Matthew 25:31-46 (ESV): "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, '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, 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? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal 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 welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 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, 'Truly, I say to you, 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 eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Some things we can take from these verses:
(a) If faith alone can save you, why would the righteous (the sheep) be separated from the unrighteous (the goats) based on their actions? Is it really faith if you say "I believe Jesus is the son of God" but you won't lift a finger to help your fellow man? Faith that doesn't lead to action is really no faith at all. (See also James 2:14-26).
(b) The sheep & the goats can point fingers at each other and say "I'm a sheep, you're a goat" all they want but their opinion doesn't count. Only the king (Jesus) decides who is a sheep or a goat. Human opinion means nothing if it is contrary to God's word. (In Acts 4, the Sanhedrin ordered Peter & John to stop teaching about Jesus. Their response: "Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him?")
(c) So many times Jesus is speaking in a larger context than you might think at first. There are well fed people who are starving for God's word. There are people in expensive clothes who are naked without the righteousness that comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. Prison walls aren't always metal or concrete. People lock themselves away with many things: drugs, alcohol, guilt, depression, etc.
Final thoughts: In Matthew 25:31-46, God is telling us where our focus should be. The question isn't "what am I doing to honor God?" The question God wants us to consider is this: "what am I doing for someone else to honor God?"
