The kingdom of heaven is unfairly generous...

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” During this series, we are spending our time together looking at a series of statements that Jesus made about the kingdom of heaven that are recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved in the New Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. 

During this series, we are discovering how Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series, we are discovering how one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this series we are discovering how one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit, in our heads, hearts, and hands in such a way that we would live lives that reveal and bring the light and love of the kingdom of Heaven into the areas of influence we have been given. 

Today we see Matthew give us afront row seat to an event from history where Jesus told a story that reveals a timeless truth about God and how He runs the kingdom of Heaven. So let’s jump into this parable together, beginning in Matthew 20:1-2:

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² "When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Matthew brings us into this section as Jesus was having a conversation with His disciples about how His followers will relate to one another as members of the kingdom of heaven. And in the middle of this conversation about rank and rewards, Jesus began to tell a parable that compared the kingdom of heaven to a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 

Jesus explained that the landowner entered into an agreement with the laborers to pay them a denarius for their wages and then sent them into the vineyard to work. In the Jewish culture of Jesus day, a denarius was the equivalent of a day’s wages. So this landowner was paying the laborers what was generally accepted as a fair pay for a fair days work. Jesus then continued His parable in Matthew 20:3-7:

"And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; ⁴ and to those he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went. ⁵ "Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. ⁶ "And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?' ⁷ "They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'

To understand what is happening in this parable, we first need to understand a little about what working in a vineyard entailed. Now in the agricultural society that Jesus lived in, a typical workday would begin at 6 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. Laborers would be hired during the harvest season to go into the vineyards to hand pick the grapes off the vines. There was no special automated machinery; this was manual, intensive, time sensitive work.

Jesus explained that as the landowner looked over his workforce, he saw that he could hire some more men. So the landowner went out about the third hour, which would be around 9 a.m. and saw others standing idle at the marketplace. The landowner approached these men standing at the marketplace and offered them a job, saying “go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will pay you”.

Notice that the landowner did not enter into a prearranged agreement with these laborers; he only stated that he would do what is right. The landowner is simply stating to these laborers that they would not be shortchanged or treated unfairly. Jesus continued by stating that the landowner went back to the same marketplace at the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. In other words, the landowner went out at noon and at 3 p.m. and hired more workers.

Now here is a question to consider: Why would laborers still be standing at the marketplace at noon and 3 p.m.? The workday is more than half over, isn’t it? You see, most likely, either these workers showed up late or they were less motivated to work than the earlier workers. However, the landowner could still hire more workers, so he chose to enter into the same agreement that he entered into with the workers that he hired at 9 a.m.; “go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will pay you”.

Jesus then explained that, at the eleventh hour, the landowner went out to the marketplace and found others still waiting to be picked up for work. To these laborers, however, the landowner asked a question: “Why have you been standing here idle all day long”? In other words, “What have you been doing all day? Why have you not been hired? What’s your problem? Are you not worthy to be hired?” The laborers respond to the question simply; “because no one hired us”.

You see, no one hired these laborers because they were the least desirable workers. They showed up to work late; they were not as prepared or as motivated as the other workers; they did not have the best resume or work history. However, the landowner chose to hire the workers and sent them into the vineyard for the remaining hour that was left. And at the end of that hour, when the workday was over, it was time to pay the laborers. We see Jesus reveal what happened next in Matthew 20:8-9:

"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.' ⁹ "When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.

At the end of the day, as a day laborer, you would be paid for the days work. You were not under a contract; you are not a salaried employee; you simply received your pay and went on your way, because tomorrow you would begin this process all over again. So at the end of this day the landowner called his foreman and directed him to pay out their wages, beginning with the last group and ending with the first group. What would happen is the foreman would call all the laborers to line up in a line according to the time that they were hired. The laborers would then come forward, one at a time, and receive their pay for the day.

Now remember, the only laborers who entered into a prearranged agreement for a denarius for a day’s wages were those who were hired first; all of the rest of the laborers have no idea of exactly what they are going to get paid. All the landowner said was that he would pay them what was right. Now, if you were hired at 5 p.m., were you really expecting to receive much in terms of pay? Probably not.

