Matthew · New Testament · Matthew 25:31–46
The Sheep and the Goats
The Story
Jesus painted a sweeping picture of the final judgment in which the Son of Man comes in His glory with all His angels and sits on His glorious throne, with all the nations gathered before Him and separated as a shepherd separates sheep from goats — the sheep placed on His right and the goats on His left. The King then invited the sheep on His right to inherit the Kingdom prepared for them since the creation of the world, because they had fed Him when He was hungry, given Him drink when He was thirsty, welcomed Him when He was a stranger, clothed Him when He was naked, cared for Him when He was sick, and visited Him when He was in prison. When the righteous asked in astonishment when they had ever done these things for the King, Jesus delivered one of the most profound statements in all of Scripture — that whatever they had done for the least of His brothers and sisters they had done for Him personally. The goats on His left were then confronted with their failure to do these same things and sent away into eternal punishment, while the righteous entered eternal life — making this one of the most sobering and clarifying passages in the entire Bible about the relationship between genuine faith and practical compassionate action toward those in need.
The Message
How we treat the vulnerable, the suffering, and the overlooked is not separate from our faith in Jesus — according to His own words, it is a direct reflection of how we treat Him.