After Jesus spoke to a young rich ruler and said to the disciples that all things are possible with God, Peter responded to Jesus: Matthew 19:26-30 See, we have left everything and followed you. Because the field is so great, the variety of workers needed is also great. You see, you can make choices but you cannot fulfill them. At the close of Chapter14 our Lord said to his disciples, "Rise, let us go hence." And though you are responsible to make the decisions and make the choices, you are not responsible for the power to carry them out. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. And do not compare yourself to others. 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. WebThe life which is in the vine produces fruit which Paul describes in Galatians 5 as: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.. (1) preachers who are used by their Spirit-filled preaching. It is not activity which glorifies God; it is character, it is what you are, and the way you react to a situation. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? (LogOut/ We could see this as people coming to faith in Jesus Christ during different periods of church history or at different ages in life. The marketplace represents the world, furthermore, it is from there that the Gospel of Christ has called us. What a temptation to be slack, careless and half-hearted in the Lords work. No, they are means by which we know him. When you do that, then love grows into this deepening, quickening experience. Change). It is now generally viewed as a time for barbecues and the end of summer, but it was originally observed to acknowledge the contribution workers make to our society. I suspect not! The parable occurs between two very similar statements in Matthew: The first will be last, and the last first. They plant their empires through conquest and war (Genesis 10:8-12), intoxicated with a taste for blood instead of the pure wine of divine governance (Revelation 17:2, 6). He asks them only three questions: First, "Do you love work?" These disciples, familiar with the Old Testament, would immediately think of several places where it was used. None of us deserve Gods grace. We can look at this as a progression from the calling of the Jews to the calling of the Gentiles (Mark 16:15; Luke 14:23). There is no more fundamental advice on the value of work, and how that leads to a good and successful life, than the word of God. What Is a Parable in the Bible? And there are conversions after conversions throughout the remainder of the week -- because of young people who manifest by their lives that they are Jesus' disciples. Remember that earlier in the passage our Lord had said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments," (John 14:15 RSV). Vineyards were especially evocative as they produced wine, to gladden their hearts (Ps 104:15). Both of these are necessary in the Christian experience. You cannot tell him how to answer your prayers. WebGod needs workers for his vineyard. Compare Acts 8:29; 9:11; 10:19; 13:1-4; Isaiah 6:1-8. Do you love people? Notice the workers were called at different times:-. -It involves sowing seed, and watering and cultivating, and maintaining and protecting the vineyard, and reaping the harvest. Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.. Cultivating the vineyard of the Lord includes cultivating the lives of those who toil in the vineyard. We find that the master of the vineyard has a rather strange way of rewarding his workers. Another way to state this and illustrate the unfairness is that those who worked the whole day received the same compensation that they agreed to receive as those who worked for only one hour. (John 15:7 RSV), Answered prayer is one of the first signs of a fruitful life. How that can be deduced from this parable is difficult to understand, because there is nothing in it which suggests that at all. There was a sense in which the workers were right in standing and waiting. (2) In other continents the need is vast - where the darkness of heathenism, superstition and ignorance abound. This anecdote is not about remunerations, yet it is about salvation. But you learned from the Word that it was wrong. It was then that the Landowner said, You also go (verse 7). That is a hard lesson to learn, because oftentimes when we go to God in prayer thinking we deserve something from Him. None of us are worthy to be there, but Jesus paid for our sins and died for us, so that all who believe may enter into heaven. They mistakenly believe that they own whatever they possess. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. "Abide in me, and I in you," and you will be fruitful -- without realizing it -- manifesting the characteristics of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, the quality of life which is like Jesus. They continually were seeking ways to quiet Him or destroy Him. Many church people take issue with this. Or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last. There is no other way to salvation but by faith in Jesus Christ. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. And then we must rest on him, count on him to see us through, to supply that enabling power which makes us able to love and forgive and rejoice and give thanks, even when everything is going wrong. Would we really begrudge Gods grace on the latecomers, including ourselves? They are mistaken! When that happens, there will come these additional benefits: answered prayer, a glorifying of the Father through the demonstration of discipleship, a deepening of the experience of love, and joy made full. WebMatthew Chapter 20. [Jesus said to the people:] Listen to another parable. The evening is eternity. Matthew Henrys Commentary tells us that the immediate object of this parable is, to show that the Jews were first called into the vineyard, finally, the gospel should be spread to the Gentiles, and that they are to be conceded to the same advantages and benefits with the Jews. Stand Up Nashville, a grassroots organization supported by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, also in Nashville, has fought for a community benefits agreement around the new soccer stadium construction project to ensure that local residents benefit from living wage employment opportunities. It is the third of these parables that we will study, and notice in verse 1 that the Landowner is our Lord Himself, and the Workers He sent into His vineyard represent all who have been saved (Matthew 1:21), chosen (John 16:16), and commissioned by Him (Matthew 9:38). Then, "Do you love people, do you like to be with people and relate to them?" Even though Israel is Gods chosen people, He opened the door for salvation to everyone. Gods vineyard is the entire earth, and the workers in the vineyard are all of Gods people, earning our daily bread as co-creators with God, no matter our craft. No, it simply stays in the vine and lets the life of the vine produce the fruit. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. Look up John 4:35, and compare John 9:4. You may believe that the master of the vineyard owes those workers more. On the other hand, he says, "He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." We are His Laborers Working for His Harvest. He sovereignly rules over all of creation and none of us have a legitimate claim on it. (3) Still others at the sixth hour (verse 5) - the Reformers? He owns everything. Should we not celebrate the grace extended to them? As he held this vine and its branches in his hand, he indicated that this was the copy. In a vineyard the vines are pruned not just once in their lifetimes; the process is repeated every spring. Your heart may go out to those workers who labored the whole day only to receive the same wage as those who worked for only one hour. Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. (3) Criticism (verse 15) - criticism of the Lord and of His dealings. We must be willing to give up anything and everything for Christ. People come and spend a lot of money, staying a week or so at a time. God is glorified when his people manifest fruit, i.e., Christlikeness. You suddenly were confronted with what you were doing to yourself and to others -- you felt it and heard it and saw it. Working in Gods Vineyard Many are called to do Gods work. Just come to Him and place your trust in Jesus Christ. Fruit, here, is that which is produced by the vine and is the natural outflow of the life of the vine. Probably at the time Jesus spoke this parable, the latecomers to Gods vineyard, to Gods Kingdom, were the tax collectors and sinners. In a broader context the Gentiles would be the eleventh hour workers who heard Gods Word later than Jews. Isaiah tells us what that represents in Verse 7: For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry! So every vinedresser knows it is important to prune away these little sucker shoots in order that the vine may produce more fruit. The whole earth is the Lords, but other nations did not enjoy their lands as the planting of the Lord . Fruitfulness shows that we are in partnership with GOD. He called workers at the beginning of the day agreed with But there was no life in him. It appears that this master, however, does not share that expectation. God has so much work, and there is room for everyone who is willing. All of us have learned, one way or another, that love demands a response if it is to grow. This is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.. Aside from the first group of workers who were hired at sun up, the master promises to pay the workers what is right. These workers might have expected to receive a fraction of a days wage, but the master of the vineyard never specifies what he will pay. What is the instrument he uses? He did not abide in Christ, and Christ did not abide in him. Unless otherwise noted, all material copyright 2023, Rochester Catholic Press Association, Inc. It brings GOD glory it shows we are disciples. If you try to pray as though it were some exercise in which you chalk off fifteen minutes' worth, mechanically going through a list like the turning of a prayer wheel, it is a valueless experience. The person might have never addressed hundreds or thousands of individuals like some ministers and evangelists do, yet they loyally brought up their youngsters, and possibly those kids became teachers who served God on unfamiliar soil or someplace within their own country. I have been the superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years, and an elder in the church for twenty years; and yet God does not answer my prayer and I cannot understand it. But if you share where you are spiritually, what your struggles are, what you are going through, and if you bear one another's burdens and love each other in the Lord, it becomes a delightful, marvelous, strengthening experience. May our attitude be as Jesus said: Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.. You can even pastor a church without Christ. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. Here is the case our Lord mentioned earlier when he said, of one aspect of the Father's work, "every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away." That is, "If you do not abide in me, you will be fruitless." In making claims of unfairness, we forget who the boss isand it is not us! The parables of the Ten Minas (Luke 19:11-28), the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), were all related by the Lord to emphasise three aspects of Christian service. What then will we have? Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. The point was not that everyone has to sell all that they have to give to the poor. And our Lord is indicating that the very purpose of the vine is to produce such fruit. If you left everything family, friends, a good job, material possessions in order to follow Jesus, you might expect something more from Jesus. The denarius represents eternal life. Suffice it to say, the Lord will someday reward the person who may have been a member of a small church. The withering process was very short in his case. In agriculture theres a sowing season, then a reaping season. Let me tell you why they are the way they are." You see, you can do many things without depending on Christ. No one can gain more favor than another, whether we spend a lifetime serving God or, like the thief on the cross, a person who comes to repentance at the end of ones life will be saved and enter into paradise (see Luke 23:39-43). Though it is wonderful when one has the privilege of leading many to Christ, and any of us perhaps can do this on one occasion or another, it is no indication of fruitlessness if you never have had this experience. They must satisfy him that they love people. I have been praying for a long time for something that I am confident is according to Gods will, but I do not get it. God sends the invitation to everybody to come to him, come by faith in Christ (Acts 4:12). Music City Construction Careers in Nashville is one such bridge-building program. Linking is encouraged, but republishing or redistributing, including by framing or similar means, without the publisher's prior written permission is prohibited. He says, "Now, it may seem strange to you that I should ask that last question. In our churches and Sunday schools, the need for born again, soul-winning workers is very great. That person may not have done anything of importance within the church but look at the rewards he or she may have. When our hearts are moved by love it is easy to obey his word, for we obey the one we love. Because it is large, many workers are needed. In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI quotes St. John Paul II in Laborem Exercens: In many cases, poverty results from a violation of the dignity of human work, either because work opportunities are limited (through unemployment or underemployment), or because a low value is put on work and the rights that flow from it, especially the right to a just wage and to the personal security of the worker and his or her family' (No. Change). He is a retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman with over 30 years of combined active and reserve service. Again, let God be your guide. It might be something seemingly insignificant that may be behind the scenes or a small task or it might How can we work for the Lord until He has directed us? Eventually these branches are to be gathered and burned. Many of the leaders were corrupt. This is an extremely helpful passage! Let us remember that God is in control, not us. But if you pray because you are talking with One whom you love and want to know more of, sharing with him out of the fullness of your heart, then prayer becomes a beautiful and marvelous experience. When you love God, then all that you do is touched and controlled by love, and love is the fulfilling of the Law. Web8 This is to my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Apprenticeship graduate Joseph Kenyiawa, who was resettled through Catholic Charities in Nashville from Sudan 20 years ago, is a pillar of the Sudanese Catholic community. 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