Let’s take a look at the Matthew 25 passage with a bit of historical footing. Notice that all of the above-mentioned disturbing passages come from the New Testament’s Book of Matthew, including the one about being tossed into eternal fire. Yes, Matthew focuses on the narrative of Jesus’ life and death like the other three gospels — Mark, Luke, and John. But, Bible Study Tools says that Matthew exists primarily to present Jesus as the long-prophesied Messiah described in the Bible’s Old Testament. This would have been a crucial point for getting local Jews on board with Christianity in its early days. Acknowledge the Messiah and no hellfire in the apocalyptic days to come. Don’t and you’ve got problems.

The “Sheep and Goats” parable from Matthew 25 illustrates this point perfectly. The “Son of Man” in the passage — aka “the King” — passes his royal inheritance along to those who treated him kindly, gives them food, clothes, etc. “All the nations will be gathered before him,” and the king, “will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” The people on his right side — the sheep side — are those who treated him well and thus get rewarded. This is where we get the famous, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” line. The people on the left, however — the goat side — go to the hellfire forever. Such was the king’s judgment.