Subjects of the Kingdom

14, 15. (a) What did Jesus illustrate in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30)? (b) Appropriately, what follows in Matthew chapter 25?

¹⁴ In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus’ illustration of the sheep and the goats describes this great work of gathering the earthly subjects of God’s Kingdom. In the parable that precedes it, that of the talents, Jesus illustrates that the anointed disciples who hope to reign with him in his heavenly Kingdom must work to increase his earthly belongings. Quite appropriately, then, in the following parable, Jesus depicts what is required of those who want to become subjects of his heavenly Kingdom.

¹⁵ Notice his remarks at Matthew 25:31-33: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.”

16. How are the nations gathered and the people separated?

¹⁶ Jesus arrived in his glory in 1914. Going on the offensive, he, with all his angels, attacked and evicted his demonic enemies from heaven. What follows next in his parable helps us appreciate that Jesus’ sitting down on a glorious throne represents a posture of judgment during his presence. The gathering of all the nations before him means that Jesus acts toward the nations as his prospective flock, figuratively speaking. It is a flock made up of sheep and goats. While it may take part of a day to separate the sheep from the goats in a literal flock, the earth-wide separating of people who are free moral agents takes much longer. This is because the separation is based on each individual’s course of action.

17. Why is the situation today serious for all people?

¹⁷ In the parable, the Shepherd-King puts the sheeplike ones on his right hand and the goatlike ones on his left. The right-hand side turns out to be a judgment with a favorable outcome​—everlasting life. The left-hand side represents an unfavorable judgment​—that of everlasting destruction. The King’s determination of the matter has serious consequences.

18. Why does the King’s invisibility not excuse anyone?

¹⁸ The invisibility of the reigning Son of man during his presence, or pa·rou·siʹa, does not excuse anyone. More and more sheeplike ones today are joining the slave class in preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom worldwide, letting their light shine. Truly, their witnessing has reached the far corners of the globe.​—Matthew 24:14.

19. What qualities of the sheep class are illustrated in the parable of the sheep and the goats?

¹⁹ Why does the Shepherd-King reward those of the sheep class with a blessed future? Because of their wholehearted support of the Kingdom-preaching work and the kindness they show toward his anointed brothers, which Jesus regards as done to himself. Therefore, the royal Son of man says to them: “Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.”​—Matthew 25:34; 28:19, 20.

Helping the King

20, 21. What evidence do the sheep give that they stand on the side of the Kingdom?

²⁰ Notice that when the King invites these sheep to inherit the earthly realm of God’s Kingdom, they express surprise. They ask him: ‘Lord, when did we do all these things for you?’ He replies: “Truly I say to you, To the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40) When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene on his resurrection day, he spoke of his spiritual brothers when he said to her: “Be on your way to my brothers.” (John 20:17) During the time of his invisible presence, Jesus has only a small remnant of his 144,000 spiritual brothers still in the flesh on the earth.

²¹ Since Jesus is invisible in the heavens, it is only indirectly that sheeplike people do these loving things to him. They see him on his throne only with their eyes of faith. Jesus appreciates all the efforts they make to assist his spiritual brothers, who will become his heavenly joint heirs. What is done to his brothers he counts as being done to him personally. The sheeplike ones deliberately do good to Christ’s brothers because they recognize them to be such. They appreciate that Jesus’ spiritual brothers are the ambassadors of Jehovah’s Kingdom, and they want to give concrete evidence that they are taking their stand with them on the side of that Kingdom.

22. How is the sheep class rewarded? (Compare Revelation 7:14-17.)

²² Jehovah foresaw that this sheeplike class would appear during this time of his Son’s presence, and he has a wondrous reward in store for them! The great crowd will inherit the blessings of peace here on earth during the happy Millennial Reign by Jehovah’s King, Jesus Christ.

23. In what ways do the sheep knowingly help the King’s brothers?

²³ When we take into consideration Bible prophecies that apply at the time of Christ’s presence, along with Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, what do we see? This: It is not a case of unknowingly and by chance doing good to one of the King’s spiritual brothers that makes a person a sheep with a righteous standing before God and his King. Those of the sheep class know what they are doing, even though they do not see the reigning King with their literal eyes. They endeavor to help the King’s brothers not only in a material way but also in a spiritual way. How? By assisting them in the preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom and in conducting Bible studies in order to make disciples for Christ. Thus, today there are over four million light-bearing proclaimers of God’s Kingdom.

19. What qualities of the sheep class are illustrated in the parable of the sheep and the goats?

¹⁹ Why does the Shepherd-King reward those of the sheep class with a blessed future? Because of their wholehearted support of the Kingdom-preaching work and the kindness they show toward his anointed brothers, which Jesus regards as done to himself. Therefore, the royal Son of man says to them: “Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.”​—Matthew 25:34; 28:19, 20.

Helping the King

20, 21. What evidence do the sheep give that they stand on the side of the Kingdom?

²⁰ Notice that when the King invites these sheep to inherit the earthly realm of God’s Kingdom, they express surprise. They ask him: ‘Lord, when did we do all these things for you?’ He replies: “Truly I say to you, To the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40) When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene on his resurrection day, he spoke of his spiritual brothers when he said to her: “Be on your way to my brothers.” (John 20:17) During the time of his invisible presence, Jesus has only a small remnant of his 144,000 spiritual brothers still in the flesh on the earth.

²¹ Since Jesus is invisible in the heavens, it is only indirectly that sheeplike people do these loving things to him. They see him on his throne only with their eyes of faith. Jesus appreciates all the efforts they make to assist his spiritual brothers, who will become his heavenly joint heirs. What is done to his brothers he counts as being done to him personally. The sheeplike ones deliberately do good to Christ’s brothers because they recognize them to be such. They appreciate that Jesus’ spiritual brothers are the ambassadors of Jehovah’s Kingdom, and they want to give concrete evidence that they are taking their stand with them on the side of that Kingdom.

22. How is the sheep class rewarded? (Compare Revelation 7:14-17.)

²² Jehovah foresaw that this sheeplike class would appear during this time of his Son’s presence, and he has a wondrous reward in store for them! The great crowd will inherit the blessings of peace here on earth during the happy Millennial Reign by Jehovah’s King, Jesus Christ.

23. In what ways do the sheep knowingly help the King’s brothers?

²³ When we take into consideration Bible prophecies that apply at the time of Christ’s presence, along with Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, what do we see? This: It is not a case of unknowingly and by chance doing good to one of the King’s spiritual brothers that makes a person a sheep with a righteous standing before God and his King. Those of the sheep class know what they are doing, even though they do not see the reigning King with their literal eyes. They endeavor to help the King’s brothers not only in a material way but also in a spiritual way. How? By assisting them in the preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom and in conducting Bible studies in order to make disciples for Christ. Thus, today there are over four million light-bearing proclaimers of God’s Kingdom.