When reading the Scriptures, one thing we have to understand is that we are talking about a people who have the Torah (First 5 books of the Old Testament) memorized, and when we’re talking about the Rabbis and the disciples they would have had the entire Old Testament memorized. Because of this they debated, argued, and taught by only quoting a small piece of Scripture, but referring to the entire context of that piece of Scripture. Sometimes they would quote just by using certain words
Read Matthew 25:31-32 and Ezekiel 34:17 and journal your thoughts
Did you catch it? Jesus refers to Ezekiel 34:17 just by talking about judging sheep and goats. In our culture it is like talking about an entire TV show by saying “you know the one where…” and all of a sudden we begin to think about the entire episode.
The problem is for people like us, who do not have the entire Old Testament memorized how in the world are we supposed to recognize that? The key for us when it comes to trying to figure out what’s going on is to look for words that seem a bit out of place. For example a reference to sheep and goats, we key in on those words and do a quick Google search on times that phrase is used in the Old Testament.
With this in mind, what Jesus is saying in this piece of text? According to Ezekiel 34:17 who is the one who judges the sheep and the goats? (Answer: God) So, what is Jesus saying about himself? (Answer: Jesus links himself with God). In their culture this would have been not only a bold claim, but it would have been outrageous, Jesus is essentially referring to himself as God. Remember, this is a group of people who would even say the name of G-d, let alone claim to be him.
Today take some time to read the Scriptures and meditate on words and discover if there is more there than meets the eye.
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