IDEA: Jesus had to be God or a madman to speak the words in Matthew 25.
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 realize that the claims of Christ are either true or outlandish.
Imagine the situation toward the end of Jesus' life. He is addressing His disciples in Matthew 24-25.
As you look at Jesus, what would you see?
As you look at His disciples, what would you see?
In light of that, read in Matthew 25:31-46 what Jesus says in some of the closing words of His life before He died on a Roman execution rack.
I. What are the claims that Jesus makes about Himself in this parable of the sheep and goats?
He claims that He will return (25:31). Imagine one of us making that claim. No wonder the disciples didn't get it.
He claims that He will return as a king to reign in glory (25:31).
He claims that a host of angels will accompany Him (25:31).
He claims that all the nations will be gathered before Him and He will be their judge (25:32).
He claims that what people did for those He cared about, they did for Him (25:33).
He claims that His judgment will determine every human being's eternal destiny: the goats will go into everlasting punishment (25:46) and the sheep go into eternal life (they will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world) (25:34).
II. We will never really come to grips with Jesus unless we face up to the enormous claims that He made.
No sane man would have said this unless he were sure it was true.