The Wandering Heretic

I had a rather interesting discussion with my wife a few months ago.  The topic had to do with my opinion of my father's eulogy.  I noted that I thought it was okay, but then started to lament the direct and almost exclusive association the modern church has made between the Gospel and personal salvation.  [...]

When Taylor Hicks won the American Idol contest this year, they had him unveil his single, "Do I Make You Proud."  Despite being a really marginally interesting song, Taylor's popularity and talent took it to the top of the charts.  Yet it still remains a mediocre tune, so there must be some fundamental urge to [...]

A few posts ago I discussed the current disparity in Christian views about the afterlife. I used an old episode of Kung Fu (The Soul is the Warrior) to illustrate the extreme ends of the opinions held.  I chose two characters in the episode who epitomized the extremes: Caine, who represented the eternal continuance of [...]

Sheriff Thoms: I've seen death piled around me until the air couldn't gather.  I'm afraid of it.  Smoked dry waiting for it.  Gone past my luck.  Ed Rankin's gone through it like I have but fear has never touched that man being Indian.  They believing that life runs flat like a table and death isn't [...]

This post will discuss the fate of the sheep and the goats. The most common interpretation is that the sheep and goats go to heaven and hell respectively. I would have little argument with that interpretation. It does not undo anything I have stated so far. The only assumption change would be that the ethnic groups in this parable would all have been killed at the Judgment of Jerusalem.

On their own, an argument can be made for any of the three. In the context of Matthew, when disciples asked their question, Jesus had not yet gone to the cross, Jerusalem was not yet destroyed, and certainly the world had not ended. None of the three possible times of Judgment had occurred. Jesus answer even appears to combine elements of all three. Parts appear to apply to the destruction of Jerusalem and other parts appear to apply to the end of the world. The temptation is to apply Jesus answer to all three periods in a kind of eschatological smorgasbord. However, this would be a last recourse. It would make the entire discourse, not to mention the parable, less definite and less precise.

Now comes the hardest part of expositing this passage. Exactly when did or will the events described in this passage occur? Most people who read the passage stare at me quizzically as I describe my confusion. “How can you be questioning the when of this passage?” they ask. “The answer is obvious.”

The problem is that I get at least two completely different “obvious” answers. Minority opinions add even more alternatives.