Yet Jesus explained that when the laborers came forward to receive their pay, they each received a denarius which, as we saw earlier, was the generally accepted pay for a fair days work. The reason that a denarius was considered a fair days pay for a fair days work was because a denarius was what was needed financially in order to provide for one’s family. So the landowner did not pay them what they deserved; the landowner paid them what they needed.

Now you might be thinking to yourself “But Dave, just hold on there, just wait a minute. These are the least desirable workers; these are the scrubs, the slackers, the losers. They did not earn a full day’s wages; Dave that’s not fair”.  Well, if you think that is unfair, look what happens next, in verse 10-12:

"When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ "When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹² saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.'

Jesus explained that when those who were hired first came to receive their wages, they expected to receive more. I mean that would only be fair, wouldn’t it? However, they were in for a surprise, as the landowner responded to their day of hard work by paying them the exact same amount that he had paid the laborers who worked for only one hour.

Jesus explained that the laborers responded to the wages that they received by grumbling at the landowner; in other words, the laborers responded by whining. “These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day. That’s not fair”.

But if we are brutally honest, isn’t that what we do when it comes to fairness? “God it’s not fair that she is better looking than me. God it’s not fair that he makes more money than me. God it’s not fair that she is married and I am single. It’s not fair that he always has a girlfriend and I can’t get a date”. However, when we become concerned and even consumed with fairness, we tend to focus on the wrong things, don’t we? We see the landowner’s response to the whining and grumbling of the laborers in Matthew 20:13-15. Let’s look at it together:  

"But he answered and said to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ 'Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵ 'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?'

Now did you notice the landowner’s response here. “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius.” You see, the landowner responded to the whining and complaining about his lack of fairness by reminding the laborers that he simply gave them what they had agreed upon in advance. You see, the landowner did the right thing, not the fair thing, or the even thing. The landowner followed through by keeping the agreement that was made in the beginning.

And to bolster his point, the landowner reminded that laborers that as the landowner, he had the right and the freedom to distribute his resources as he desired because they were his resources. The landowner then exposed the motivation behind the laborers whining and complaining with a simple question: “Or is your eye envious because I am generous?” The phrase “Is your eye envious” literally means to give someone the evil eye as a result of being jealous of what someone else has or has been given.

You see, the laborers whining and complaining had nothing to do with whether or not the landowner was just; the laborers whining and complaining had everything to do with the landowner’s generosity. Jesus then concluded this parable with a statement that reveals a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 20:16:

            "So the last shall be first, and the first last."

Now if you have grown up in church or have spent any time in church, you may have heard this phrase used as a punch line for a joke about the fact that you ended up being last in line seem spiritual. But Jesus used this line at the end of this parable to reveal for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. At that timeless truth is this: The kingdom of heaven is unfairly generous.

Just as you grew up hearing life is not fair, God is not fair. God does not do the fair thing; instead God does what is most unfair but what is most generous. Jesus told this parable, this earthly story designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth to reveal for us the reality that fairness is not a Biblical value. Instead rightness is a Biblical value. And God, in His rightness and rule of the kingdom of Heaven, has the right and the freedom to distribute the resources of His kingdom as He desires because they are His resources.

So here is a question that this parable confronts us with: If you were to find yourself in this parable as a character in this parable, which character would you be? Or better yet, if those who were closest to you, who knew you best, were to place you in this parable as a character in this parable, which character would you be?

Would you find yourself in this parable as the laborer who started at 6 a.m.? You see, the danger for those of us that have been members of the kingdom of heaven for a while is that we begin to whine and complain and stamp our feet while saying “it’s not fair” after someone responds to their selfishness and rebellion against God by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader later in life. “God that’s not fair; they get the same reward that I get and I have been with you doing the right thing my whole life. I should get what I deserve”.

Are you okay with the reality that the kingdom of heaven is unfairly generous? Are you more concerned with fairness, or evenness, than you are about God’s rightness? Do you really want what you deserve? Or are you responding to the reality that the kingdom of heaven is unfairly generous by reflecting that generosity to those around us that so desperately need God’s unfair generosity?

Would you find yourself in this parable as the laborer waiting at the marketplace at the eleventh hour. Maybe you are here and feel like you are less desirable to God; that if God was to look at your resume and your history that He would not want to have you as part of His kingdom.

