Parables - Kingdom of Heaven - Differences
Parables of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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Employees
Employees
One of the things some of the parables do is show the differences between how the Kingdom of Heaven works and how our fallen world works.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Here, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven as an employer.
This landowner is looking for people to work in his vineyard.
And he agreed to pay them a denarius a day.
A denarius was a days wages, so this makes sense.
And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.
Sunrise to sunset was divided into 12 hours.
So about three hours into the workday, the land owner finds some more people to work in his vineyard,
And agrees to pay them whatever is right.
Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’
Again around the sixth, ninth, and finally at the 11th hour, the landowner finds people to work in his vineyard.
And to each group he promises to pay them what is right.
“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’
Now things are about to get interesting,
It’s time to pay the workers, but the owner tells the steward to first pay those who he had hired last.
As you probably know, this is going to create some conflict.
And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’
So those who were hired in the last hour got paid exactly the same to had worked all day.
And they complained.
I’m sure most of us would have under the same circumstances.
If you worked 12 hours and found out that someone who worked only 1 got paid the same, you probably wouldn’t be happy either.
There’s a reason most employers try very hard to keep individual payroll a secret.
Our fallen nature leads us to compare ourselves with others.
Which often leads to envy and strife.
But what does this landowner say?
But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
The first to be hired agreed to work all day for a denarius,
Which is exactly what they got paid.
The fact that others got paid the same for less work is none of their business.
Even the reason why the landowner paid everyone the same regardless of how much they worked is none of the workers business.
Do you compare yourself to others?
Do you look at how much they make, or what they have?
Does that make you envious?
One quick look at the news and politics shows that is the way of the world.
Most of what now passes for politics and “social justice” is comparing what one person has to another in order to incite envy and covetousness.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’
The landowner was doing nothing unlawful.
The fact that some people were born with advantages is not unlawful.
Neither is someone have used what they did have better than you.
Yet those are not only the very things that stoke our envy,
It is what the world tells us to focus on!
When we compare our lives, our jobs, our homes, cars, even our families, to others, WE incite envy within ourselves.
In other words, our eye becomes evil.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
But the kingdom of heaven is different.
It does not look at how much a person has done, or how long they have done it.
The thief on the cross received the same reward as the person who was saved in childhood and followed Christ for decades.
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Should a Billy Graham or a Ravi Zaccarius be envious of the thief on the cross?
“We toiled for your kingdom for decades! This man was a thief, and only believed at the last minute!”
No, we all receive the same reward.
Because our reward is not based on the work that we have done, but on the one we have worked for.
To compare ourselves to others not only leads us to envy, but it belittles the work Christ has done on the Cross.
Marriage Feast
Marriage Feast
For the next parable, we are going to skip down to chapter 22.
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’
Remember a few weeks ago we talked about the parable of man who put on a great celebration?
This sounds pretty similar, no?
Here, we have a king who has arranged a marriage for his son, and has invited guests.
Since this was the wedding of a king’s son, there were probably a lot of people invited, and they were probably quite prominent members of society.
But the guests were not willing to come.
The kings sends her servants out again to tell the guests that dinner has been prepared, the fatted cattle have been killed, and everything is ready.
Today we might say we’ve already prepared the prime rib, or that we had hired the caterers.
But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.
OK, making light of the wedding and the feast is pretty insulting.
And simply walking away to their farm or business, that certainly is bad manners.
But seizing the servants and killing them, that goes way beyond insulting.
But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
I bet the king was mad.
And I’m not surprised how he dealt with such lawlessness.
How many prophets did God send to Israel?
How often were they mocked, jailed, and killed?
Didn’t God destroy Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem because of those who treated his servants badly?
But look at what he does next.
Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
The king tells his servants to go out and find people to celebrate his son’s wedding.
They found both good people and bad.
And the wedding hall was full.
God sent his only Son to Israel, to call them to follow Him and join the wedding celebration of the Lamb.
Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
But they rejected Him.
They treated Him spitefully, and killed Him.
Even then, He invited the Jews to follow the Messiah, but many wouldn’t.
So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us:
‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
The temple that Israel had erected to be a place where God would meet with them was destroyed.
And others, who were not the chosen people joined the wedding celebration.
But there was a problem.
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Just because someone walks though the doors of a “church”, doesn’t mean they are of the family of God.
There are plenty who come to the feast of the believers, but they have not been washed white, they do not have their wedding garments.
And God will have them removed, when the time is right, and they will be cast into outer darkness.
For while those who evangelize for Christ may call many, only a few are chosen.
Ten Virgins
Ten Virgins
Finally today, lets jump to Matthew 25
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
This parable is a little different.
We have ten virgins, ten brides, who are waiting for the bridegroom to come.
Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
Five of these virgins were wise, five were foolish.
Some came prepared, others didn’t.
None of them knew when the bridegroom was going to arrive.
Five of them brought oil, knowing that it could be some time.
The rest didn’t bother.
And while they waited, they all fell asleep.
Jesus told us that no one but the Father knows when He will return.
We should be like the wise virgins, prepared whether He comes tomorrow, next year, or after out deaths.
“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
What condition will you be in when the cry is heard, when the angels are sent to gather the elect?
Will you be ready, will you have oil in your lamp?
Or will your oil have run out?
Will your faith have run out?
Will the light that you are supposed to be to this world be going out?
What will you do then?
Will you run around trying to find more faith in order to join the Bridegroom?
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
The five foolish virgins missed their chance.
They called to the Lord to open the door,
But He did not know them.
Can you imagine the feeling of having waited all that time, only to find you had put your faith into the wrong thing?
Can you imagine the feeling of living your life in a church, only to find out when Jesus returns that the door for you has been shut?
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What do we see in these three parables?
We see that the kingdom of heaven is not like the world.
“Fair” is not determined by man’s standards.
We cannot earn our way into heaven.
And many who have done little will receive as much of a reward as those who have toiled their entire life.
We see that God has invited us to a marriage feast.
Some of us outright reject his call.
While others show up, but aren’t really a part of the celebration.
Will you be wearing your marriage clothes when the feast is ready?
And we see that, although it is God who does the work of salvation,
We are expected to be ready to greet Jesus when He arrives.
Are you prepared to wait until Jesus comes?
Or have you not made yourself ready because you think He will be coming soon?
No, the world is not like the kingdom of God.
Because we have lived here all our lives, with think that the kingdom of God is upside down, backwards, and unfair.
When it is us, and the world we live in, that is actually upside down, backwards, and unfair.