Reflective Bible Study

As I read the gospels, some of the parables that Jesus shares make lots of sense in my mind. When reading, some parables seem to be very self-explanatory. However, other parables leave me with more questions than answers, and I’m left wondering about the parable’s purpose.

The parable we are focusing in on in this episode happens to be one of those parables that appears to make sense on the surface, but after reading it and thinking about it, I am left with more questions than answers, as well as with some things that just don’t make sense in my mind.

This parable can be found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 20, and we will be reading it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, Matthew quotes Jesus saying:

¹ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³ “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

⁷ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

When I read this parable, I am amazed by several key ideas. First, I am amazed by the landowner, who chose to pay everyone he hired equally, regardless of the amount of work they were involved with. However, this appears on the surface to be completely unfair. While it is the easiest way to pay an unequal group of workers, it is completely unfair for the reasons that the earliest workers grumbled about. The standard we have placed regarding fairness is that those who worked longer, harder, and/or in worse conditions should receive a greater measure of pay than those who worked shorter, slacked off, and/or in mild conditions.

But let’s step into what this parable could symbolize. Since this is a parable that refers to “The kingdom of heaven”, we can first frame Jesus’ words as describing a parallel with how things happen in God’s kingdom. If we take the context for this parable to refer to a day of work representing a person’s lifespan, and working in the field as serving God, then we can begin to see a picture that says that God has chosen to reward us all equally, regardless of the amount of time we spent working for Him.

Along this train of thought, the only thing that really matters is that we are with God at the end of the workday. This means that while the parable doesn’t describe someone who started working in the morning, but who abandoned their task partway through the day, if there were such a person who God had hired, it is unlikely that deserting worker would receive pay. It would be illogical for an employer to actively seek out someone who left their shift early to pay them – unless the law demands it.

It would be even more illogical for God to search someone out who left working for Him to receive the reward for a full day’s worth of work. While the landowner in this parable is extra generous, it is with everyone who is present at the end of the workday, and what is ignored is the time they began to work.

If we focus in on what the reward could be for a day’s worth of pay, we could logically conclude that this would be eternal life. How this looks in practical purposes is that regardless of when we started working for God, and regardless of what we actually accomplished for Him, simply being present at the end of the workday is the only criteria for receiving the reward.

But here’s where the logic gets tricky. While God is amazingly generous because He rewards all His workers equally with eternal life, eternal life is not a reward that can be split, or rationed. God cannot give someone partial eternal life as a reward. Well I suppose He could say that our hand or heart could live forever, but not the rest of us. However, the hand and heart cannot survive without other key parts of our body, so partial eternal life is about the same as no eternal life when we think about it.

So God is on one hand trapped with His generosity based on what He has chosen to reward His workers with – since it cannot be divided while keeping its value.

This then draws my attention onto another tricky section of logic. If God’s reward cannot be split while keeping its valuable, then why to the workers who were present for the entire day’s shift get jealous? If the reward for a full day’s service to God is eternal life, and God chooses to reward those who served for less time than this, then this is simply an example of God’s generosity. If we really dig into it, none of us can honestly say that we served God every single hour of every single day of every single year of our lives. For everyone who has ever lived, there are times in our past where we did not serve.

This means that we all started our days late, but we are all rewarded equally. When the reward is eternal life, the only fair path for God to take is the one that the landowner took in this parable. The landowner paid everyone the same. It is hard for me to imagine people in heaven being jealous of one another because of the length of time they followed God, but I suppose it could happen.

But regardless of whether we are simply happy to be paid at all, or satisfied with our pay for a day’s work, the big lesson I see in Jesus’ teaching here is that we only feel cheated if we compare ourselves to others. Only when our eyes are focused on someone else can we get jealous. The only way this could happen in heaven between those who are there is if we take our eyes off of Jesus and the reward God gave us and begin to focus on one another instead.

I don’t see this happening in heaven, but the principle is very relevant for our lives today as we live for God. Let’s focus on what God has given to us and choose to ignore what He has chosen to give someone else. If we focus on someone else’s relationship with God, we only set ourselves up for disappointment.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Seek God first and choose to focus on your own, personal relationship with Him. Pay little or no attention to another person’s spiritual life, because either way we look, it sets us up for challenges. If our relationship is better, we may become prideful, while if our relationship is worse, then we may become jealous.

