Date: November 26, 2023
Bible Text: Matthew 25:31-46 | Rev. David A. Douthett
Series: Matthew 25 Parables
As we draw near to the end of the liturgical year, we also come near to the end of Matthew's gospel. For these couple of weeks we will be looking at the parables of Matthew 25. These are not easy parables! They are told in Jerusalem, overlooking the doomed temple, and are the last of Jesus' public ministry before the passion begins. They are part of a larger discourse on the end of the age and the return of the Son of Man, so they are filled with dire warning.
The third and last of the parables here is about the coming of the Son of Man to judge the nations, or the parable of the sheep and the goats. This one is much less parabolic, really, and much more direct than the first two passages in the chapter. With those, there was a lot of room for interpretation, while here -- well, not so much. The Son of Man, that is Christ, will divide the people of all the nations, like dividing sheep and goats, into those who have internalized the ethics of the kingdom of heaven and those who have not. I wish I had better news for them, but it'll be a bad day for the goats. While this is a very familiar passage, let's let it speak to us in fresh ways today.
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