Suggestions for leading a study:
Righteous Ranching
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Discussion Questions
When you think of Jesus
Christ as a shepherd, what image comes to mind? Does this passage offer a
different picture of the role Jesus has as shepherd of the flock?
In verse 34, what is the inheritance of the
righteous? What do you think that
means?
In verse 37, who is it
that answers the King? (What term is
used to describe them?)
What is it that qualifies
them to be described that way?
Many times in his letters
the apostle Paul insists that our righteousness is given to us by God through
faith in Christ. Do you think Matthew
is saying something different here? Is
our righteousness determined by how we treat people?
If our righteousness is a
function of both who we are (something given to us by Christ) as well as what
we do, what sorts of things are those?
According
to verse 40, who are the recipients of these deeds? Who do you think that is
referring to?
What do you think makes these people so closely
representative of Jesus Christ himself?
In verse 34, who was the eternal kingdom prepared
for? In verse 40, who was the eternal
fire prepared for? What does this say
about God’s preferences for us?
Verse 45 speaks of the good things that people
failed to do as a basis of judgment, rather than the sins committed. Is that how we are used to thinking of God’s
judgment?
Leaders' Guide
This study aims to help us understand that our righteousness
is determined not just by who we are, but by what we do as well.
When you think
of Jesus Christ as a shepherd, what image comes to mind? Does this passage a
different picture of the role Jesus has as shepherd of the flock?
This
passage is the picture of judgment day when Christ separates the sheep from the
goats. It borrows from the same kind of
imagery as used elsewhere in Scripture when Christ is pictured as the good
shepherd, only this time he is cleaning out the flock, rather than caring for
the sheep. A lot of people when they
think of shepherd and Christ at the same time may get images such as Psalm 23
in their minds. But we should never
lose sight of the fact that one day Jesus will also play the role of righteous
judge. This isn’t at all contradictory
with his present role as caring shepherd, something which we currently
experience by the grace and mercy of God.
In verse 34,
what is the inheritance of the righteous?
What do you think that means?
The inheritance is a kingdom. I’m sure there is no way we could comprehend everything that
means, even if God were to reveal it to us.
However, it should be noted that it is more than just being safe, or
hanging around on clouds strumming harps.
To inherit a kingdom is to be given something to reign over, a concept
which is affirmed in Revelation 22:5, “They will reign for ever and ever”
(NIV). Remind your group that eternal
life is something that comes with authority and eternal purpose and activity,
even if we are not given to know precisely what that means.
In verse 37,
who is it that answers the King? (What
term is used to describe them?)
Those who answer are “the righteous.”
What is it
that qualifies them to be described that way?
Apparently, it is
the activities just described that makes the righteous what they are.
Many times in
his letters the apostle Paul insists that our righteousness is given to us by
God through faith in Christ. Do you
think Matthew is saying something different here? Is our righteousness determined by how we treat people?
This is the big
question, of course. The real answer is
yes to both. Righteousness in Scripture
is both who we are and what we do. In
terms of our standing before God as morally pure, only the sacrifice of Christ
can accomplish that. But Scripture
always assumes that salvation will result in a renewed life that is motivated
to righteous living, especially in unselfish ways that we treat other
people.
If our
righteousness is a function of both who we are (something given to us by
Christ) as well as what we do, what sorts of things are those?
This passage gives
a list of sorts, but be careful not to treat it as exhaustive. This is a parable, or image, of an event
after all—not something meant to create
a check list. You might want to ask you
group what other activities belong on the list. One interesting thing to note is the parallel between this list
and the experiences of early Christian missionaries, esp. Paul, as described in
Acts and the Epistles.
According to verse 40, who
are the recipients of these deeds? Who do you think that is referring to?
The King (Jesus) refers to “these brothers of
mine, or “my brethren” as the recipients of the good deeds done by the
righteous. Some commentators would see
that as the Jewish people, but the majority assume that to be all followers of
Jesus Christ. A follow-up question
might be, “does that exclude these kinds of deeds for non-believers?” Clearly it does not, and our hearts need to
be open to all those in need, out of compassion as well as a desire to witness
through our actions as well as our words.
What do you
think makes these people so closely representative of Jesus Christ himself?
Obviously, Jesus
Christ suffered immensely while on earth.
Paul says in Philippians 4 that he wants to know Christ and the
fellowship of his suffering, becoming like him… So perhaps suffering is also a
way that we become more identified with Christ. At the least, it is clear that showing compassion to people who
are in need indicates an attitude that is oriented correctly toward
Christ. No doubt that is how Jesus
knows that if he himself were here and suffering again that we would be willing
to care for him rather than crucify him.
In verse 34,
who was the eternal kingdom prepared for?
In verse 40, who was the eternal fire prepared for? What does this say about God’s preferences
for us?
The eternal kingdom is prepared for the righteous, but the
eternal fire is prepared only for the devil and his angels. Clearly, God did not intend that destiny for
people. It is not, nor has it ever
been, his desire for people to end up there.
He did not prepare that place for people, but unfortunately, our choices
make it a possibility.
Verse 45
speaks of the good things that people failed to do as a basis of judgment,
rather than the sins committed. Is that
how we are used to thinking of God’s judgment?
We are probably used to thinking more in terms of sins we
have done, and whether those sins are forgiven. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says that we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ to receive what is due us for deeds done in the
body, whether good or bad. The whole of
Scriptural teaching makes it clear that we are saved only by grace through
faith, however no-one escapes accountability in regards to how we treat others.
What can we do
to be prepared for this kind of judgment?
Brainstorm some
specific ways that either individuals or the group as a whole can minister to
people who are down and out or persecuted, for whatever reason.