Lesson #40

PARABLES OF JESUS CHRIST
LESSON #40
THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER AND HIS SERVANTS (MAT 20:1-16)

• MEMORY VERSE: 1JOH 2:25

• THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER AND HIS SERVANTS (MAT 20:1-16)
• THIS AN OFTEN MIS-UNDERSTOOD PARABLE THAT MAKES GOD SEEM UNJUST. MANY FIND THIS PARABLE VERY PERPLEXING. HOWEVER, IN REALITY, IT ISN’T THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND IF WE BEGIN WITH THE PREMISE THAT GOD IS A JUST GOD HAVING ALL WISDOM.
• READ MAT 19:27-20:16 FOR THE CONTEXT OF THE PARABLE.
• JESUS SPOKE THIS PARABLE TO HIS DISCIPLES (MAT 19:27). IT IS A RESPONSE TO PETER’S QUESTION IN MAT 19:27.
• THE STORY:
• A MAN HIRES WORKERS FOR HIS VINEYARD. SOME HE HIRES EARLY IN THE MORNING, SOME THE THIRD HOUR, SOME THE SIXTH HOUR, SOME THE NINTH HOUR, AND SOME THE ELEVENTH HOUR. AT THE END OF THE DAY, HE PAID ALL THE WORKERS THE SAME AMOUNT. HE STARTED WITH THE LAST HIRED AND ENDED WITH THOSE HE HIRED FIRST.
• ON THE SURFACE, IT DOES NOT SEEM AS THOUGH THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD IS FAIR.
• IN FACT, THE WORKERS IN THE PARABLE DID NOT THINK IT WAS FAIR, EITHER, BECAUSE THEY COMPLAINED ANGRILY ABOUT THEIR WAGE.
• WHO DOES THE HOUSEHOLDER (THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD) REPRESENT?
• JESUS CHRIST IS THE DILIGENT MAN IN CHARGE OF A HOUSEHOLD. HE IS NEVER IDLE BECAUSE HE IS CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO WORK AND SERVE IN HIS KINGDOM.
• AS THE HOUSEHOLDER, HE PROMISES HE WILL PAY, “WHATSOEVER IS JUST.” (4)
• IT IS CHRIST WHO CLAIMS THE SOVEREIGN RIGHT TO DECIDE WHAT HE WILLS IN HIS OWN AFFAIRS WITH ALL THAT BELONGS TO HIM.
• IT IS NOT FOR US TO QUESTION HIS CHOICE OF WORKERS.
• CHRIST HAS THE RIGHT TO DECIDE THE WAGE.
• IT IS NOT FOR US TO QUESTION THEIR REWARD.
• JESUS CHRIST, THE HOUSEHOLDER, IS CALLED “THE GOODMAN OF THE HOUSE”.
• CHRIST HAS THE PRIVILEGE OF EXERCISING HIS GOODNESS AND HIS GRACE ACCORDING TO HIS WILL.
• READ ROM 9:14-24
• SOMETIMES I HEAR CHRISTIANS COMPLAIN WHEN GOD SAVES A MURDERER OR A SERIAL KILLER. THEY SAY THEY DON’T WANT TO SPEND ETERNITY IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITH THAT KIND OF PERSON.
• WHAT IS IT THAT THE CHRISTIAN IS FORGETTING WHEN HE MAKES THIS COMPLAINT?
• HE FORGETS THAT TO BE SAVED MEANS ALL BELIEVERS ARE NEW CREATURES IN CHIRST WHERE OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY.
• READ 2COR 5:17
• WHO DO THE LABORERS REPRESENT?
• THE WORKERS ARE THE DISCIPLES IN JESUS DAY WHO AGREED THAT THEY WOULD BE FISHERS OF MEN.
• THE WORKERS ARE THOSE OF US WHO ARE BELIEVERS TODAY WHO AGREE TO SERVE CHRIST IN HIS KINGDOM.
• WHAT DOES THE VINEYARD REPRESENT? (2)
• THE VINEYARD REPRESENTS THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
• WHAT DOES THE MARKETPLACE REPRESENT? (3)
• THE MARKETPLACE IS THE WORLD WHERE ALL MANKIND ARE SLAVES SOLD UNDER SIN.
• READ ROM 7:14
• HUMAN NATURE CANNOT HELP BUT COMMIT SIN. THEREFORE, MAN IS A SLAVE TO SIN SOLD FROM ONE SINFUL OBSESSION TO ANOTHER.
• WHAT DOES THE THIRD, SIXTH, NINTH, AND ELEVENTH HOURS REPRESENT?
• THESE TIME DESIGNATIONS REPRESENT SPECIFIC POINTS IN TIME.
• FOR EXAMPLE:
• SOME PEOPLE COME TO CHRIST WHEN THEY ARE CHILDREN.
• SOME PEOPLE COME TO CHRIST WHEN THEY ARE IN THEIR TEEN YEARS.
• SOME PEOPLE COME TO CHRIST WHEN THEY ARE ADULTS.
• SOME PEOPLE COME TO CHRIST WHEN THEY ARE IN THEIR SENIOR YEARS OR ON THEIR DEATH BED.
• WHAT DOES THE WAGE FOR A DAY (DENARIUS) REPRESENT? (2)
• NOTICE THAT THEY ALL RECEIVE THE SAME REWARD WITH NO RESPECT TO HOW EARLY OR HOW LATE A PERSON COMES TO CHRIST TO WORK IN HIS KINGDOM.
• THEREFORE, TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOUT WHAT THE WAGE REPRESENTS, WE ONLY HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES, “WHAT IS THAT ALL BELIEVERS RECEIVE EQUALLY NO MATTER HOW OLD OR HOW YOUNG?
• OF COURSE, THE LOGICAL ANSWER IS…ALL BELIEVERS RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. THEREFORE, THE WAGE REPRESENTS ETERNAL LIFE.
• HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT ALL THE LABORERS RECEIVED THE SAME PAY?
• THE WAGE WAS AGREED UPON BEFORE ANY WORKERS BEGAN TO WORK IN THE VINEYARD. NONE OF THEM WERE DECEIVED, AND EACH RECEIVED EXACTLY THE AMOUNT THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY AGREED.
• EVERY SINNER WHO GIVES HIS HEART TO CHRIST KNOWS HE WILL INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE BEFORE HE MAKES HIS COMMITMENT TO CHRIST.
• THIS PARABLE TELLS US THAT GOD VALUES EVERY HUMAN SOUL EQUALLY NO MATTER WHAT THAT PERSON HAS DONE IN HIS LIFE.
• SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTICE:
• NOTICE THAT THE ONLY CRITERIA IS A WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF THE WORKER TO COME AND WORK IN THE VINEYARD BY FOLLOWING THE HOUSEHOLDER.
• IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT WE DO NOT WORK FOR ETERNAL LIFE, BUT THAT IT IS PROMISED TO THE PERSON WHO WILLINGLY COMES INTO THE VINEYARD.
• THIS IS THE REASON WHY EVERYONE IS PAID THE SAME.
• IF THE PARABLE TOLD US THAT THE WORKER WHO CAME FIRST EARNED MORE THAN THE WORKER WHO CAME LAST, WE WOULD KNOW THAT WE MUST WORK FOR ETERNAL LIFE.
• ONCE WE ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD, WE WORK FOR CHRIST BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM. IT IS NOT TO EARN SALVATION OR FAVOR WITH GOD.
• GOD CALLS EACH OF US AT DIFFERENT STAGES IN LIFE DEPENDING ON THE CONDITION OF THE HEART TOWARD GOD.
• THE QUALITY OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT DETERMINED BY HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN A CHRISTIAN IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, BUT HOW OBEDIENT YOU ARE TO THE LORD.
• WE SEE THE MARVELOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD DEMONSTRATED AND PERFECTLY BALANCED IN THIS PARABLE:
• WE SEE GOD’S JUSTICE WHEN HE REWARDS THOSE WHO COME TO HIM.
• WE SEE GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY TO CHOOSE HIS WORKERS AND TO PAY THEM AS HE SEES FIT.
• WE SEE GOD’S GRACE AND MERCY THAT HE CALLS ANYONE TO BE PART OF HIS KINGDOM.
• “THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST AND THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST” (16)
• JESUS MADE THIS STATEMENT FREQUENTLY IN HIS TEACHINGS.
• IN THE PARABLE, PAYMENT WAS FIRST MADE TO THE LAST HIRED. (8)
• THE FIRST TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD WERE THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS WHO BELIEVED IN THE COMING MESSIAH BY FAITH, SUCH AS ABRAHAM.
• THE LAST TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD ARE THE NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS DURING THE CHURCH AGE.
• THE FIRST TO RECEIVE A NEW RESURRECTED BODY ARE THE CHURCH AGE BELIEVERS WHO ARE RAPTURED.
• THE LAST TO RECEIVE A NEW RESURRECTED BODY ARE THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• WHAT IS THE CENTRAL TRUTH OF THE PARABLE?
• GOD UNIQUELY CALLS EACH PERSON AT A SPECIFIC POINT IN HIS LIFE WHEN THAT PERSON IS READLY TO RESPOND TO HIM. TO EACH ONE HE CALLS, GOD REWARDS WITH ETERNAL LIFE.

