Explain a parable to me

This is a great quote from the article below, as being the emphasis where

"Jesus states that by feeding the hungry, by providing drink for the thirsty, by welcoming the stranger, by clothing the naked, by visiting the sick, and by coming to the prisoner, the sheep had in actuality be ministering to Christ Himself. When we demonstrate the Love of Jesus to one another through our actions, even to the “least of these”, it is as if we are providing for the Lord directly."

Like you said above,
"Matthew 25:31-46 and how to me it tells that we should treat everyone,
... like they are our brothers and sisters...,etc."

So, GOD HAS COME TO YOU
ON THE WAY TO SOMEONE ELSE!!!

"I. SEPARATING THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS (Matthew 25:31-33)"

"Following a full day of teaching in the temple, Jesus and His disciples retired to the Mount of Olives for an evening of relaxation and rest . Now just a few days from His Arrest and Crucifixion, Jesus seized the opportunity to speak to those closest to Him about Future Events and The End Times. In this passage, the Lord is specifically talking about His Second Coming..."

"At His Coming, the Enthroned Jesus will gather all Nations before Him. No one shall be exempt from this Great Assembly. He will then separate the sheep from the goats, with the Expert Precision and Wisdom of the Good Shepherd."

"The sheep will be placed to the Lord’s Right, a position associated with God’s Favor throughout the Bible, and the goats will be placed on the Left."

"Following this division both the sheep and the goats will be Judged separately from one another, in Two Distinct Judgments that take place at differing times."

"II. THE REWARDING OF THE SHEEP (Matthew 25:34-40)"

"Following the separation of the sheep from the goats, the sheep will Inherit the Kingdom which has been Prepared for them."

"The sheep are identified by Jesus as those “who are blessed of My Father”. This can be interpreted to refer to those who have received God’s blessing - a reference to Salvation through Jesus Christ. Thus, we can deduce that the sheep are all of those who have been Born-Again, Forgiven of their sin, and Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb."

"Having been identified and bestowed an Inheritance on the basis of their Faith, these sheep are now rewarded on the basis of their works. The works provide tangible evidence that the Love of God indwells them.

"Jesus states that by feeding the hungry, by providing drink for the thirsty, by welcoming the stranger, by clothing the naked, by visiting the sick, and by coming to the prisoner, the sheep had in actuality be ministering to Christ Himself.

"When we demonstrate the Love of Jesus to one another through our actions, even to the “least of these”, it is as if we are providing for the Lord directly."

"Therefore, we will be judged and rewarded to the extent (or degree) by which we share the Love of Jesus Christ with others."

"III. THE CONDEMNATION OF THE GOATS (Matthew 25:41-46)"

"We have already identified the sheep, so who then are the goats?"

"Jesus describes the goats as “accursed ones”.

"To be accursed is the exact opposite of being blessed.

"Thus, the goats must be understood as antithetical to the sheep. In other words, the goats are the unsaved - those who have never received Salvation through Jesus Christ."

"This would include all non-believers Past, Present, and Future."

"This Judgment is known in Christianity as “The Great White Throne” Judgment and is described in Revelation 20:11-15 in even greater detail.

"Immediately following this Judgment all non-believers are cast into The Lake of Fire, a place of Eternal Torment and Condemnation."

"It is important to point out that any good deed that might be done by a non-believer is automatically disqualified because it is absent of the Love of Christ. In other words, a non-Christian might be a tremendously generous and moral person yet, apart from Salvation, their good deeds for others are never applied to Jesus Himself.

"Also notice in these verses that the goats, unlike the sheep, are quick to defend their actions and challenge the Judge to prove their Guilt.

"Their lack of Humility and denial of Guilt is problematic.

"In the final phrase of this discourse, Jesus states that the Righteous -
which would include all of the sheep - now Receive Eternal Life."

"Following the Judgment and Banishment of the goats, the Righteous now officially begin Eternal Life in the New Heavens and the New Earth as described in Revelation 21-22.

"This is the Eternal Life that God Promises
to all who are Granted Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ."

"The message is clear - we are expected to be more than simply participants in this life; we are expected to give our very best, Spiritually, as Saved souls, by Worshipping and serving Him as He has Commanded us to do.

"Put another way, we should all aspire daily to Earn the Rewards that Christ offers. And these Awards are conferred upon the basis His Love being channeled through us to others."

"I can see us all loving the least of these in Jesus’ Name,
just as the Lord desires."

GOD HAS COME TO YOU
ON THE WAY TO SOMEONE ELSE.

from:
The Sheep and the Goats.
...

I'm not saying that you just missed everything, but that the three big topics in that Parable that have to do with The Separating and respective Judgments of the sheep and the goats, is extremely important, also.

"I. SEPARATING THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS (Matthew 25:31-33)."

"II. THE REWARDING OF THE SHEEP (Matthew 25:34-40)."

"III. THE CONDEMNATION OF THE GOATS (Matthew 25:41-46)."

 

Since, The Parable of The Sheep and The Goats
has to do so much with The Final Judgment,
I found and posted this intro to an article that seems mostly to be right on.

(Actually, the way I see The Bible and "The End Times"
and The Final Judgment, is that it is NEXT, and that is that I believe
that there is NOTHING LEFT to be "FULFILLED" prior to Jesus' Return.

