The Pop Quiz

The Sheep and the Goats

31 “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. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

There are three parables in Matthew 25 and they all have a similar theme.  They are all in the context of Jesus' second coming.  I always remember the dreaded pop quiz when I was in school.  It always seemed to come at the time you were least prepared.  Of course if I had been studying and keeping up with the homework, I would have been ready at anytime.  In these three stories Jesus gives three ways in which we should be prepared for Jesus' return. 

In the parable of the ten virgins, five of the virgins made sure their lamps were filled with oil before they went out to meet the bridegroom. The other five carelessly went to meet the bridgegroom without filling their lamps with oil.  It got very late and dark and when the bride groom came, the virgins without the oil had to run home and get some. When they came back it was too late.  The doors to the wedding banquet were locked.

In the second parable, three of a master's workers were given different amounts of money to invest and put to work for their master.  The master went away.  The servants who were given more money put it to work right away and doubled the master's money. The servant with the least amount hid the money and did nothing with it.  His rationale was that he didn't want to lose his master's money, so in fear he hid it. After a long period of time the master came back.  He was so pleased with the first two servants, he gave them more to invest.  But he was not pleased with the lazy servant and took what he had given him and gave it to the faithful servant.  He failed the pop quiz.

Finally, in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats Jesus talks about the judgment which will happen when he returns.  All the nations will be separated into two groups, sheeps and goats.  In Jesus' day sheep were to be preferred to goats.  Sheep were loyal to their shepherd, but goats were individualist, ornery and hard to control.  Jesus' judgment of the two groups was based on how they treated the "least of these", which were those in need whether it was food, a visit in prison, clothing or a place to sleep for the night.  To those who cared for the "least of these", they were given eternal life.  Those who showed a lack of compassion for the least and lost were separated from God and eternally punished.  Pretty harsh.  

So what is the theme of chapter 25? In each case the people who failed the pop quiz were careless and didn't take their master's instructions seriously.  Whether it was neglecting to bring oil, wasting precious gifts, or not caring about those in true need; they were not prepared to meet the master.  They failed the pop quiz.  

Though we are saved by grace not by works, we are still called to be ready for Jesus to return anytime.  It always behooves us to take stock of our lives and see what we need to adjust in our lives to be ready for Jesus return?  Are we using the gifts he has given to us to build His kingdom?  Are we caring for those who need it the most?  Let's be ready for the pop quiz.  You never know when it is going to happen.