If I have just described you, God wants you to know that just like the landowner in this parable, God is seeking and pursuing you, even at the eleventh hour. God desires that you would respond to receive what those who were found by God earlier have received; the forgiveness of your rebellion and the relationship with God that you were created for by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

If you were to find yourself in this parable as a character in this parable, which character would you be? How are you responding to the offer that has been extended to you to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven?

Because, as we discovered, the kingdom of Heaven is unfairly generous.

The kingdom of Heaven is upside down in its pursuit of status...

Today, after a break due to current events, I would like for us to jump back into a conversation that Jesus was having with His disciples. In this conversation, Jesus painted this word picture so His closest followers to clearly understand that just as a child in the Jewish culture of Jesus day had no self-rule and must submit to the will of their fathers, their involvement in the kingdom of Heaven would require a surrender of status and a submission to the will of God the Father.

Jesus then continued to answer the disciples question by revealing the implications that would come to those who embraced such surrender of status and a submission to the will of God the Father as part of the kingdom of Heaven in verse 5-6:

 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Now can you imagine yourself as one of Jesus closest followers. Can you imagine what they were thinking? How they were feeling? You ask Jesus who among you will be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven; you ask Jesus who among you will have the highest status in the kingdom of Heaven? And instead of getting the answer you were hoping or expecting to get, Jesus basically tells you that you are not at a place where you are ready to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus basically tells you that to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, you would have to embrace the status of a child, who had no status. Jesus basically tells you that to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, you would have to surrender your pursuit of status and instead surrender to the will of God the Father.

And then Jesus basically says to you that the person who demonstrates that they are receptive to the child that He had placed in the middle of their conversation, a child who was universally viewed by the culture of the day as having no status or rights, will be the person who will be receptive to the things of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus explains to you that true greatness in the kingdom of Heaven is demonstrated in how on welcomes one who has no status, because to welcome someone who has no status is to welcome Jesus. To welcome the least of the Kingdom of Heaven is to welcome the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And if that was not enough, Jesus then tells you that for whoever would cause a child, like the child that Jesus has placed in the middle of your conversation, who has no status, but has placed their confident trust in Jesus, to be brought to a downfall by influencing them to selfishly rebel against God; it would be better for that person to have a large, heavy millstone that was moved by the power of donkeys to crush grain to be placed around their necks and them be thrown overboard into the open sea.

Now imagine yourselves as one of Jesus closest followers. Jesus has just blown up every category that you had held when it comes to status, to position, to greatness. Jesus has just told you that everything that you had learned and embraced in the Jewish culture that you had been raised in was wrong. What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you respond? However, before the disciples could respond, Matthew tells us that Jesus hammered His point home in what He had to say next. So let’s look at what Jesus had to say next, which we see in Matthew 18:7-9:

"Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! ⁸ "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. ⁹ "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

Jesus hammered His point home to His closest followers by explaining that while stumbling blocks, those actions or circumstances that leads one to act contrary to proper belief, and instead embrace false belief are a part of life in a fallen broken world, for the person through whom those stumbling blocks come, there will be great pain and displeasure. And because of the reality, Jesus explained to His disciples "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.”

When Jesus refers to hell, he was pointing the crowds to a place called Gehenna. Now Gehenna was the place where the Jewish people of Jesus day believed that God would exercise His final judgment. Now you might be here this morning, and your natural reaction to Jesus statement here is “Dave is Jesus serious here? I mean, you don’t actually believe that Jesus is literally saying that we should pluck out our eyes or chop off our hands if they cause us to rebel against God. I know that there are some legal systems that do such things, but are you saying that Jesus would want us to do such a thing?” So, this morning, is Jesus literally saying that we should chop off our hands or feet, or cut out our eyes, if they cause us to rebel against God?

The answer to that question is a resounding no. And there are two reasons why the answer is no. First off, just because a person only has one hand, foot, or eye that doesn’t mean that a person couldn’t still selfishly rebel against God with their other arm, foot, or eye. Second, Jesus has just explained that we are guilty when we cause someone who demonstrates such humble surrender and submission to God to stumble so as to rebel and reject God. And that desire to cause someone who is open to the things of God to stumble so as to rebel and reject God has nothing to do with one’s eyes or hands; that desire has everything to do with one’s heart. You see, Jesus is not being literal here.