That, I believe, is exactly what Matthew 25 teaches all the way through
and Matthew 13 and every other Bible scripture,
ESPECIALLY any that state something concerning "Jesus' Return".

I don't see them saying, "wait, a bunch of other things
will have to happen first that involve 'years'(?)"

"The Divine Procedure in the Administration of the Final Judgment."

"The Administration of the Moral Government of God,
through a Mediator, has exhibited strange and wonderful phenomena,
in which many moral creatures have lost sight of the purity of Divine Law,
and rectitude of Divine Government.

"As the good which the wicked receive here
is not their reward but their trial,

"and the evil which the good suffer here
is not their punishment but their chastening,
it is evident that no correct opinion as to the Perfect Justice of God
can be formed from the events of this life alone.

"The veil which hangs over the works of Eternity
must be raised before all can be seen;

"and it will be raised to display Perfect Justice
to an admiring and astonished world,
in the Day when God shall Judge the secrets of men
by Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel."

"The Final Judgment will be the last grand scheme
in the Mediatorial Reign of Christ, and will terminate
the Moral Government of God through a Mediator.

"Jesus Christ in winding up His Own Mediatorial Reign
will Administer the Final Judgment.

"The Father judgeth no man;
but hath committed all Judgment unto the Son." - John v, 22.

"The Lord Jesus Christ shall Judge the quick
and the dead at His Appearing and His Kingdom." - 2 Timothy iv, 1.

"Jesus Christ in Coming to Judge the World
will Appear in His Glorified Human Nature.

"He hath Appointed a Day, in the which He will Judge the World
in Righteousness, by that man Whom He hath Ordained;

"whereof He hath Given Assurance unto all men,
in that He hath Raised Him from the dead. - Acts xvii, 31.

"This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven,
shall so Come in like manner
as ye have seen Him Go into Heaven." - Acts i, 11.

"Behold, He Cometh with clouds;
and every eye shall see Him,
and they also which pierced Him." - Revelation i, 7....,etc., etc., etc."

 

Bingo:

12 All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets. Mt 7

8 Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. Ro 13

8 Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: Ja 2

10 For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 2 Cor 5

5 but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 who will render to every man according to his works:
7 to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: Ro 2

 

The particular passage you mentioned has been described as “perhaps the most profoundly difficult text in Matthew.” (Baker Evangelical Commentary p. 604)
Let’s study through your passage.
Context is always important.

Matthew Chapters 24 - 25 is called The Olivet Discourse

SETTING (Matthew 24:1-3)
BEGINNINGS OF BIRTH-PANGS (24:4-14)
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION (24:15-28)
COMING OF THE SON OF MAN (24:29-31)
LESSONS OF THE FIG TREE (24:32-41)
NECESSITY OF ALERTNESS (24:42-44)
PARABLE OF THE SERVANT (24:45-50)
PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS (25:1-13)
PARABLE OF THE TALENTS (25:14-30)
JUDGEMENT OF THE NATIONS (25:31-46)

Chiastic Structure:
Judgement of the Sheep (25:34-40)

Judgement of the Goats (25:41-45)
Destiny of the Goats - Eternal punishment (25:46a)​

Destiny of the Sheep - Eternal life (25:46b)

One common interpretation is “salvation by works”, which is antithetical to simple belief in Jesus.

The most common view (among very many interpretation), is that the sheep are those believers who have demonstrated their true faith through the works that they have done. The goats were false believers/ those who by their lack of works demonstrated that they gave a false profession of faith and were hidden in the flock.

Rob

 

Not 'salvation', but justification (imo, as much for God's righteous judgement as for us).

 

@Deacon

Just to be clear by what I meant above; if God is to be 'righteous' in His judgement then He must judge every man by the same standard, works.

5 but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 who will render to every man according to his works:

 

This is not a parable, but an actual event. The symbolism is the reference to sheep vs. goats. But this is not about all mankind. This is about Jesus as King over His own people, Israel. Only a remnant, a third of Israel, will be spared as sheep, and given everlasting life. The rest of Israel gathered out of all nations, will be judged as goats and tossed into the LOF.

Paul refers to this judgment in Romans 11:25-28, when Jesus comes to restore and remove the blindness from Israel.

25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes.

Paul is referring to the sheep. They will be all of Israel redeemed from the earth, at the Second Coming.

As one poster pointed out, the metric Jesus used was doing works. That would make them an enemy of the Gospel, which has nothing to do with works, but faith in God's redemption, and nothing we can do to save ourselves. Jesus chooses some on the basis of works as they are elected directly by God, and have no choice in that election.

Israel as a nation separate from all other nations has a Covenant with God. They were His chosen people by physical birth. God will remove their sins, and change them just like He did the church. But these are not the church, but a chosen few to live and reign on the earth with their King for a thousand years.

The lesson we can learn is that whatever we do we should do it for God, and not our own self recognition. But that lesson has nothing to do with Salvation, nor changes the fact these will be literal physical people changed by God, or forever damned, because they rejected God prior to the Second Coming of their King. This judgment has nothing to do with the vast majority of all the rest of humanity, not part of Jacob.

The wheat and tares final harvest found in Matthew 13 covers all the rest of mankind.