IDEA: In the judgment it will be those who are most like sheep who will enter the kingdom.
TEXT: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31-46).
PURPOSE: To have listeners understand that what we are is shown in what we do that matters to God.
Do you think it would be easier to understand the Bible if Jesus had ministered in Michigan or New York City in the 20th century?
Do you think it is easier for country kids or city kids to understand the Bible?
People from the country may have an inside track on understanding some of the things Jesus said about the judgment. He used country or pastoral images.
I. Jesus refers to "the wheat and tares" in Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43.
What is the point of this parable? How does that govern the way we think about people in the church today?
What does this say about the angels? He will send out His angels to carry out the judgment (13:41).
II. Jesus refers to "a netful of fish" in Matthew 13:47-50.
Again, what is the point of this parable?
What does this say about angels (13:49-50)? Is this the popular picture of angels today?
III. Jesus talks about the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-33.
Strictly speaking, is this a parable? It's a prophetic picture of the judgment.
Why do you think Jesus refers to the righteous as sheep and to the unrighteous as goats?
What do we learn in this picture that we didn't know in the parables of Matthew 13?
IV. What does all of this tell us about how we think and live today?