Instead, Jesus is using an exaggerated metaphor to reveal the seriousness of such selfishness and rebellion against God and its ability to cause people to reject the message and teachings of Jesus and experience salvation. Jesus uses this exaggerated metaphor to reveal the reality that anything that would cause someone to fail to follow Jesus and live in a right relationship with Jesus must be removed or eliminated at all costs. Jesus used this exaggerated metaphor to reveal the reality that the danger of selfishness, rebellion and sin, requires drastic action to avoid such selfishness, rebellion, and sin.

Jesus is explaining that it would be better for a person to lose the part of their body that was causing them or causing others to selfishly rebel against God and still be able to live in relationship with God than have all of the parts of their body, only to be in a position where they could be judged worthy of the eternal punishment that one would experience from God in Hell. Jesus then left no doubt when it came to what His answer to their question was and why He answered their question the way that He answered it with what He said to conclude His conversation with His closest followers in verse 10-11:

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ¹¹ "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

Jesus concluded the answer to the disciples question by commanding them to “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.” What is so interesting is that the word despise literally means to look down on someone with contempt as being of little value or worth. Jesus then provided the reason behind His command by explaining that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. Now while this verse is often used to argue that people have guardian angels, that is not Jesus point here.

Jesus point here with this statement is that angels, who serve as messengers of God are in the very presence of God and have constant access to God. Jesus point behind this statement is that those who looked at such a child, like the child that Jesus had placed in the middle of their conversation, as being of little value and worth because of their lowly status, would have to answer to God for how they viewed and treated that child. They would have to answer to God for how they viewed and treated that child because Jesus, as the Son of Man had come to seek and save the lost. When Jesus says that He is the Son of Man, He is identifying Himself as the Messiah that had come from God as God in a bod to usher in the kingdom of God here on earth.

Jesus here is revealing the reality that as the Son of Man, Jesus came to seek and bring back to relationship with God those who were outsiders that were far from God and had been lost as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. As the Son of Man, Jesus came on a mission to rescue from eternal separation from God and bring back to God those who were outsiders that were far from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. Jesus came on a mission to provide all humanity the opportunity to experience the forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for, but had been separated from as a result of their selfishness and rebellion, through His life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

And it is here, in Jesus answer to the disciples question, that we discover a timeless truth about the kingdom of Heaven. And that timeless truth is that The kingdom of Heaven is upside down in its pursuit of status. The timeless reality is that just as if was for the disciples, there is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to compare ourselves with others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being superior to others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being more important than others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than others.

However, when we are saying to ourselves, or telling and arguing with others “I should have the highest status. I should be viewed as being most important. I should be viewed as being superior to the rest, we are revealing the reality that we are not ready to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. Instead of pursuing greatness at the expense of others by placing ourselves above others as being superior in status to others, true greatness in the kingdom of Heaven requires that we surrender the pursuit of status so as to place others before ourselves.

True greatness and involvement in the kingdom of Heaven requires a willingness to surrender the pursuit of status and instead demonstrate a submission to the will of God the Father. True greatness and involvement in the kingdom of Heaven is demonstrated in how one welcomes one who has no status, because to welcome someone who has no status is to welcome Jesus. To welcome the least of the Kingdom of Heaven is to welcome the King of the Kingdom of Heaven. And true greatness and involvement in the kingdom of Heaven requires a willingness to take drastic action to remove or eliminate at all costs that anything that would cause someone to fail to follow Jesus and live in a right relationship with Jesus.

So here is a question to consider: What status are you pursuing? And what does the status that you are pursuing reveal about your position in the kingdom of Heaven? Are you pursuing a status that is driven by a desire to be viewed as being more important and superior to the rest? Or are you pursuing a status that is driven by a desire to place others before yourself and surrender to the will and desires of God?

You see, here is the thing, Jesus never chided His disciples for pursuing greatness. Instead, Jesus redefined what is means to be truly great. Jesus redefined true greatness as being willing to serve others so as to place others before yourself. And that is what it means to follow the example of Jesus, because as Jesus pointed out in Mark 10:42-45:

"You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. ⁴³ "But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

You see Jesus never asks us to do something that He has not already done. And this morning, the timeless reality is that the kingdom of Heaven is upside down in its pursuit of status. Unlike the culture around us, which promotes and pursues upward mobility for the benefit of self over others, the kingdom of Heaven pursues downward mobility that places others before themselves…

A shocking and scandalous response to a timeless question...

