Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Ready or Not

³⁶"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
⁴²"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
⁴⁵"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' ⁴⁹and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Discussion Questions

-Read verses 36-41.  What don’t we know about the second coming of Christ?  What do we know? 

-Verse 37 says that things will be like they were in the days of Noah:  “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time...Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence.” (Gen. 6:5,11)  Do you think we’re heading toward that situation, or are we getting better?

-Read verse 42.  If we can’t know when Jesus will come again, what do you think he means by “keep watch”?  

-Read verses 43-44.  Does the picture of a homeowner prepared for the thief clarify what Jesus meant by “keeping watch?”  What does this tell us to be? 

-Read verses 45-51.  Complete this sentence:  To be ready for Jesus’ return, I should be________________________________

-Who do you think Jesus is referring to when he speaks of the servants in the household?

-What does the servant have to do to be found faithful in this parable?  How do you think that translates into your own life?

-In verse 49, what two things does the servant who is not ready for the Master’s return do?  If you were to describe two broad categories for these, what would you call them?

            -Do you see today’s culture becoming more involved in these two categories of sin, or less?  How?

 Leaders' Guide

This lesson explores the parable of the faithful and wise servant regarding how we can be ready for the return of Christ.

-Read verses 36-41.  What don’t we know about the second coming of Christ?  What do we know? 

            This is a part of the Olivet discourse.  Read the whole chapter to understand the context, which is Jesus’ answer to the question, “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (v.3)  What we don’t know is the day or hour of that event.  What we can know, according to this, are two things:  1, the general moral condition of mankind (that we will be like we were in the days of Noah, something which is explored in the next question), and that it will happen suddenly and without warning.  The description seems to be of people going about their usual activities (as opposed to everything in the world being all upside down as some people seem to think). 

-Verse 37 says that things will be like they were in the days of Noah:  “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time...Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence.” (Gen. 6:5,11)  Do you think we’re heading toward that situation, or are we getting better?

            Probably few if any people will think that we are improving morally as a culture.  Although the question does not prompt it, people may come up with some examples.  The point of the lesson, however, is not to talk about how bad everybody else is but to ask how we can be ready.

-Read verse 42.  If we can’t know when Jesus will come again, what do you think he means by “keep watch”? 

            Clearly, keeping watch does not mean reading the newspaper headlines to try to figure out times and dates.  Jesus explicitly teaches against that (see v. 26).  The following parable is what Jesus uses to clarify what this means, so this is really just an open discussion question designed to lead into a look at the parable.

-Read verses 43-44.  Does the picture of a homeowner prepared for the thief clarify what Jesus meant by “keeping watch?”  What does this tell us to be? 

            This parable tells us to be ready.  But it also clarifies what that means.  It has to do especially with the master finding us accomplishing the tasks that he gave us to do. 

-Read verses 45-51.  Complete this sentence:  To be ready for Jesus’ return, I should be________________________________

            Whenever we read parables, we should avoid beginning with trying to figure out what all the pieces of them refer to and start with the big picture.  What’s the main point of the story?  That is what this question is trying to help people express.  They can use one word or a phrase, but hopefully the bottom line is that Jesus will find us busy and at work with the tasks he gave us to do.

-Who do you think Jesus is referring to when he speaks of the servants in the household?

            In spite of the need to prioritize the big picture with parables, it can also be instructive to ask what the details refer to.  In this case, household is a very common term in the Scripture for the church (the household of God).  Probably, Jesus is referring to how people in the church are treating each other, especially how the leaders are handling their responsibilities.  The parable of the sheep and the goats in chapter 25 confirms this in regards to people being judged as to how they treated Jesus’ “brothers.”  If people want to believe this to refer to how they treat anyone else, that certainly isn’t going to do any harm.  The important thing is, are we taking care of people or taking care of ourselves? 

-What does the servant have to do to be found faithful in this parable?  How do you think that translates into your own life?

            He has to give the servants their food at the proper time.  In general terms, he has to be doing what it is that the master told him to.  Obviously, not everyone is going to be serving in a food line at the church pot luck.  Ask people how it is they think that God may be expecting them to care for other people.  That will depend on people’s gifts, passions, and opportunities. 

-In verse 49, what two things does the servant who is not ready for the Master’s return do?  If you were to describe two broad categories for these, what would you call them?

            The unfaithful servant does two things: beats his fellow servants, and goes out and parties.  These fall into the categories of how we treat other people and how we behave personally.  Those can be described any number of ways, but they essentially cover the gamut of sins including personal morality and relationships. 

            -Do you see today’s culture becoming more involved in these two categories of sin, or less?  How?

                        Again, this is just a way to bring this parable into the present.  Who can know how far we have to go to get to where they were in Noah’s time, but most people will be able to come up with some ways in which the morality of our culture is deteriorating.

-What should we delete from our lives, and what should we include in our lives in order to be ready for the Master’s return?

            This is the application/wrap up question.  Decisions to cut out specific sins in regards to immoral behavior or treating other people poorly may or may not be appropriate for your group, depending on the make-up and how long you’re been studying together.  But everyone should be able to come up with at least one way that they can help other people, especially within the context of the church.  When they do, remind them that if God is calling them to that, then when he comes again that is precisely what it is he expects to find them busy with.