Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 33

 The Final Judgment

Matthew 25:33 “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”

shall set the... The sheep are denoted here as the righteous. The name is given to them because the sheep is an emblem of innocence and harmlessness (See John 10:7, John 10:14-16, John 10:27; Psm. 100:3; 74:1; 23:1-6).

on his right... The right hand is the place of honor, and denotes the situation of those who are honored, or those who are virtuous see (Ecc. 10:2; Eph. 1:20; Psm. 110:1; Acts 2:25, 2:33).

On the right (ἐκ δεξιῶν)

Lit., form the right side or parts. The picture to the Greek reader is that of a row, beginning at the judge's right hand.

The goats are the wicked (see Eze. 34:17).

Goats (ἐρίφια)

Diminutive. Lit., kidlings. The sheep and goats are represented as having previously pastured together. Compare the parables of the Tares and the Net.

on the left... That is, the left hand. This was the place of dishonor, denoting condemnation (see Ecc. 10:2).

Jesus is Judge of the earth. Every individual shall stand before Jesus to be judged. There are only two kinds of people; the saved and the lost. The sheep belong to God, and the goats belong to Satan. The right hand side is for God’s people, and the left is Satan’s side.

No need of pleading or counter-pleading, of prosecutor or prisoner’s counsel, no hope from legal quibble or insufficient proof. All, all is "naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do." He sees all at a glance; and as He sees, He divides by a single dividing line. There is no middle position: each one is either on the right or on the left.

The dividing line is one entirely new. All nations are there; but not as nations are they divided now. This is strikingly suggested in the original by the change from the neuter (nations, εθνη) to the masculine (them, αυτους), indicating as by a sudden flash of unexpected light that not as nations, but as individuals, must all be judged. The line is one which crosses all other lines that have divided men from one another, so that of all ranks and conditions of men there will be some on the right and some on the left. Even the family line will be crossed, so that husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, may be found on opposite sides of it. What, then, is this new and final line of separation? The sentence of the King will mark it out for us.

They will be judged individually, not as national groups. They are described as a mingling of sheep and goats, which the Lord will separate.