The separation of sheep and goats

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory, and all the nations will be gathered before him. And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats, and shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left.”
Mt 25:31-33

The image of “sheep and goats” is often interpreted as referring to the final judgment, and God dividing people individually into “lost” and “saved.” This interpretation will be examined below.

According to this interpretation, the separation of sheep and goats would be part of a final judgment. This is the idea that there is a final judgment at the end of time. Often people think of only one dish without further differentiation. This impression is directly promoted by the context in many a translation. In Matthew chapter 24 and 25 is the end time speech of Jesus. It is spoken on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem and is the answer to the disciples’ question

“Tell us, when will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?”
Mt 24,3 (Rev. Elbf.)

According to this translation, the Second Coming of Jesus and the end of the world coincide. In Jesus’ speech, which spans the next two chapters, He mentions the sheep and goats.

The Context: Jesus’ End-Time Speech

The long speech of Jesus is the answer to a concrete question of the disciples. In a translation close to the basic text it says:

“When Jesus came out of the consecration place and was about to go on, His disciples came to Him and pointed to the buildings of the consecration place. Then He answered them: “Do you not see all this? Verily I say unto you, there shall by no means be left here stone upon stone, which shall not be broken down.”
Mt 24:1-2 (KNT)

Jesus was speaking here about the temple, whose destruction he foresaw. Then the disciples asked Him:

“When He had sat down on the Mount of Olives, His disciples, when they were by themselves, came to Him and asked, “Tell us, when will this be, and what is the sign of Your presence and of the close of the eon?”
Mt 24:3 (KNT)

Three things are asked here:

1. When will this be? There it is about the destruction of the temple, which Jesus just talked about before.
2. What is the sign of Your presence (gr. parousia)? There it is about the establishment of the messianic kingdom, to which He then comes (cf. Mt 24,27 Mt 24,37 Mt 24,39)
3. What is the sign of the end of the eon? There it is not about the end of the world, but about the end of the current world time (the current age or eon, gr. aion) (Mt 13,22 Mt 13,39-40 Mt 13,49 Mt 24,3).

These three questions are now answered in the subsequent end-time speech of Jesus. It is not about a final judgment at the end of all times, but about the conclusion of the present age, and the transition into the next messianic age. The contrast of these two ages was often a theme in the Gospels (cf. Mt 13:39-40 Mk 10:30, etc.). Jesus describes this time of transition as a time of tribulation and judgment. It is a time of upheaval and a time of great need. Hence His promise to the disciples: “And behold, I am with you always, to the close of the eon” (Mt 28:20).

Jesus’ end-time discourse does not speak of the end of all times, but of the dawn of the messianic age. This is about the gospel of the kingdom and the dawn of the messianic kingdom (Mt 24:14). The dishes mentioned here are all in this context. In contrast, the very last judgment stands in a completely different context. The final dish follows much later. We can read about this very last judgment before the great white throne in Rev 20, when the Messianic kingdom (Rev 20:6) is over, and heaven and earth pass away (Rev 20:11-15).

Two thrones, two dishes

Matthew 25 mentions a judgment before the glory throne. There (in a figurative language) the sheep are separated from the goats. Revelation 20 mentions the great white throne. Individuals are judged there. It is very instructive to contrast these two courts and these two thrones.

Torment or punishment?

In older Luther translations, this verse reads quite differently: “And they will go into eternal torment, but the righteous into eternal life. No wonder that this passage has long had a central meaning in a doctrine of heaven and hell. However, all recent editions, both of the Luther translation and other translations, have corrected the Greek kolasis to mean “punishment.” This, of course, is not the same as chastisement (Gr. ponos, as in Rev 16:10-11).

The Greek kolasis, used in Matthew, has the meaning of “punishment for correction.” It is not an endless torment, either in the Word or in the use of the Word in the Bible. The same word is used elsewhere only in 1Jn 4,18, where it says: “Fear is not in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. But he who fears has not yet become perfect in love.”. It has nothing to do with pain.

In 2Pet 2:4 the verb “to punish” is used as follows: “For if God did not spare sinning messengers, but put them in dark dungeons of Tartarus, and so gave them away to be kept for judgment as those to be punished…”. So here the punishment is not a consequence of the judgment, but the preparation or bridging until the judgment. Only the court will be able to determine how things really are. The punishment here is detention until court.

Sheep and goats as a court of nations

The last verse of Jesus’ end-time discourse summarizes, “So these will go into the eonian punishment, but the righteous into the eonian life” (Matt. 25:46). Significantly, this is not about individuals, but about nations. “All nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, but as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats”. The central point here is not the faith in Jesus of individual people, but the behavior of the nations towards the “brothers of the Lord”. This differentiation is essential for an exegesis that is close to the Bible.

The nations will all be brought before the glory throne before the King and judged according to how they treated the Lord’s brothers, the Jews. This is, so to speak, the conclusion of this age and the preconditions for the new age. The consequence is “aeonian”, i.e. concerning the coming aeon or the coming age. An eonian punishment is a punishment considering this coming age. So also the eonian life is the life of the coming age (cf. Luk 18:30). Anything beyond that finds no support in the basic text or context – an endless eternity is nowhere in sight. Not quantity (endless duration), but quality (the age of the Messiah) is central. How long this messianic age will last is not the subject of the statement. In any case, Jesus’ end-time speech does not look beyond the messianic age, as it is often interpreted. There is no mention here of the last judgment, nor of a new heaven and a new earth, as in Isaiah or at the end of the book of Revelation.

The dawn of the messianic kingdom is the overturning of the present time until the dawn of a new time. It is a powerful event, as described in Jesus’ speech. As a valuable statement in its own context, this section can now be read with profit.