Verses 31-32: "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."
Notice how Jesus describes it. He makes clear that HE will do the separating, not the apostles or any human group or organization. Because belonging to a group means little. It would be the equivalent of sheep or goats being branded with a "JW" logo, or a "Catholic" logo, or a "Whatever Church" logo. (The "Whatever Church" would be an interesting one to visit, wouldn't it?) It's irrelevant to the shepherd. Either you are a sheep or you are a goat, regardless of what group you're in.
Jesus provides the measuring stick in verses 34-36: "Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. For I became hungry and you gave me something to eat; I got thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you received me hospitably; naked, and you clothed me. I fell sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to me.'"
There are a number of interesting points here. The first one that stands out to me proves to sabotage Watchtower reasoning. The Society applies this set of verses to the "other sheep". Problem? Jesus says that these sheep "inherit the kingdom prepared for [them]". The Society claims, repeatedly, that the "other sheep" do not really "inherit" God's Kingdom (any more than they can be 'friends of Christ' or 'sons of God', apparently). Emphasis is given to Jesus himself and to the anointed as "inheriting" the Kingdom. Believing in Jesus means actually accepting his words for what they are, not building doctrine that directly contradicts him and his clear statements of truth.
Second point, Jesus makes clear that helping the hungry/thirsty/sick/strangers/those in need is what merits his approval. Did you see anything in there about 'obedience to the direction of the Governing Body'? I didn't. Maybe I'm not reading the right Bible.
Verses 37-40: "Then the righteous ones will answer him with the words, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to you?' And in reply the king will say to them: '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.'"
Did what? Helped in a practical way! Again, is there anything in here that suggests unquestioning obedience to a Governing Body as a prerequisite for salvation? To see that is to read into it something that just isn't there.
But what about the mention of helping 'Jesus' brothers'? Doesn't that prove the GB's assertions on this issue? Well, what does Jesus himself say about who his brothers are?
Matthew 12:48: "As an answer he said to the one telling him: 'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' And extending his hand toward his disciples, he said: 'Look! My mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.'"
The logical JW refutation is, well, note that he was addressing his disciples, who would become part of the anointed, hence being Jesus' brothers. Great. I hear you. But Jesus didn'