Inheritance Inherent!

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.’” (Matthew 25:31-34)

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Sam reminded us of the last section of Matthew 25. Though we commonly refer to this passage as the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), we should keep in mind that Jesus is teaching us about the status of humanity. At the end of our lives, we will be in one of two categories: either we are among the blessed, or we are among the wicked. (Our pastor noted that this same division, blessed versus wicked, occurs in Psalm 1. There is no other category available.)

Jesus, referring to Himself, says that He will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And the litmus test is an interesting one: it’s a list of activities.

Our Lord notes six things:

“I was hungry…”

“I was thirsty…”

“I was a stranger…”

“I was naked…”

“I was sick…”

“I was in prison…”

Those who serve the disenfranchised are designated as sheep, and those who ignore the disenfranchised are designated as goats. On the first read, this might seem to be a works-based judgement of souls. But Psalm 1 can help us here. As we noted in yesterday’s post, there is a phrase in Psalm 1:2: But his delight is in the law of the Lord. The Hebrew word we translate as delight, chephets, suggests the act of being inclined towards or bending towards something that has great value. So, it’s not just that we are diligent to read God’s law. Our delight is indicated by our inclination to obey God’s law. Our love is expressed not just in our words, but through our works. And Jesus gives us a wonderful creed that’s easy to memorize: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:40)

[Interestingly, this passage also brings up the question of philanthropy without faith, as there are many people who give to the poor but have no love for God. I will address that in a separate post.]

God, thank You! Pour Your love into us, and give us grace to pour Your love into the world. Help us to love Your word, and help us to live Your word. Lead us by Your Holy Spirit, today and every day. Amen.

Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.