HOMEWORK
THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE AND FAITH (MAT 21:17-22)

• APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER AND HIS SERVANTS (MAT 20:1-16)
• GIVE THANKS AND PRAISE TO GOD FOR CALLING YOU TO A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AT THE STAGE IN LIFE WHEN YOU HEARD HIS CALL AND ANSWERED BY GIVING YOUR HEART TO JESUS CHRIST.
• NOW ANSWER HONESTLY THIS QUESTION, “BY WHAT MOTIVE DO YOU DO GOOD WORKS FOR THE LORD?”

• IF YOUR MOTIVE IS NOT ONE OF LOVE, YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE NOW, SO THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE GREATER JOY IN SERVING HIM.

• PREPARATION FOR THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE AND FAITH (MAT 21:17-22)
• READ MAT 21:17-22 AND MAR 11:12-26 FOR CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND.
• THERE ARE TWO MESSAGES IN THIS PARABLE.
• #1 = A PROPHETIC MESSAGE REGARDING JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL. (JOE 1:6-7 MAT 24:30-33)
• #2 = AN INSTRUCTIONAL MESSAGE REGARDING BELIEVING FAITH.
• WHAT DOES THE FIG TREE REPRESENT? (MESSAGE #1 READ JOE 1:6-7)

• WHAT DO THE LEAVES REPRESENT? (MESSAGE #1)

• WHAT DOES THE FRUIT REPRESENT? (MESSAGE #1)

• WHAT IS MESSAGE #1 BEHIND JESUS’ CURSING OF THE FIG TREE?

• WHAT DOES THE FIG TREE REPRESENT IN MESSAGE #2?

• WHAT DO THE LEAVES REPRESENT IN MESSAGE #2?

• WHAT DOES THE FRUIT REPRESENT IN MESSAGE #2?

• WHAT IS MESSAGE #2 IN THE PARABLE?

• MEMORY VERSE: TITUS 1:13