As we are focusing on our personal relationship with God, we should intentionally pray and study the Bible for ourselves, because only when we focus on strengthening our personal relationship with God will we be less tempted to focus on another person’s spiritual relationship.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or be distracted away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

After Jesus finishes His prayer in Gethsemane on the night He was arrested, we discover that Judas Iscariot arrives with the soldiers and mob to arrest Jesus. However, while one might think that an arrest like this would difficult, or unpredictable, we discover something profound when we look at the details of what happened.

While each gospel is a little different in the details that it shares, let’s use Luke’s gospel for our time together. Our passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 22, and we will be reading from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 47, Luke writes:

⁴⁷ But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss. ⁴⁸ But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

⁴⁹ When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” ⁵⁰ And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear.

⁵¹ But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

⁵² Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? ⁵³ Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

In an amazing act of compassion, Jesus heals the only individual who was hurt during this whole arrest. Instead of responding in a negative or emotional way, Jesus is likely the most calm, collected, and in control person in the whole group of people. While the entire situation could have easily burst out of control, Jesus steps in as the leader, diffuses the violence that could have easily broken loose, and then heals the only one who was injured.

Luke tells us that the crowd of people included leading priests, captains of the temple guard, and elders. In other words, this delegation was entirely a spiritual one. The soldiers who were present were the ones tasked with protecting the temple, and with them were priests and elders. Luke describes a spiritual mob arresting Jesus because He was a threat to their religious tradition.

In Jesus’ response to the mob after healing the high priest’s slave, He asks them two rhetorical questions before giving them the true answer. Luke tells us the questions and answer in verses 52-53: “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” [Jesus] asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

Jesus openly challenges everyone present who came to arrest Him. Whether they were hoping to remain anonymous or if they didn’t really care if others recognized them, Jesus knew who each of them were, and Jesus knew that all, or almost all, of them had been in the temple when Jesus was teaching and healing every day during the week leading up to this night. No one in Jerusalem was blind to the hostility that the religious leaders had towards Jesus, and no one would have been surprised if Jesus had been arrested during His teaching and preaching in the temple.

However, Jesus gives the answer, even though the answer isn’t what those present might have first thought it to be. Jesus answers His questions by saying, “But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

In Jesus’ response, we see an interesting contrast alluded to. Jesus describes the arrest as sin’s moment and as the moment when the power of darkness reigns. Both the time of these religious leaders and the time when the power of darkness reigns are described as a moment.

This response is incredibly powerful because it shows us that Jesus’ perspective models God’s perspective, and this perspective is one that looks through eternity’s lens. From the perspective of eternity, evil has only a moment of time in the spotlight. The only moment that sin has is the time it takes to show the universe how destructive it is, and then it is done away with.

We live in an interesting point in history where sin and evil have already been judged, but God is holding off on executing this judgment because He knows there are still more people who will enter this world who He can save for eternity. God doesn’t want to end earth’s history before every person who is willing to place Jesus first has done so.

While I don’t have any idea how much longer God will delay executing the judgment that was pronounced on the weekend Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected, I know that because God delayed executing this judgment, you and I have the opportunity to be saved. God has not forgotten this planet or its inhabitants.

Instead, God is watching closely and looking for anyone and everyone who is willing to place Jesus first. When everyone has made their decision for or against God, then God will wrap up history and return for His people. Jesus’ return is a day I’m eagerly waiting for, because I look forward to the new heaven and new earth that God has promised to recreate. I’m looking forward to the time when there will be no more pain, suffering, tragedy, or sin to spoil God’s perfection!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

While it isn’t always easy to do, remember that when evil looks like it is winning, remember that it has already been judged and that its time in the spotlight is but a brief moment from eternity’s perspective. When evil looks like it has the upper hand, remember that Jesus has already won the victory and look forward with me to the moment when Jesus returns!

Also, be sure to always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. God wants a personal relationship with you and this is best grown on the foundation of personally praying and studying the Bible. Don’t let anyone get in the middle of your connection with God. God wants to know you personally!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, or fall away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Rarely in the gospels do we find Jesus’ audience for a specific teaching defined by the characteristics or character qualities of that group. Usually the groups Jesus addresses happens to be the crowd that was following Him, His disciples, or a specific set of religious leaders, such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, teachers of the Law, or even the scribes.

However, in one portion of Luke’s gospel, we learn that Jesus included an illustration that is so relatable, it may have even happened to one of those in the group Jesus was speaking to. This event is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will be reading it from the New International Version. Starting in verse 9, Luke writes:

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

This parable and Jesus’ concluding remarks are powerful for every follower of Jesus to remember.

