Commentary

Image by DreamDigitalArtist at Pixabay

The Dogs and the Cats is based on Matthew 25: 31-46.

The Sheep and the Goats

One sign a parable might need retelling is that its original allusions are now flying right over everyone’s head. It’s not that we don’t understand the basics of the parable. But why sheep? Why goats?

To people in the modern West, there’s nothing obviously good about sheep. There’s also nothing bad about goats. If anything, people use ‘sheep’ or ‘sheeple’ as an insult and admire the goat for its independent nature.

Symbolism

In the Bible, the House of Israel is often linked with ‘sheep’. But being scattered ‘like sheep without a shepherd‘ was not a compliment. Domesticated sheep without a shepherd are in trouble. In Matthew 9:36, Matthew describes Jesus as feeling sorry for the crowds because they are ‘like sheep without a shepherd’.

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Image by DreamDigitalArtist at Pixabay

The Dogs and the Cats is based on Matthew 25: 31-46.

When the Son of Man comes in glory, angels will be with him. He’ll sit on his Judges’ Bench and he’ll separate people one from another, like an animal shelter would separate the dogs and the cats. Dogs on the right, cats on the left.

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Image by Vlad Vasnetsov from Pixabay

The Big Parade is based on Matthew 25:1-12

Alternative Possibilities

This was one of the first parables I ever saw ‘retold’ – a minor updating for children, replacing the oil lamps with more modern torches (‘flashlights’ in US English). The oil that was carried by five of the girls became spare batteries.

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