This week we are looking at an event from history where Jesus closest followers asked Jesus a question that we can find ourselves asking today. Jesus closest followers wanted to know who of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. The disciples basically approached Jesus as a group and basically said to Jesus “Hey Jesus we have a question that we want to ask you so that you can help settle an argument that we are having. So Jesus, here is our question: Which one of us will have the highest status in the kingdom of Heaven? Which one of us will be viewed as being most important in your kingdom? Which one of us is superior to the rest? Which one of us is the best disciple over the rest of the disciples?

We discovered that there is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to compare ourselves with others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being superior to others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being more important than others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than others.

And it was this desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than the rest that had emerged to the surface in the form of this question that the disciples asked Jesus. And it is this desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than the rest that can emerge in our lives as well. And as Matthew continues to give us a front row seat to this event from history, we see Matthew record for us how Jesus responded to this question that had emerged from each of the disciples desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than the rest. So let’s look at Jesus response together, beginning in Matthew 18:2-4:

 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, ³ and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew tells us that Jesus responded to the disciples question by bringing a child into the middle of their conversation and stating that “unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Now did you notice what Jesus just said to His disciples? Unless you are converted you will not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

In other words, Jesus basically said to His disciples “The fact that you just asked Me this question reveals the reality that you are not at a place where you are ready to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven. For you to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven you need to be converted and become like children.”

What is so interesting is that when Jesus uses the word converted here, this word literally means to experience an inward change that results into one entering into a certain state that possesses certain characteristics. And that state, those characteristics that His closest followers needed to possess in order to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, were those possessed by the very child that Jesus placed in the middle of their conversation.

Now for us living in 2020, we cannot even begin to wrap our minds around how mind boggling this statement by Jesus would have been. We cannot even begin to comprehend how controversial and unsettling Jesus words would have been to His closest followers.

You see, in the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, children had no rights under the Law. In the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, little thought or value was directed toward children. In the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, the high rates of infant mortality reinforced the view of children as physically weak and vulnerable. In the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, children were utterly dependent upon their parents are required to submit to them in a way that they were not to be seen or heard. In the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, children were viewed as possessions and were excluded from adult society and lived in the margins of society.

In the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, for Jesus to even bring a child into the middle of their conversation would be shocking. In the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, for Jesus to say that to enter the kingdom of Heaven, a person would have to embrace the status of a child would have been scandalous.

And if that was not shocking and scandalous enough, Jesus continued by stating that “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus basically said to His closest followers “So you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, well here is the thing: to be greatest in the kingdom of Heaven requires that you embrace that same status that this child has, which is the lowest status.”

Jesus painted this word picture because Jesus wanted His closest followers to clearly understand that just as a child in the Jewish culture of Jesus day had no self-rule and must submit to the will of their fathers, their involvement in the kingdom of Heaven would require a surrender of status and a submission to the will of God the Father. Jesus then continued to answer the disciples question by revealing the implications that would come to those who embraced such surrender of status and a submission to the will of God the Father as part of the kingdom of Heaven in verse 5-6:

"And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Now can you imagine yourself as one of Jesus closest followers. Can you imagine what they were thinking? How they were feeling? You ask Jesus who among you will be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven; you ask Jesus who among you will have the highest status in the kingdom of Heaven?

And instead of getting the answer you were hoping or expecting to get, Jesus basically tells you that you are not at a place where you are ready to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus basically tells you that to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, you would have to embrace the status of a child, who had no status. Jesus basically tells you that to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, you would have to surrender your pursuit of status and instead surrender to the will of God the Father.

And then Jesus basically says to you that the person who demonstrates that they are receptive to the child that He had placed in the middle of their conversation, a child who was universally viewed by the culture of the day as having no status or rights, will be the person who will be receptive to the things of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus explains to you that true greatness in the kingdom of Heaven is demonstrated in how on welcomes one who has no status, because to welcome someone who has no status is to welcome Jesus. To welcome the least of the Kingdom of Heaven is to welcome the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And if that was not enough, Jesus then tells you that for whoever would cause a child, like the child that Jesus has placed in the middle of your conversation, who has no status, but has placed their confident trust in Jesus, to be brought to a downfall by influencing them to selfishly rebel against God; it would be better for that person to have a large, heavy millstone that was moved by the power of donkeys to crush grain to be placed around their necks and them be thrown overboard into the open sea.

