The Sheep and the Goats

Rev. Alex Sloter Matthew 25:31-46 The Sheep and the Goats Proper 29A (11/22/2020) Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Today is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year. Our calendar concludes where the end of the world will conclude, before the judgement seat of Christ. In our Gospel reading, Christ is seated on his glorious throne, surrounded by angels. All nations stand before him, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Heaven and Hell are on the line. The destiny of billions hang on his verdict. And among these billions, stand you and me. We too will be gathered at the feet of this judge on the last day, and our fate will depend on what he says. But we don’t have to wait until the last day to hear his verdict. Our fate is determined well before we reach the final judgement. It is determined today, in the time he has given us between now and then. So what will the verdict be? And why will it be rendered? The Sheep (vv. 31-40) The first thing Christ will do at the judgement is separate all people into two groups. One group (the sheep, those who are righteous in the eyes of the judge) will stand on his right, while the other group (the goats, those who are unrighteous in the eyes of the judge), will stand on his left. Right away we see that the mind of the judge is made up. His verdict has been rendered. There is no need for arguments or evidence because Jesus already knows who is who and what is what. The division is made before anyone says a word. The rest of the story is meant to disclose the reason for his verdict. Like a teacher showing her work to students so that they can follow along, Jesus shows his work to us so that we can understand why he welcomes some and not others, why some are righteous in his sight while others are unrighteous. So Jesus turns to the righteous and says, “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 food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, sick and in prison and you visited me.” Why are these people righteous in the eyes of the king? Because they cared for him; they welcomed him when he visited them. This revelation shocks the righteous. “Lord,” they respond, “when did we see you hungry or thirsty, as a stranger, or in prison, or sick or naked? When did we welcome you in this way?” The king responds, “As you did it for one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” The sheep are righteous in the eyes of the king because they welcomed the king when they welcomed the king’s representatives, his brothers, who found themselves in need. So the king repays them for their kindness by welcoming them into his eternal kingdom. The one who welcomes the king in this life will be welcomed by the king in the next. The Identity of the Brothers The king has shown his work. He has disclosed to us the reason for his verdict so that we can be declared righteous in his sight when we stand before his throne. But who are the king’s brothers? We need to know who these people are so that we can welcome them. When we do, we welcome the king. The most common answer given today is that the Jesus’ brothers are the poor. There is just one problem. Jesus never calls the poor in general his brothers. Not only that, but the term “brothers” is never once used in the entire New Testament to refer to the poor in general. Now this doesn’t mean that Jesus doesn’t want us to show his love and mercy to those in need. The Gospels are filled with examples of Jesus’ kindness to the poor and the outsider. We should be active in showing Christ’s love to all, especially to those with the greatest need. That’s just not what Christ is talking about here. But if Christ isn’t identifying the poor in general as his brothers, then who are the brothers of Christ? We find our answer in Matthew 10. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus commissions the twelve to carry out his mission. He sends them into the world for the sake of the Gospel. However, he warns them that much of the world will reject the Gospel. He is sending them out as sheep in the midst of wolves. The disciples of Christ will find themselves drug before kings and governors, beaten and abused, put to death even, all for the sake of Christ’s name. The disciples of Christ will often find themselves in need because of their witness for Christ. The world will welcome them with persecution. However, Christ gives them this promise at the end of the chapter, “Whoever receives you, receives me, and whoever receives me, receives him who sent me” (10:40). Sounds familiar doesn’t it? “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” “Whoever receives you, receives me.” This is the same promise given in two different places. The brothers of chapter 25 are the same people as those in chapter 10. They are followers of Christ, fellow disciples alongside you and me. The one who welcomes them, welcomes the king. Why Does Welcome Bring Salvation? Once we understand this, we can understand why welcoming a brother, someone sent in the name of Christ, brings salvation. Imagine that you are living in the first century. You have heard rumors of a new king who offers eternal life to everyone who believes in him. You want to know more. However, you can’t read about this king because you are illiterate. There is no such thing as the internet, TV, or radio, so you can’t turn on a device and listen to a podcast or watch a sermon online in order to learn about this king. How can the Gospel come to you? In one way only. Someone has to tell you. That is why welcoming a representative of the king brings salvation. These disciples who bear witness to the king are not welcomed because they are special in themselves. They are welcomed because they bear the message of the king himself. His promises, his decrees, his wisdom, his life. Everything needful for your salvation has been entrusted to the brothers of the king so that you can find salvation. When you welcome a disciple of the king, one of his representatives, you are welcoming the king himself because you are welcoming the message that he brings. Welcoming the king’s representatives is salvation by grace through faith working itself out in human relationships as the Gospel is passed from the mouth of one person into the ear of the next. And those who welcome the king by faith in this life are welcomed by him in the next. We can also understand why Jesus identifies poor disciples in particular as those whom the righteous welcome. Immediately after our reading, Jesus’ suffering begins. We read in Matthew 26:1, “When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, ‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.’ ” The world received the king with a whip, a crown of thorns, three nails, and a spear. If this is how the world welcomed the king, how will it welcome his disciples? When a disciple speaks in the name of Jesus, he can expect hostility. Not every time, and not in every place, but the common experience of the church through history has been persecution, physical deprivation, and death. The ruler of this world opposes the ruler of the next, and he is always fighting the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church. Why are the brothers of Christ hungry, homeless, naked, and thirsty? Because they are suffering for their witness to Christ. Why are they in prison? Because they are jailed for the sake of Christ. Why are they strangers? Because they have been forced to flee their homes because they are Christians. To welcome one of these brothers, one of these fellow Christians suffering for the Gospel, is to welcome Christ himself. Imagine once more that you are living in the first century. A man has come to you, and he knows this king you have heard rumors about. Eagerly, you take him in and ask him to tell you more. Before too long, there is a small church meeting in your home. But one Sunday, believers have gathered in your home, and they are waiting for this teacher to come. But he never does. You learn a little later that he is in prison, facing execution for his faith. What do you do? First century prisons did not have amenities. Prisoners depended on their friends and family for basic care. If you do nothing, then this brother will starve. But if you bring him food and water, you may end up sitting next to him. If you care for him, you risk your life. If you abandon him, you risk your faith. That is why Christ identifies himself especially with his needy brothers. They are suffering for his sake. The ruler of this world tries to stop the spread of the Gospel by mistreating and persecuting the messengers. Against all his threats, the whip, the thorns, the nails, and the spear, and every form they take, Christ sets one promise, “When you care for him, you care for me. When you feed him, you feed me. When you clothe him, you clothe me. If you welcome him, I will welcome you.” Against the violence of the world, Christ sets the promise of salvation. That single promise has filled Christians of all times and places with the courage they need to stand with one another, to hang on to their faith, and in the end, to stand with Christ. To every single one of them, Christ will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” These are the righteous. The Goats (vv. 41-46) The goats on the other hand, those who are seen as unrighteous by the king, failed to welcome these messengers when they came to them. And here we see the fairness of the king. If a person welcomes the king in this life, he will welcome them in the next. But if they refuse to welcome the king’s in this life, the king will refuse to welcome them in the next life. Instead, all who refuse to welcome the king are cast into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The specific wording here is important. The king says to the righteous, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” But about hell he says, “Depart into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Note that the fire was not prepared for them. God never intended for human occupants to inhabit the prison that is hell. That was prepared for the devil, God’s archenemy, the leader of every rebellion against the king, and the chief persecutor of the God’s people. However, because these people chose to stand with the devil by refusing to stand with the king’s brothers, they share the fate of their leader. Yet even here we see that salvation is by grace through faith, for if these people had received the Gospel, they would have received the ones who carried Christ’s message, his brothers. This is salvation by grace through faith working itself out in human relationships. The tragic reality is that those who refuse the Gospel, stand with the devil, and they will share in his reward. Conclusion So what does all this tell us? We know that our lives will end where this reading ends, at the judgement seat of Christ. Will we be sheep or goats? Will we be righteous or unrighteous? Everything depends on what happens today, in the time God has given us before the end. If we receive the Gospel, we will welcome the king’s brothers and he will welcome us. If we reject the Gospel, we will reject Christ’s brothers and he will reject us. Everything depends on whether or not we receive the Gospel. That is where salvation begins. Everything that follows is salvation by grace through faith working itself out in human relationships. And the Gospel is this. We were lost in sin. Our hearts were ruled by the devil, God’s archenemy, and the leader of every rebellion against the true king. However, out of his great love, the king invaded the devil’s realm. Not with an army of angels, but in the small body of a human child named Jesus. He took on our flesh and stood with us. He stood with us as Satan tried to turn him away from God, but he withstood every temptation in the wilderness. He stood with us under the curse of God and experienced every need and sorrow of life, but his faith in his Father’s love never wavered. He stood with us in the garden, and he willed our salvation at the cost of his own. Then he hung for us on the cross, unable to touch heaven or earth, rejected by God and man alike. But then he rose, totally victorious. The rule of sin and the power of the devil have come to an end. Everything and every person is now on a journey toward the judgement seat of this victorious king. But we are not there yet. This king stood with us so that we could be rescued. So that we could be saved. And now he sends his messengers into the world to spread the news of his victory far and wide. Every person, no matter where they are, no matter what they have done, when they believe this message, the king declares them righteous. He puts them with the sheep and provides for them a place in his kingdom. Receiving these messengers, believing this Gospel, it may come at a price. But it is worth the cost. So welcome the messengers of the king. Welcome the Gospel of salvation. And the king will welcome you into your eternal home. “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” In the name of our Great King, Amen.