Dude, I appreciate how cordial you are. You're one of my favorite poasters on fedi, even when we aren't eye to eye (SURPRISE eye for an eye, motherfuck, lmaooo)

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[Part 1 of 2]

>why Christ would bother answering those who ask Him what they must do to be saved

The four beasts/kingdoms, the statue of metals/kingdoms, and the 70 weeks prophecies of Daniel were to Christ's disciples as Revelation is to us--the latest of prophecies of the latest revealed times.

They saw the Kingdom of God of in Daniel as coming immediately, soon--along with the fall of the Second Temple. We see this when Christ points to the temple and says no stone will be left on top of another and the disciples follow by asking when this will be, what will be the signs of the end of the age, etc. It was all one to them.

Christ did not correct them that this was not so. Instead, He answered each of these questions in one response, as they had asked in one questioning.

Let's split more specifically questions regarding eternal life and questions regarding salvation.
>eternal life
When asking after eternal life, Christ refers to loving your "neighbor." (I believe we've touched this before. There is a Koine Greek word for physical, geographical "neighbor" not used here, but rather the word for "near you", "dear to you", "yours"--and the commandment He quotes in part as being the one containing all others reads "the sons of thy people."
In the same conversation about "Who is my brother?", it is not the Pharisee (position), not the priest (position), but the actual Israelite Samaritan (blood) that treats him well that is his brother. This said during a time when Samaritans were seen by Judeans (whether Israelites or not) as Israelites that left God--or even as non-Israelites attempting to slide into the covenant.

Essentially, He's saying what you and I do here: Stop making enemies of each other, work it out; you have enemies beyond you that are not of you.

What does doing that have to do with eternal life?
>Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:13-15)

>And whenever the Son of Man may come in his glory, and all the holy messengers with him, then he shall sit upon a throne of his glory; and gathered together before him shall be all the nations, and he shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd doth separate the sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep indeed on his right hand, and the goats on the left. Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, "Come ye, the blessed of my Father, inherit the reign that hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me; naked, and ye put around me; I was infirm, and ye looked after me; in prison I was, and ye came unto me." Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, "Lord, when did we see thee hungering, and we nourished? Or thirsting, and we gave to drink? And when did we see thee a stranger, and we received? Or naked, and we put around? And when did we see thee infirm, or in prison, and we came unto thee?" And the king answering, shall say to them, "Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] to one of these my brethren -- the least -- to me ye did [it]."

>Then shall he say also to those on the left hand, "Go ye from me, the cursed, to the fire, the age-during, that hath been prepared for the Devil and his messengers; for I did hunger, and ye gave me not to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me not to drink; a stranger I was, and ye did not receive me; naked, and ye put not around me; infirm, and in prison, and ye did not look after me." Then shall they answer, they also, saying, "Lord, when did we see thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or infirm, or in prison, and we did not minister to thee?" Then shall he answer them, saying, "Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of these, the least, ye did [it] not to me." And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during. (Matthew 25:31-46)

The sheep are judged / rewarded by how they treated Him--by how they treated the sheep--and *none of the sheep* are said to be cast into the fire. (This has nothing to do with deciding their salvation.)
Meanwhile, the goats are judged by how they treated Him--by how they treated the sheep, not by how they treated fellow goats--and are cast into the fire—just as the tares, "children of the wicked one" according to Christ's explanation of His parable, are thrown.