Scriptures: Ezekiel 34:11-23, Matthew 25:31-46, Joel 3:2, Matthew 10:40-42
In previous lessons we looked at how Jesus, the Good Shepherd, laid down his life for his sheep to bring more into his flock, and then the sheep of Israel were scattered. Today we’re going to look at the future activities of the Good Shepherd that will be fulfilled in Jesus’ second coming. First, he will regather the scattered sheep of Israel. “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. 13 I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live” (Ezekiel 34:11-13). This regathering began after the Holocaust, when the nations of the world agreed to return the Jews to the land of Israel in 1948, and continues today. What the devil meant for evil, the Lord has used for his purposes.
Ezekiel tells us that after the gathering, which is completed in the final harvest, the Shepherd will separate the animals and judge the unruly ones. “And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats.18 Isn’t it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn’t it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?19 Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled? 20 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.21 For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.22 So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another.23 And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them” (Ezekiel 34:17-23).
God’s plan is to rescue his abused flock and deal with their abusers when Jesus comes as God’s Shepherd. One of the assignments of the Shepherd is to judge between the sheep. In John 5:27 Jesus reveals that the Father has given him “authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.” Jesus is like us in every way, so he is a righteous judge for mankind. Jesus said, “The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (John 5:22-23).
Ezekiel tells us the Shepherd will separate the sheep from the goats. Jesus echoes this same passage in Matthew 25 and clarifies who the sheep and the goats are. If you’ve only heard this parable as a sermon encouraging you to be kind to the poor, I invite you to take off that lens for a moment and read it in the context of the time frame Jesus gave for this parable, the time of his return as the Shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 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” (Matthew 25:31-32). The people being separated are the nations who remain after the church has been gathered to Jesus.
Right before telling this parable, Jesus told his disciples the events that would lead up to his return. “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31). When Jesus appears, he sends out his angels to gather his sheep and bring them into the new Jerusalem, the place he went ahead to prepare for us. Matthew 24 describes the gathering of the church. In Matthew 25, Jesus speaks of the gathering of the nations. After the church is gathered to God’s kingdom, Jesus sits down on his throne to judge the nations that remain, to decide who gets to come into the kingdom. The determining factor will be how they treated his flock.
“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.33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 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.35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:32-40).
Everyone who survives the final plagues of Revelation will be judged according to how they treated Jesus’ “brothers and sisters,” the Jews. In Matthew 25 Jesus echoes Joel 3, another passage about the last days in which God says, “I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel” (Joel 3:2). However, in Matthew 12:49 Jesus points to his disciples and says, “These are my mother and brothers,” expanding the definition of brothers and sisters to mean those who listen to him and follow him. The deciding factor in who gets to enter Jesus’ kingdom when he returns will be if people were kind to God’s flock – both Jew and Gentile believers – and helped care for them.
Jesus taught this same principle to his disciples when he said, “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. 41 If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. 42 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded” (Matthew 10:40-42). Whatever people did “for one of the least of these brothers and sisters” of Jesus, they did for him, demonstrating that they are a sheep who hears Jesus’ voice. The way of salvation is to believe in Jesus, yet what we believe is revealed by how we treat people. If Jesus is truly our Lord, we will obey his commands.
In Acts 10, we read the story of the first Gentile to receive the Holy Spirit. He is a leader of an Italian regiment in Caesarea who is God-fearing and devout. God sends an angel to tell him, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God” (Acts 10:4). The angel tells him to send for Peter who says, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34). The Lord had to adjust Peter’s paradigm so that he would cast his net wider to receive Gentiles. When Jesus comes to judge the nations, he will accept the one who fears him and does what is right.
I’m not promoting the idea that all good people go to heaven because Jesus is the way to the Father. But in the last days, the Lord will prompt people to help his sheep just like many Germans helped the Jews in World War 2. When Jesus returns, those who heard his voice and obeyed him, though they didn’t know who was speaking to them, will have demonstrated they are a sheep who can be led by Jesus and invited into his kingdom. Conversely, the ones who don’t listen to the Shepherd and obey him are goats. The rest of the parable in Matthew 25 goes on to judge goats who refused to help God’s sheep in need. We know that the antichrist and those who take the mark of the beast will be judged, but those who do not take the mark, yet are not Christians, will be separated as either sheep or goats. Jesus is a Good Shepherd and just Judge!
Should we continue to view this parable as a call to love and serve the poor? Absolutely! Jesus’ commands apply to everyone. The sheep who hear his voice will obey him and love others as Jesus loves them. We who are filled with the Spirit will be prompted by him to love our neighbor because that is the fruit or outward manifestation of the Spirit in us. We don’t need to fear judgment, but simply listen to the Holy Spirit and follow his lead. The Good Shepherd will lead us in paths of righteousness. Jesus taught us to do what is right and sent his Spirit to help us remember his words. What I hope you grasped from today’s lesson is that Jesus not only calls you to love people, he wants others to love you, too. Whatever people do to you he takes personally because he cares deeply about you, dear one. O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Response:
Jesus, I thank you for not only being a Good Shepherd who takes care of my needs but one who will reward those who help you take care of me. You are a just Judge. Your grace and goodness astound me. Help me to love others as you have loved me so that those around me will see your goodness too.
(The picture above is of a hillside in Bethlehem across from a shepherd’s cave.)
