importance of readiness and accountability necessary at his coming. But this parable does not only come at the end of who series of other parables; it is actually his last discourse to his disciples. That is why we hear in the King/Judge’s words to both the sheep and the goats, the righteous and the cursed, words that echo his teachings throughout Matthew’s gospel.
Jesus says that when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with hum. He will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate people one from another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. To the sheep on his right he the King will say, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 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, 36 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.’
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? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “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.’
The nations will be gathered before the Judge and King. And the Judge will separate one from another depending the way the lived their lives in the face of those who were in need. To the sheep he will tell, “Come blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” And the reason for this is because the sheep fed the hungry, quenched the thirst of the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the incarcerated.
However, the “righteous” will be surprised to know that everything they did was to Jesus. And they will ask, when and where did we see you in need? He tells them that whatever they did for the least of these, you did for me. And it precisely here, possibly, where the lesson of the parable lies. In the explanation Jesus gave about the Wheat and the Tare, he said the tare is “everything that causes sin and all who do evil” (Matt. 13:41) but the good seed are the “righteous who will shine in the kingdom.” (the verse Holt read this morning). The righteous are those who hear the word of Jesus and act upon them. They are the ones who “seek first the righteousness of God” (Matt. 6:33). They have been trained and shaped by the words of Jesus to the point that they act in his likeness when they encounter the needy, the stranger, and the isolated. They have performed acts of righteousness and by their constancy in doing so have also become righteous. They did not have to force themselves nor have to remind themselves to see the face of Christ in the face of the needy, the stranger, and the incarcerated in order to help them. They have become like their Father in heaven who is righteous.
Through this parable, Jesus was making his final and most forceful call. Anyone who hears my words and acts upon them is like a wise man who build his house on the rock. When crisis/judgement comes, that house will stand. The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
In the same way, those cursed were also surprised to know that when they failed to help the needy, to welcome the strangers, and to visit the infirm and confined, that it was to Jesus that they did not do it. They were not trained nor shaped by the word of Jesus. They possibly heard his words but did not act according to them.
Someone told the story of Jack Casey, a firefighter. Once Jack was called to an accident. There he found a man who was pinned down by his pick-up truck and gasoline was dripping on the victim. Any tool used to cut him loose could cause an explosion. They victim was crying in fear for his life. Jack said to the man, “Don’t be afraid. I will remain here with you no matter what.” Jack remembered the day when he was still a young boy and needed to undergo general anesthesia for a medical procedure. The nurse told him, “Jack, don’t be afraid. I will be with you the whole time until you are ready to go home.” Jack was put to sleep, but when he woke up, the nurse was sitting by his side.
While the man was in the hospital, Jack went to check on him. The man said to Jack, “You are an idiot. You could have died had there been an explosion. Why did you do it?” Jack said, “I just did what was the right thing for me to do.” Jack was not acting out of fear nor to gain a medal. He was simply acting according to his character shaped by an experience of mercy shown to him by that nurse when he was still young.
Acting out of mercy should be what motivates us to do what is right. We should not do acts of mercy out of fear, nor recognition and the applause of men. We should do acts of mercy because we have been shown mercy by God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. Amen!
Pastor Romero