Now imagine yourselves as one of Jesus closest followers. Jesus has just blown up every category that you had held when it comes to status, to position, to greatness. Jesus has just told you that everything that you had learned and embraced in the Jewish culture that you had been raised in was wrong.

What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you respond? However, before the disciples could respond, Matthew tells us that Jesus hammered His point home in what He had to say next.

Friday, we will look at what Jesus had to say next…

A timeless question that reveals what lurks just beneath the surface...

At the church where I serve, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “The Kingdom of Heaven is…” During this series, we are spending our time together looking at a series of statements that Jesus made that are recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved in the New Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. 

During this series, we are discovering how Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series, we are discovering how one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this series we are discovering how one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit, in our heads, hearts, and hands in such a way that we would live lives that reveal and bring the light and love of the kingdom of Heaven into the areas of influence we have been given.   

This week I would like for us to spend our time together looking at another event from history that is recorded for us by Matthew in the account of Jesus life that bears his name. However, before we jump into this event from history, we first need to understand the context in which this event from history takes place.

In the 17th chapter of the gospel of Matthew, Matthew records for us how a glimpse of the glory of Jesus as God in a bod was revealed to three of His closest followers in an event from history that is referred to in churchy language as the transfiguration. Matthew then records how Jesus miraculously healed a young boy who was tormented by a demon, in spite of the littleness of the faith of the disciples and the crowds that were following Jesus. Jesus proclaimed to His closest followers that they would soon head to Jerusalem, where He would be delivered over to the Roman Empire to be killed, but that He would be raised from the dead three days later. The disciples, who were grieved by Jesus prediction, kept silent about His prediction. Jesus then proceeded to miraculously provide the money necessary to pay the poll tax that every person who lived in the Roman Empire over the age of 20 was required to pay. 

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in this event from history as one of Jesus closest followers. I want us to take a minute and place ourselves in the shoes of the disciples. You are one of Jesus closest followers. For three years, you have watched as Jesus has performed miracles that no one else had done. For three years, you have listened as Jesus taught as no one had ever taught. For three years, you have heard Jesus talk about the kingdom of heaven. And then you happened to be with Jesus when you were given a glimpse of the glory of Jesus and heard the very voice of God.

You have come to believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of a promise that God had made to the Jewish people to send a rescuer, a deliverer, a Messiah who you believed would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. And because of all that you have seen and heard from Jesus, because of what you have come to believe about Jesus, you have a question that you would like to ask Jesus. You have a question that you would like to ask Jesus when it comes to the nature of the kingdom of heaven.

Because it is in this context that Matthew gives us a front row seat to this event from history. An event from history where the disciples ask Jesus a question that is still asked today when it comes to the kingdom of Heaven. A question that Matthew records for us in Matthew 18:1. Let’s look at that question together:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

Matthew brings us into this event from history by revealing the question that the disciples posed to Jesus: "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Now, this morning did you notice that is was the disciples, not a disciple, that asked Jesus this question. You see, Jesus closest followers wanted to know who of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.

We know this to be the case because in two other accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, called the gospel of Mark and the gospel of Luke, we see Jesus closest followers arguing with themselves about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. In Luke 9:46, we see Luke reveal for us the reality that this question was asked because, as Luke pointed out, an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.

What is interesting is that when the disciples asked Jesus this question, the word greatest conveyed a clear sense of being superior in importance or status. In other words, the disciples basically approached Jesus as a group and basically said to Jesus “Hey Jesus we have a question that we want to ask you so that you can help settle an argument that we are having. So Jesus, here is our question: Which one of us will have the highest status in the kingdom of Heaven? Which one of us will be viewed as being most important in your kingdom? Which one of us is superior to the rest? Which one of us is the best disciple over the rest of the disciples?

Now here is a question to consider: Is this not the same question that we all have a tendency to ask today? How often can we find ourselves in a place in life where we are asking “Who has the highest status? Who is viewed as being most important? Who is superior to the rest? Who is the best over the rest?”