In the case of the Pharisee’s prayer, everything in it is focused on self, and on building himself up at the expense of others – even including someone standing nearby. In this illustration, it is as though the Pharisee comes before God and says, “Look at me and how great I am”. The danger in this approach to prayer is that we truly cannot hide any part of ourselves from God.

God already knew the great things this Pharisee had done and accomplished, and what the Pharisee has described himself doing, specifically tithing and fasting, are both positive things. However, the Pharisee had blinded himself to any character flaws, and in his prayer, he did not even remotely hint at needing help from anyone. This Pharisee, like many people living today, suffered from the hidden sin of pride.

I call pride a hidden sin because we cannot see its root in ourselves or in others – but we can see evidence, like this Pharisee demonstrated in his prayer, that it is present. Pride is one of the most deceptive sins, because we are able to identify it in others a lot easier than we are able to identify it in ourselves.

One test I have found to help keep the pride in my life in check, is pushing back against the idea that I must receive the credit for everything I do or have done. Pride needs credit to feel good, and while this test is by no means a perfect test that covers all areas, it does help me self-diagnose myself regarding certain aspects of pride.

However, while we might like to think of this Pharisee’s issue being that he brought pride into his prayers to God, under the surface, we can see parallels between this Pharisee and everyone who believes they are “self-sufficient Christians”.

Self-sufficiency is a goal in our culture for many people living today. However, this is one big way that culture stands opposed to God. While the concepts of getting rid of debt and forgiving others are both positive and approved by God, self-sufficiency when taken too far closes us off from acknowledging that we do at times need God’s help.

This is a particularly sinister form of pride because while we don’t want to be indebted to anyone, there is nothing that breaks us out of being indebted to God: either we are in debt to Him because we are actively sinning and breaking the Laws He founded the universe upon, or we are in debt to Him for the amazing gift of forgiveness that He has freely given to us. Nothing we can do could ever match or repay Jesus’ death on the cross, so in a somewhat paradoxical twist, the gift Jesus gives us by paying the sin-debt that we owe puts us in even greater debt to God for His kindness.

However, let’s turn our focus onto the tax collector. His prayer is simple: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. The tax collector simply asks for mercy from God because he is a sinner. There is no comparison present, there is no self-exaltation, there is no self-sufficiency, there is only acknowledgment of who he is and that he needs God’s mercy.

Oddly, while mercy and forgiveness are connected concepts, they are unique. It is interesting to draw out the observation that the tax collector does not repent or specifically ask for forgiveness. However, these two concepts are implied because of how Jesus describes the man’s presence during his prayer: Jesus tells us that the tax collector “stood at a distance”, “would not even look up to heaven”, and simply “beat his breast” while he prayed. None of these characteristics would be shown from someone who was checking off a to-do list before going back to a life of sin.

Everything in this tax collectors prayer draws the focus onto a sinner’s need for God’s mercy. Only when we acknowledge that we are always indebted to God will we be truly able to come before Him humbly and leave justified like the tax collector. Self-sufficiency might win points with culture, but a self-sufficient spiritual life leads to destruction.

As we come to the close of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Acknowledge that regardless of where we are in life, we are indebted to God. It is because either we are living sinful lives, or because we cannot repay the amazing gift Jesus gave us through His death on the cross. Because we are indebted to God, we should dedicate ourselves to Him and continually seek Him first in our lives.

Also, because we are indebted to God, we should focus time each day on growing closer to Him. This is best done through prayer and studying the Bible for yourself, because when we truly know and realize what He did for us, our lives will never be the same – and our perspective will be forever shifted.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or run away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Most of the time, when thinking about where to start reading on the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, we begin when Jesus and His followers arrive in Gethsemane, and Jesus starts the night out in prayer. While we have just finished looking at a powerful prayer Jesus prayed from John’s gospel, Jesus wasn’t finished with His prayers this night.

Several of the gospel writers include Jesus praying in Gethsemane and for our time together in this episode, let’s focus in on Mark’s gospel, and maybe pull in a detail or two from another gospel if we have time. Our passage is found in the gospel of Mark, chapter 14, and we will be reading from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 32, Mark tells us that:

³² They came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took Peter, James, and John with him. Distress and anguish came over him, ³⁴ and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch.”

