Parables of Jesus

The Sheep and the Goats
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The Sheep and the Goats is a pronouncement of Jesus recorded in chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew Unlike most parables, it does not relate a story of events happening to other characters. This concluding portion of Matthew's chapter is often called the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, but it passes beyond the region of parable into that of divine realities. It concludes the section of Matthew's Gospel known as the Olivet Discourse and immediately precedes the account of Jesus' passion and resurrection.

The two parables before this one (the Ten Virgins and the Talents) stress waiting for and preparing for the return of Christ. It also recalls the parable of the Good Samaritan. This parable is also similar to the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds, which will be sorted out on Judgment Day. What distinguishes the sheep from the goats is the acceptance or rejection of Jesus' message.

There is some difference of opinion among scholars regarding the identity of "the least of these my brothers." Some believe that it refers to the disciples Jesus sent out on mission. Judgment for all the nations will depend upon their treatment of those who have brought to the world the message of Jesus, and this means ultimately their acceptance or rejection of Jesus himself.

Cornelius a Lapide in his great commentary writes, "He compares the elect to sheep, because of their innocence, modesty, humility, obedience, and patience; the reprobate to goats, because this creature has a fetid smell. It is fierce, immodest, lascivious. It walks in precipitous places. And it is quarrelsome. Such are the wicked. Wherefore under the Old Law goats were wont to be offered as sin-offerings."

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Parable Art

"The Sheep and the Goats"

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