Bible Study - Talents, Sheep & Goats (Matthew 25:14-46))

Well it's been a while since an update. In this time I managed to get run quite down and wound up sick for a week. The other delay was a much more welcome one. Our group at the church found these two images of judgement so engaging that we would up taking a week for each one. There is a lot of meaning to be found in these pictures that Jesus paints so take some time to reflect on them.

Matthew 25:14-30

• Who is the subject of judgement in this parable, Christians or people in general?
• What do you think the talent signifies? (Note: a talent was a unit of weight and money in the ancient world; a Roman talent was 71lbs of silver = about 15-16 years wages for a common worker)
• What is your reaction to the way the master condemns the last slave?
• In the dialogue between the last slave and the master,  this last slave seems to be judged just as much for his negative view of his master as he is for wasting the talent he was given. What do you think Jesus is trying to say here?

Matthew 25:31-45 (The Judgement of the Nations)

• In this last story of judgement who is the subject of judgement?
• This parable uses imagery taken from Ezekiel 34:11-24 and Daniel 7:9-14. How does reading this earlier prophecy affect how you understand Jesus’ teaching?
• What is the criteria by which the Son of Man will judge between the two groups?
• What do you think ‘seeing the Son of Man’ means in this passage? What is the relationship between knowning Jesus and doing good works of love and mercy?