Note: This transcript is AI-generated and may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for the most accurate information and meaning.
Introduction: Preparing for the Cross
Turn to the text for today: Matthew 25 in the Gospel. We’re going to do a bit of a small series. This season—the season prior to Easter—is often termed in religious circles as “Lent.” It is the season representing the 40 days of Jesus’ suffering in the wilderness, his fasting, and his being tempted by the devil. We use it in our modern context as a way of preparing for Easter, getting our hearts in the right place.
What strikes me when we look at the scriptures is: What did Jesus think was important to prepare people for the cross? We’re going to look at the things He said to prepare His disciples—the people in the day in which He lived. How did He prepare them for the cross? It’s a big group of things. John spends half his book on it; Matthew spends a good bit of chapters on it. We aren’t going to be able to do it all, but we’ll do as much as we can in the next weeks to prepare ourselves for the Easter season as Jesus prepared His disciples.
The Benefit of “Instant Replay”
Whenever I do this sort of thing, I always get a little imaginative. I wonder to myself: how much would the disciples have been thrilled? A lot of what we talk about—like this morning in Matthew 25—the disciples heard all at once. What would it have been like for them to go, “Hey, can we just go back to that one and talk about that for a minute?”
In the span of Jesus’ ministry, they did that occasionally, but not nearly as much as you and I get to do because we have it written down. We can look at it again, see what words He used, how He said it, and what picture He was trying to create. Instant replay is great! We live in an age of streaming; we are so used to replay, looking at things and digesting them again and again. The disciples generally got to hear it once. We get to really “chew” it and let it savor in our experience.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
“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. 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, 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.'”
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'”
“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.'”
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depar from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'”
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
The “Gorilla” in the Video
I was talking to someone the other day about how you can get caught in these algorithms and realize you’ve gone down a vortex. I got sucked into a vortex of neurological quizzes. One was very interesting: it tells you to watch a video and count the number of passes a team makes with a basketball. You watch, you count carefully—let’s say it was five passes. At the end, it confirms you got the right number.
Then they ask: “Did you notice that while that was happening, a man in a gorilla suit passed through the video?” And you think, “No way, there was no gorilla.” Then you watch it again, and doggone it, it’s the same video, and there is a guy in a gorilla suit walking across, mugging for the camera.
Neurologically, what they tell you is the brain does what you tell it to do. When the brain is prepared to focus on one thing, it focuses so intensely that it misses the whole picture. I mention that because, in Jesus’ parables, sometimes you don’t notice the “gorilla” walking through the middle of the video. We focus on the things we think we’re supposed to see, but we miss the big picture.
Three Core Questions
This parable of the sheep and the goats is a prophetic parable. It’s not just describing what the Kingdom is like; it’s describing a conclusion and a direction. There are three questions—the “gorilla” He wants us to see:
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Where is Jesus?
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Are there consequences in life?
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Can goats become sheep?
It’s About DNA, Not Just Activity
Jesus divides all of humanity into two groups. It might look like He makes this judgment based on their activity, but look at how He originally divided them: Sheep and Goats.
It’s not what you do; it’s who you are. The distinction isn’t your activity; it’s your DNA. Now, when you have “sheep DNA,” it comes out. By their fruit, you shall know them. I can know what a person is based on what they do; it’s an accurate reflection. People automatically do what their DNA prescribes.
If your “fruit” is rotten, the cure isn’t fixing the outside; you need different DNA. In the end, it comes down to who you are at the center. Have you been made to be a sheep?
Where is Jesus Found?
Jesus identifies Himself with the “least of these.” He places Himself on the throne as King, but then He identifies with the people in need. If you want to find Jesus, look to the needy, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned.
The response of the sheep is: “When did we do that?” They weren’t looking for Jesus while they were caring for the poor; they just simply cared for the poor. They lived their lives, and at the end, they are surprised. Their DNA—the DNA of “little Christs”—is to care for the lost, broken, and injured.
On the other hand, the goats ask, “When didn’t we care for you?” Their assumption is that they were on the right path. They thought they were doing everything for Jesus, yet they were blind to Him right in front of them in the “least.”
Conclusion: The Transformation
Are there consequences? Yes. The things we do matter in an eternal context. Jesus isn’t trying to scare us; He’s just saying what is. He cares about the manifestation of our DNA in this world.
So, which are you? And the bigger “gorilla” in the room: Can a goat become a sheep?
Technically, no. A goat can put on sheep’s clothing, but it will never be a sheep. But can God turn goats into sheep? Of course He can. He is the King of creation and recreation. His first coming was to say, “I can give you a heart of flesh that cares. I can turn your heart of stone into a heart that feels for the needy.”
Stop putting on sheep’s clothing. Just come to Him and ask Him to turn you from the inside out. Part of becoming a sheep is feeling the “condemnation” of the goat—that sense of dread that maybe I am not what I should be. That is the Spirit of God and the Great Shepherd saying, “I can make you new. I can change your DNA.”