How often can we find ourselves in a place in life where we are saying to ourselves or telling and arguing with others “I should have the highest status. I should be viewed as being most important. I should be viewed as being superior to the rest. I am a better follower of Jesus than these other followers of Jesus?

You see, there is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to compare ourselves with others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being superior to others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being more important than others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than others.

And it was this desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than the rest that had emerged to the surface in the form of this question that the disciples asked Jesus. And it is this desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than the rest that can emerge in our lives as well. And as Matthew continues to give us a front row seat to this event from history, we see Matthew record for us how Jesus responded to this question that had emerged from each of the disciples desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than the rest.

Tomorrow we will be looking at Jesus response…

A parable that reveals a responsibility...

This week we have been looking at an event from history where Jesus told a fishing story that revealed for us the timeless truth that the kingdom of heaven is going to be gathering for an evaluation. We discovered that the timeless reality is that at the end of God’s story here on earth, all of humanity will be gathered before Jesus. And at that gathering, an evaluation will be made based on this question: Do I know you? Are you a member of the kingdom of heaven?

For those who responded to the message of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, they will be gathered together to participate as part of the kingdom of Heaven. However, for those who have selfishly rebelled and rejected the relationship with God that they were created for; for those who rebelled and rejected the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, they will be separated out from those who are members of the kingdom of heaven and sent to a place where there is no return from, only judgment and punishment. Today we see Jesus close His conversation with the disciples with a question and a final parable in Matthew 13:51-52:

"Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes." And Jesus said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

Matthew tells us that Jesus asked the disciples “have you understood all these things?” In other words, Jesus is asking “do you get what I have been talking to you about?” The disciples responded to Jesus question with a simple answer- yes. Jesus then responded to their answer by telling them another parable. In this parable, Jesus explains that a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of the household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.

Jesus used this parable to contrast His disciples with the scribes and Pharisees. In the gospel of Matthew, we see the scribes and Pharisees revealed by Jesus as self-religious people who misunderstood and misinterpreted the Bible and misled people about who God was. They opposed Jesus and His message and targeted Him as being a heretic.

Jesus point behind His parable was that His disciples, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, were trained to correctly interpret and teach what Jesus and the letters that make up the Old Testament taught about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus point here is that if the disciples have truly understood His teaching about the message of the kingdom of heaven, then they are prepared to teach others the value of the kingdom.

Jesus is explaining that as the disciples, as the ones who understand the message of the kingdom of heaven, are also responsible for revealing and proclaiming the message of the kingdom of heaven, thus providing people the opportunity to understand and embrace the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus uses the phrase, treasures new and old, He is explaining that this message of the kingdom of heaven, while new in the sense of being fully revealed by Jesus, is old in the sense of having been revealed throughout the message of the Old Testament as well.

And in the same way, as followers of Jesus, we are responsible for understanding the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, and we are responsible to communicate the treasure of the timeless message of the kingdom of heaven to those around us who God has placed in our area of influence. So with that in mind, here is a question to consider: How have you responded to the message of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven?

Have you responded to the message of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader? Or have you responded to the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven by rejecting the message? And if you are a follower of Jesus, are you fulfilling the responsibility that you have been given by Jesus to understand and communicate the treasure that is the kingdom of heaven to those around you?

Because, as we have discovered, the kingdom of heaven is going to be gathering for an evaluation…

The kingdom of heaven is going to be gathering for an evaluation...

At the church where I serve, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” During this series, we are spending our time together looking at a series of statements that Jesus made that are recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved in the New Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew.  During this series, we are discovering how Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series, we are discovering how one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this series we are discovering how one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven.

And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit, in our heads, hearts, and hands in such a way that we would live lives that reveal and bring the light and love of the kingdom of Heaven into the areas of influence we have been given.   This week, I would like for us to take a front row seat to an event from history where Jesus told a fishing story that reveals a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. So let’s take that front row seat to this event from history together, beginning in Matthew 13:47:

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

Matthew begins to give us a front row seat to this event from history as Jesus is telling the disciples a parable about the kingdom of heaven. As we have been talking about through this series, a parable is an earthly story that reveals a deeper spiritual truth. In this parable, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a dragnet cast into the sea.

Now a natural question that may have popped into your mind at this point is “what is a dragnet?” A dragnet was a type of net that the Jewish people would use to fish in the Sea of Galilee. The disciples, along with the large crowds that were listening to Jesus, were very familiar with a dragnet and with fishing, as it was one of the primary sources of food for the Jewish people who lived in this region.  

