Home Bible Study – The Sunday of the Last Judgement

Home Bible Study
The Sunday of the Last Judgement

1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2

8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 1 Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Commentaries

• St. Basil the Great. When something that is really evil is done and scandalizes others, or if something that is neutral or even good is done and that causes scandal to someone who is weak in faith or knowledge, then the penalty is clear and unescapable.… “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck.”

• St. John Chrystostom. St. Paul is less concerned about what is objectively right or wrongthan he is with each person’s spiritual health.

• Fr. Anthony. Dogma (and Christianity in general) is best learned living in relation with others, not from books.

Stories

• A hunter in the desert saw Abba Anthony enjoying himself with the brethren and he was shocked. Wanting to show him that it was necessary sometimes to meet the needs of the brethren, the old man said to him,”Put an arrow in your bow and shoot it.” So he did. The old man then said, “Shoot another,” and he did so. Then the old man said,”Shoot yet again,” and the hunter replied, “If I bend my bow so much I will break it.” Then the old man said to him, “It is the same with the work of God. If we stretch the brethren beyond measure they will soon break. Sometimes it is necessary to come down to meet their needs.” When he heard these words the hunter was pierced by compunction and, greatly edified by the old man, he went away. As for the brethren, they went home strengthened.

• Some old men went to Abba Poemen and asked, “If we see brothers sleeping during the common prayer, should we wake them?” Abba Poemen answered, “If I see my brother sleeping, I put a pillow under his head and let him rest.” Then one old man spoke up, “And how do you explain yourself before God?” Abba Poemen replied, “I say to God: You have said, ‘First take the beam out of your own eye and then you will be able to remove the splinter from the eye of your brother.’”

This lesson is tough for people who want things to be black and white. It says that rules are important, but not as important as helping our brothers and sisters to grow.

Questions:

• How do we keep this from just enabling ignorance and weakness?

• Is there room in this approach for challenging people to grow?

• Most people lean more towards one side or the other of the “prophet” vs. “pastor” scale. Where do you come down (note: the last digit of the Myers-Briggs measures this; iNtuitive vs. Judgmental).

• This Sunday is Meatfare… what does this lesson remind us about fasting?

*****

St. Matthew 25:31-46.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Commentary

• St. John Chrysostom. This judgment is accomplished by and in comparison with other men. This is a sort of them; the virgins judge the virgins (oil), the faithful servant judged the drunken servant who was judged by the faithful servant, and the man who buried his talent was judged b the actions of those who invested wisely. … All these bring the listeners to the point of answering, “When did we see you hungry?”

• St. John Chrysostom. “For I was hungry, and you gave me no food.” If you were to meet an enemy, his suffering should lead you to mercy. His hunger, cold, imprisonment, nakedness and sickness, and homelessness should be enough to overcome your enmity. But you did not do these things for a friend, much less an enemy. If you had been kind, you could have made a friend and dome something good. When you see a dog hungry you feel bad for it, but when you see the Lord hungry, you ignore Him. You have no excuse.

Questions

• This coming Sunday is our last day of meat for a while. What does this reading say about fasting?

• What does Jesus Christ reward? What does He punish?

• How do you feel about this lesson, and especially about the punishment?

• How seriously does the Church (and by this, I mean specifically our parish) take this lesson?

• How can we build taking care of others into our routines?

• Let’s not get specifically political, but does the welfare state count? If so, how much?