Devotional Sharing Submitted by Joyce Yen, Gracepoint Berkeley
Matthew 25:31-46
What is amazing about the fact that Jesus identified with those who are considered the “least”?
Jesus was the Son of God. He was upheld to be the Messiah, everyone looked up to him. God himself says, “This is my Son, listen to him.” Jesus is no doubt powerful and lived a captivating life. He drove out demons, calmed the storm, and healed the blind, lame and sick. He was a great teacher. It’s amazing then that Jesus identified with those who are considered the “least” because this is so radically different from the world. The world sees people as resources, as competitors, as whether you can benefit me or not. The world flocks to those who are great, yet quickly and harshly marginalizes, dismisses, and neglects the rest. The world is into Most Popular, Most Beautiful, Most Charismatic, Most Likely to Succeed, what degree you possess, how much money you make. But Jesus who is truly the most influential and greatest figure that ever walked the earth identified with the “least.”
Reflect on the fact that those “who are cursed into the eternal fire” are largely guilty for what they did not do. Who are the needy in my life and what has been my attitude toward sins of omission towards them?
It is not just people who commit outwardly blatant sins like murder and adultery “who are cursed into the eternal fire.” The people here are guilty for what they did not do. This really causes me to check the reality within my own heart.
The needy in my life are not just the students that I am ministering to, my non-Christian parents. It is also my roommate who may seem slightly down, a friend who is sick, people who seemed especially burdened or heavy-hearted, my classmates who experienced things like shock at a recent friend committing suicide. Each time I pretend not to see or hear, or I do not respond to their needs or assume someone else will take care of it, is a failure on my part to identify with Jesus. Each time I fail to share in his compassion and his heart for the “harassed and helpless,” to move towards those needs, I am guilty. Each time I try to save a little emotional energy, unwind because I’ve done my Christianly duties for the day, clutch unto my schedule, become boggled down by my own issues/concerns – it grieves the heart of God who wants to use me to be that agent of his love and source of blessing.
I think the natural attitude toward sins of omission is much like the response of the cursed, “Lord, when did we see you hungry…” It is so easy to not even know/recognize it. Or it is easy to remember the best-of-me moments and frame it as the real me. It is also easy to dismiss the fact that I even have these sins of omission. I can justify that I’ve done enough or compare myself to this person and that person and think I’m not too shabby.
Jesus never ceased to work, reach out, and touch the people in his three years of ministry. He was without a doubt busy. Likewise, there isn’t time to relax, grow complacent. The reality is that there are so many who are needy and broken. In the parable of the talents, when the master returned, the faithful servants were entrusted with more. They did not stop, settle down, and though the Master applauded them and they shared in his happiness; that was not the end. Because there is much work to be done. I hope to be faithful to each person that God brings into my life, and that he will continue to enlarge my sphere of concern. Also, these parables sharply remind me that there is not enough time to love… I must constantly fight against the passivity, laziness, self-focus/self-centeredness within.
Matthew 25:1-13
“But the parable has at least two universal warnings. […] It warns us that there are certain things which cannot be obtained at the last minute. […] Similarly, it is easy to leave things so late that we can no longer prepare ourselves to meet with God. […] It warns us that there are certain things which cannot be borrowed. The foolish virgins found it impossible to borrow oil, when they discovered they needed it. A man cannot borrow a relationship with God; he must possess it for himself. A man cannot borrow a character; he must be clothed with it. We cannot always be living on the spiritual capital which others have amassed. There are certain things we must win or acquire for ourselves, for we cannot borrow them from others.”[1]
- What realities did the foolish ones ignore?
- What is the significance of the fact that the foolish ones could not borrow oil from the wise ones when the crucial time came? Are there ways in which I am counting on the spiritual capital of others?
- How does this parable challenge a casual approach to Christian life?
Matthew 25:19-23
- How does faithfulness lead to partaking in God’s happiness?
- In what ways does God want me to be “faithful with a few things” so that he can entrust me with “many things”? Is there some way in which I am refusing to be “faithful with a few things” because I want to be “in charge of many things”?
- What can I learn from the fact that the reward from the master was to put them in charge of many things?
Matthew 25:31-46
“This is one of the most vivid parables Jesus ever spoke, and the lesson is crystal clear – that God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human need. His judgment does not depend on the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame that we have acquired, or the fortune that we have gained, but on the help that we have given.”[2]
- What is amazing about the fact that Jesus identifies with those who are considered the “least”?
- Reflect on the fact that those “who are cursed into the eternal fire” are largely guilty for what they did not do. Who are the needy in my life and what has been my attitude towards sins of omission towards them?
Matthew 25:1-46
- Reflect on the three parables in this chapter. Am I living with the end in the mind?
- How can I concretely heed the warnings from each of these parables?
Additional Questions:
Matthew 25:11-13
- According to v. 12, what is the relationship between Jesus’ knowledge of them and their preparedness?
- How can I concretely heed this exhortation to keep watch and be prepared for Jesus’ return?
Matthew 25:14-23
- What can I learn from the fact that the master “entrusted his property” to different servants, giving them different amounts of talents, “each according to his ability”?
- What is odd about the response of the “man who had received the one talent” given the fact that master was entrusting his property to him?
- How does the master’s identical praise for both the two and five talent servants show what God values and the folly of the one talent servant’s response to receiving one talent?
Matthew 25:24-27
- Why would the one talent servant “[dig] a hole in the ground and hid[e] his master’s money” and later blame the master for his own unfaithfulness? What is the relationship between wrong view of God and unfaithfulness?
- Why does the master respond to him by calling him a “wicked, lazy servant”?
Matthew 25:28-30
“This maxim parallels the saying in [Matthew] 13:12, illustrating a similar point about spiritual responsiveness; here it emphasizes that wise and conscientious use of one’s God-given abilities is a responsibility that accompanies a right relationship with God.”[3]
- What does it mean that “everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance” and “whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him” in the context of my relationship with God? How does this principle serve as an encouragement and/or a warning to me?
[1] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 2, Revised Edition, the Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1975) 320-321
[2] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2, 1975,The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 325-326.
[3] Wilkins, Michael J., NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2004.