Jeremiah, the Nations, and the "Sheep and the Goats"

Send us your questions and reflections!On today's episode, we explore the deep Old Testament background of Jesus's teaching on the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. Specifically, we see that Jesus's promise of judgment on the nations based upon how they are treating the Church is rooted deeply in the oracles against Babylon in Jeremiah 51. Jeremiah, a prophet that lived in the last days of the kingdom of Judah, saw firsthand the over the top destruction that the Babylonians wreaked in Jerusalem. God spoke to him about God's own displeasure at the Babylonians excessive abuse of the people of God and the destruction of the Temple. We see then that the judgment of Matthew 25 is not about the church being judged. Rather, we are called to stand firm in our faith and to rest in the promise that God sees and hears us.