Matthew 22:34-40
Lead in #1: In Matthew 22:34-40, it is clear the religious establishment had a deep disdain for Jesus. The Pharisees, the scribes, the scholars of the law, all of them wanted Jesus out of the picture. Why were they so threatened by the itinerant preacher from Galilee? Perhaps it was because Jesus was exposing their attachment to the power that came with the status of their position as “teachers of the law.” They had made an idol of their position as teachers of the law. It was not God they worshipped, but their religion that they worshipped.
Prompt #1: What does it mean to worship our religion and not God? How does that happen?
Lead in #2: Matthew 22, it’s as if Jesus is having to “go fifteen rounds” with a formidable opponent, the religious ruling class of his day, the Pharisees and the Scholars of the Law. With the odds against him, Jesus was a marked man in a battle with an opponent who would eventually find a way to do away with him.
Prompt #2: Can you think of a time when the odds were against you and you were in a battle you weren’t going to win? What did you do to not lose hope?
Lead in #3: In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus tells the Pharisees a story of a wedding feast where the invited guests refused to come so the invitation is opened up to anyone who wants to come, including the “low life” off the street.
Prompt #3: If there were anyone who you’d be surprised to see in heaven, who would that be and why?
Lead in #4: Chapter 22 of Matthew is one story after another where the religious authorities try to trap Jesus with trick questions, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Ceasar or not?”, and then later the ask him, ““Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Prompt #4: What do you do to stay strong in a hostile environment where people are trying to prove you wrong?
Lead in #5: Quoting from Deuteronomy, Jesus tells us we are to “love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Heart, soul, and mind, it seems each offers a different path to God. We come to God through our emotions (heart), through intuition (soul), and through reason (mind).
Prompt #5: Of the three, which is the pathway that has been most helpful to you?