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Bible Study Matthew

Matthew: Serve God Daily

Matthew 25:31–46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

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. 35 For 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, 36 I 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? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters 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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I 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, ‘Truly I tell you, 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.”

Serve God in ordinary activities

Real service for God is humble service just where we are.

Jesus appealed to his disciples:

•           to be ready (24:42)

•           to be expecting him to come (25:1–13)

•           to serve him (25:14–30).

This shows the sort of service that Jesus wants from his disciples.

Jesus used the same ideas that Daniel had used. (Read Daniel 7:13–14.) Jesus described a throne. (This is a king’s special chair.) Jesus will judge everyone (verses 31–32). This judgement will divide all people into two groups. It will depend on what they have done in their lives.

This story did not mention sins. God did not condemn one group of people because of their sins. He condemned them because of duties that they had neglected. (Read verses 41–43.)

Experts in the study of the Bible have an idea. A person can obey God by avoiding acts of sin. Or, that person can obey God in a definite way. He or she can try to do all the things that would please God. This was what Jesus seemed to be saying here. All Jesus’ real disciples should love people who are in need. Jesus still expects this (verses 37–39).

In ancient Israel, it was hard to tell the difference between sheep and goats. It is the same with Jesus’ disciples. They may seem to be very like each other. But on the Judgement Day he will show the truth. Some people have really served him. Other people have just said that they serve him. Look carefully at sheep and goats. They are very different. It is the same with the real disciple and the false disciple. Look carefully at them. They are very different too.

Jesus spoke about normal things, like when people are hungry and thirsty. He did this for a good reason. He did not talk about the very great problems of the world. He knew that most of his disciples could not solve them. So he spoke about things that happen every day. We must serve him in the way that we live every day.

People who live like this are special to Jesus. Jesus emphasized this. Small things that people do for him get big rewards (verse 34). We may only do a very small thing to help other people. But it is the same as if we did it for Jesus. That is what Jesus said (verse 40). But there was more. Only this sort of behavior will please him. This does not mean that God saves us because of what we do. But, when we serve God humbly, it proves our salvation. The opposite is true for those who fail to serve God humbly. It proves their sad end (verse 46).

Questions

1. What can you do today to serve Jesus? Do you need to change your plans because of what you answer? Explain why you would need to change your plans. Or explain why you would not need to change them.

2. In this parable, the master judged his slaves by their actions. He judged them by what they did. Or he judged them by what they did not do. The Bible teaches that our salvation is not because of what we do. It is because of what Jesus has done for us. (Read Ephesians 2:8–9.) How do these two things match?

3. Who does Jesus say are his ‘brothers’? (Read verses 40 and 45.) Are they all those people who are in need? Or are they all Christians? Think about what your answer means in a practical way.