³⁵ He went a little farther on, threw himself on the ground, and prayed that, if possible, he might not have to go through that time of suffering. ³⁶ “Father,” he prayed, “my Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

³⁷ Then he returned and found the three disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Weren’t you able to stay awake for even one hour?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “Keep watch, and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹ He went away once more and prayed, saying the same words. ⁴⁰ Then he came back to the disciples and found them asleep; they could not keep their eyes open. And they did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹ When he came back the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come! Look, the Son of Man is now being handed over to the power of sinners. ⁴² Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”

In this passage, we discover that Jesus prayed three similar, if not identical, prayers. In these prayers, we discover some amazing ideas, both about Jesus and about God the Father. While it would be nice to know more of Jesus’ prayer here than what is included, it is likely that only God and the angels know, since these three closest disciples could not keep their eyes and ears open. While it’s possible that the other, larger group of disciples did stay awake, they were outside of earshot of Jesus’ prayer, and possibly talking amongst themselves.

Our passage includes the simple, profound opening to Jesus’ prayer and in this prayer, we see Jesus’ humanity, His humility, and His heart. Jesus opening to His prayer is basically, “Father, All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

In these four phrases, we see an amazing progression. First, Jesus starts out by acknowledging God as His Father. Jesus describes God the way He teaches us to describe God, simply as our Father.

Next, Jesus acknowledges that anything and everything is possible for God. If God wanted to, He could do anything. Jesus describes the all-powerful, or omnipotent, nature of God.

Then, after laying the foundation of God’s ability to do anything, Jesus makes the request. Jesus asks for the cup of suffering to be taken away from Him. While there were many layers of suffering that Jesus went through that night, we cannot even begin to know or understand what Jesus was going through. Some scholars say that here in Gethsemane, Jesus was receiving the weight of the sins of the human race on His shoulders, and it nearly crushed Him. In this request, we see Jesus’ humanity and a request for help.

If Jesus’ prayer had ended here, it’s possible that God would have come down and rescued Jesus, abandoning the human race to sin. God had placed the cross within Jesus’ power to face or not face, as we saw looking back at how John’s gospel introduces us to the Last Supper, and if there hadn’t been an additional line, we might not have a crucifixion to look back to.

Instead, Jesus follows His request with a bold statement of submission: “Yet not what I want, but what you want.” In this statement, Jesus basically lets God know His request, but He leaves it up to God whether this request is in the best interest for God’s plan. While the cross was Jesus’ decision to make, Jesus’ prayer tells us that He doesn’t make the decision alone.

In this prayer, and how Jesus ends it, we discover a powerful truth about God the Father. If God the Father did not love the human race, Jesus would not have faced the cross. Jesus asks the Father to take the cup of suffering away from Him, but He leaves it up to God.

Jesus’ prayer, and God’s response, or lack thereof, shows us the truth of the most famous passage in the entire Bible: John, chapter 3, verse 16. This passage John included early on in His gospel tells us that “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.” God the Father loved us enough to let Jesus face the cross to save each of us, and this is powerful to know.

God does answer Jesus’ prayer in a way that is helpful but not one that sacrificed the mission. Luke’s gospel described what happened. Luke, chapter 22, verses 43 and 44 tell us that after Jesus prayed this prayer: “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. In great anguish he prayed even more fervently; his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Luke tells us that an angel appears to encourage Jesus and He prays even more passionately after this. Luke describes Jesus’ sweat appearing like drops of blood, and whether this was because Jesus had actual blood mixed with His sweat, which is possible, or whether Jesus’ sweat was dripping off His body like blood would if He were cut and the wound hadn’t closed up yet, we see how emotionally intense this night and prayer was to Jesus.

While it would be nice to know more of Jesus’ prayer following this, what we have in Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane is another powerful model we can use when praying to God. When praying using Jesus’ model, we begin by acknowledging God as our Father, and we acknowledge His ability to answer our request. Nothing is impossible for God to accomplish.

We then make our request like Jesus did, before finishing by asking God for His will to be done with our request, and not our own.

After praying in this way, we should move forward in life trusting that God has answered our prayer, and if our request isn’t granted the way we prayed, then we can know that our request isn’t beneficial for God’s kingdom like we might have thought it would have been. I doubt God will answer any prayer we pray that would result in us being excluded from heaven. God looks at life through the lens of eternity, and His ultimate goal is saving as many people as possible for eternity.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

If your prayers to God have been more self-serving lately, the challenge I have for you is to frame your requests the same way Jesus framed His request. I don’t believe God is annoyed when we ask for things, but when we ask God for help or things, we should acknowledge that His will should be done. In this way, we clearly remind ourselves that God is first in our lives and we submit to His direction and leading.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. While pastors, authors, speakers, or even a podcaster can give you ideas to think about, never put anyone between you and God. God wants a personal relationship with you, and He doesn’t want to filter His truth to you through other people.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, chicken out of, or drift away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!