This net would be thrown into the sea by fishermen and then gathered back, either into a boat or dragged by the boat onto land. And as this dragnet was gathered back by the fisherman, whatever fish were in its path would be caught into the net and captured.

Jesus then explained that this dragnet would gather fish of every kind.  Scientists believe that there are between 20 and 24 different species of fish that lived in the Sea of Galilee, which is where the disciples and the large crowds that were listening to Jesus lived and fished. You see, a dragnet is indiscriminate; it simply gathers all the fish that are in its path. The fishermen would simply throw out the dragnet and then wait until they believed that it was sufficiently filled with fish. The net would not be pulled out prematurely, as that would allow some fish to escape the net’s grasp and would cause the fisherman to be less productive in their catch.

Now of these 20-24 different species of fish, there were several that would be considered “unclean”, as Jewish dietary laws permitted that only fish with fins and scales could be eaten. Also some fish that would be caught in the dragnet may have been too small or diseased to be kept to eat. Because of these realities, Jesus explained what every fisherman and disciple already knew: that after the dragnet was filled with fish and then gathered and dragged onto land, the fishermen needed to do some evaluating. The fishermen needed to evaluate and separate all of the fish that had been caught.

Jesus explained that these fishermen, like all good fishermen, would evaluate and gather all the good fish into containers.  As the fishermen went through the nets to separate the fish, the fish that were healthy and met the Jewish dietary standards as being “clean” would be placed into containers to be processed for food.

The bad fish, however, received a different fate. As the fishermen went through the nets to evaluate the fish, the fish that were unhealthy and unclean would be separated and removed from the clean fish and then thrown away to die. Matthew then continued to give us a front row seat to the event from history as Jesus, who wanted to make sure that the disciples and the large crowds listening understood the deeper spiritual meaning of this parable, provided that deeper meaning to them in Matthew 13:49-50. Let’s look at it together:

"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus explained and applied this fishing scenario that the disciples would be very familiar with to the kingdom of heaven by saying that this process of gathering and evaluating will apply to the wicked and the righteous. Jesus explained that God, through the angels, will gather all of humanity to stand before Jesus at the end of God’s story here on earth.

And at the end of God’s story here on earth, when Jesus returns to usher in the kingdom of heaven is its fullest, all of humanity will be gathered and evaluated. Jesus then explained that the angels will take out the wicked from among the righteous. The phrase take out from among here literally means “to take out of the middle of the righteous”. When Jesus refers to the wicked, He is referring to those who rebelled and rejected the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven.

You see, Jesus wanted those listening to this parable to clearly understand that, just like the dragnet that remains in the sea until it is full of fish, those who reject the kingdom of heaven will coexist side by side with members of the kingdom of heaven until they are all gathered before Jesus at His second coming. At that time, the angels will separate those who have rebelled and rejected the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven from those who are members of the kingdom of heaven as a result of believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

For those who have been evaluated and separated from the kingdom of heaven as a result of rebelling and rejecting the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, Jesus explained that they will be thrown into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus is pointing to the harsh reality that those who rebel and reject the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven will be evaluated based on their rejection and be sent into eternal separation from the relationship with God that they were created for, but rejected, in hell. And in hell, Jesus states that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth by those who have rejected Him and His kingdom as a result of the punishment that they will experience for their selfishness and sin.

And in this parable, we see Jesus reveal and timeless and sobering truth about the kingdom of heaven. And that timeless and sobering truth is this: The kingdom of heaven is going to be gathering for an evaluation. The timeless reality is that at the end of God’s story here on earth, all of humanity will be gathered before Jesus. And at that gathering, an evaluation will be made based on this question: Do I know you? Are you a member of the kingdom of heaven?

For those who responded to the message of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, they will be gathered together to participate as part of the kingdom of Heaven. However, for those who have selfishly rebelled and rejected the relationship with God that they were created for; for those who rebelled and rejected the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, they will be separated out from those who are members of the kingdom of heaven and sent to a place where there is no return from, only judgment and punishment. Jesus then closes His conversation with the disciples with a question and a final parable. 

A question and a parable that we will look at on Friday…