“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
– Matthew 20:25
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you ever think about what heaven will be like? Do you ever think about what you will do in heaven after you are finished with the planet Earth assignment that God preplanned for you to have? Do you ever think about how you will live in heaven as one of God’s specially recalled souls who He – as God the Father, adopted before He created and placed heavens and an earth and everything else that is in the cosmos that God has you in right now? Do you ever think about what gives you the right to plan on spending eternity in heaven with God? When comes to your mind when you think of heaven? Can you envision heaven being owned by a single landowner? Can you imagine heaven being just one large vineyard? Can you picture the vineyard’s vines laden with ripened grapes? An account of this vineyard image – which is in a parable that Jesus – as God the Son, told, is found in Matthew 20. Jesus gave His disciples this visual to help them get a grasp on this legendary, actual place that is called heaven. Jesus uses this parable to help His disciples understand how God – as God the Father, will ‘pay’ His specially elected guys, gals and kids for the length of time that they have been Christ-followers. Have you ever seen a group of guys standing on a street corner or hanging out in a vacant lot and/or leaning against a building wall hoping that someone will show up who is looking for day laborers? Your grandmaa and grandpaa just a couple of days ago saw some Hispanic guys milling about together in the lot of a vacated gas station. It was obvious to your grandpaa that these guys were all hoping that someone would drive up to them with work that one or more of them could do. Guys who were looking for a day job in Jesus’ day would go to the marketplace to wait for a landowner to find them. There probably were never enough guys looking for work in Jesus’ day when it was grape harvest time. Jesus used this illustration to explain why a landowner would go to the marketplace at 9:00 A.M., then again at noon, then again at 3:00 P.M. and then again at 5:00 P.M. to find guys who are willing to help harvest ripened grapes. Jesus ends this symbolic story that He is telling His disciples by saying that each guy who is hired – no matter what time the guy is hired by the landowner to begin working in his vineyard, is paid one denarius – or an equivalent today of about $21. Because this parable is only found in Matthew’s book, your grandpaa wonders if what Jesus said in this parable resonated with the other disciples or with resolute Christ-followers – such as Mark and Luke, who also wrote books.
In order for a guy, gal or kid to comprehend the significance of this parable, he or she needs to know that the landowner is God – as God the Father, that the vineyard is planet Earth, that the laborers are God’s specially elected guys, gals and kids and that each God-conscripted guy, gal and kid will be ‘paid’ the same ‘denarius’ – which is God’s sovereign graciousness and unmerited generosity. This parable has Jesus confronting guys and gals who are struggling with one of Jesus’ teachings – a teaching that is centered on God’s amazing grace that gives allowance for any guy, gal or kid – no matter if the guy, gal or kid is poor or a societal outcast or . . . that he or she will become an authentic Christ-follower on equal standing with every other Christ-follower guy, gal and kid. At the conclusion of this parable, Jesus gives the answer to what He knew that His listeners were questioning – which is that it is not fair for a guy to be paid the same amount as another guy when one guy worked for just one hour while some of the other guys worked nine hours. Jesus tells His disciples that it is because He (God – as God the Father), is planet Earth’s ‘landowner’ – that He as the ‘landowner’ of all the past, present and future ‘laborers’ (who are the guys, gals and kids who He especially chose and elected), that He can do whatever He wants to do with His ‘money’ (grace). Jesus left a couple of very important points for future students of this parable. Jesus wants Christ-follower guys, gals and kids to get it that no matter where he or she is in life – such as age, status, health, etc. when he or she dies, that that is not what is important – but that what is important is God’s unfathomable love that will have every guy, gal and kid who is a Christ-follower feeling being ‘first’ in God’s kingdom even if he or she feels as if he or she has been at the bottom of life’s barrel or has been seen as being the ‘heal’ of a people group’s communal and cultural norms. Your grandpaa struggles with guys and gals who think that they need to first find something to do – such as going to a dump or to a jail or to an orphanage, etc. to minister before . . ., as your grandpaa thinks that all that God expects him to do is to wait on a ‘street corner’ or in a ‘vacant lot’ or ‘against a wall’ for God to have him ‘in the way’ of something unique and special that He is unfolding for your grandpaa to facilitate. Your grandpaa thinks that one of the keys to this parable is accepting the teaching of waiting for God (to pay) him from His endless grace bucket.
Your grandpaa senses today that guys and gals are busy jockeying with each in the context of trying to be the one closest to being ‘used’ by God in the most radical, revolutionary way. Instead of living out what verse 28 says, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””, your grandpaa sees guys and gals today believing that if they are not leaders that they have no value to other guys, gals and kids. Your grandpaa believes that if a guy, gal or kid does not serve others, that he or she has no value to God.
Matthew 20 (1119)