This lesson looks at two parables about the way in which we should respond to the grace and
The parables of the Workers in the Vineyard and the Marriage of the King's Son illustrate
Matthew 22:1-14
Matthew 20:1-16
Verses 1-7 tell of the owner of a vineyard who goes out early in the morning to hire labourers. He also went out at mid morning, and again at noon. He even went out at 5pm, an hour before the workday was to end. Each time he hired labourers. This shows one aspect of God's kindness. He is always willing to accept people into his kingdom, whatever age they might be. He does not reject those whom he finds still outside of his kingdom
Verses 8-10 show a second aspect of God's kindness. He rewards everyone equally and fully, even those who have not been profitable servants to him. Those who worked only one hour did not earn the denarius (standard wage for a long day's work), yet the landowner gave it to them, and moreover paid them first. They got the same as those who had worked five, eight, or even eleven hours that day, and those who had worked longer were made to wait at the end of the pay queue! The owner of the vineyard however paid everyone "what is right". Those who had been unemployed most of the day must surely have appreciated the kind and compassionate treatment
Verses 11-12 show how even though God does the right thing, some people will object. The workers who had been employed all day were thinking only of the hard work they had done, not the plight of those who weres unable to obtain work and feed their families. This attitude was not much different to that of the second son in the parable of the lost son which we studied in
Verses 13-15 give the landowner's attitude. He had given people work. He had made an agreement with some to pay them a full day's wage for a full day's work, and he had kept that contract. What was their problem? Only that they resented the landowner exercising his right to show whatever kindness to others he thought proper. We should never envy God's love for others. He treats them right, and
Verses 16 ends the parable with the same statement that began it, "the last shall be first, and the first last".
Whilst I have made a general application of this parable, it seems also to have a more particular application, namely God's kindness to the Gentiles. The parable helped to prepare the Jewish believers for the ingathering of Gentiles into God's kingdom and the removing all distinction between Jew and Gentile
Matthew 22:1-14
Verses 1-6 show the grace and goodness of God. His goodness, however, is spurned. Some simply ignore his kind invitation. Others answer the invitation with malice and violence toward those who bring it. Similar atrocities took place in the parable of the wicked tenant farmers, recorded in the previous chapter
Verses 7-10 show the wrath and severity of God. The king in this parable represents God. The king was angry and he ordered his armies to destroy those who rejected his invitation, and to burn down their city. This is very likely a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem which was to happen circa AD70. However it is certainly more widely applicable to the destruction of all ungodly at the end of the world
Verses 11-14 show the conditional nature of God's grace. In this part of the parable we come accross something that we might not have expected. Here we find a man who accepted the king's invitation, yet the king treated him as one who had rejected it!
When we look carefully at this parable, we find the king punishing those who slighted his invitation. However not all slighted or rejected his invitation in the same way. When we examine the matter,
This man had not ignored the invitation, nor had he responded with violence. He had accepted the invitation and come to the feast. Yet he was cast out and punished just as severely as those who had rejected the invitation. Why? The king noticed that the man was not dressed for the occasion. When asked why, the man had no answer. The king was insulted and made angry by this man's disrespect for the kings's son, in whose honour the guests had assembled. This shows us that whilst God's invitation is extended to everyone and anyone, no one can accept it on their own terms. The invitation is conditional, and if you don't take care to meet the conditions, then you are treated as one who has rejected
Jesus finished the parable with the comment, "Many are called but few are chosen"
A similar parable is found among the three