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!

As we have been moving through events found within Jesus’ life and ministry, we come to an event where Jesus turned the cultural norms upside down. In many ways, what Jesus chose to do in the event we are about to read might be one of the most counter-culturally bold moves Jesus ever did. However, while being counter-cultural to those living in the first century, Jesus demonstrates an amazing picture of God’s love for all humanity.

The event found in our passage can be found in three of the four gospels. However, as I shared in the introduction, we will read this event from the gospel of Luke because Luke’s gospel has a slightly different angle than Matthew and Mark record, and Luke’s angle is worth paying attention to when unpacking just how profound and counter-cultural event this was.

With that said, our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 15, Luke tells us that:

¹⁵ Some people brought infants to Jesus to have him hold them. When the disciples saw this, they told the people not to do that.

¹⁶ But Jesus called the infants to him and said, “Don’t stop the children from coming to me! Children like these are part of God’s kingdom. ¹⁷ I can guarantee this truth: Whoever doesn’t receive God’s kingdom as a little child receives it will never enter it.”

I will be the first to say that when thinking about this event, I initially picture young children being welcomed by Jesus. Without Luke’s gospel describing these children differently, I would imagine kids somewhere in the 5-8 year-old range.

However, when reading Luke’s gospel, we get the description that the parents bringing their children to Jesus are bringing Jesus infants to hold. The picture I see Luke describe is that a mother or father bring their baby to Jesus because they want Jesus to hold their child for a period of time.

On seeing this scene take place, the disciples start to push back because they feel these parents are out of line and the situation might be getting out of hand. What probably started with one or two mothers wanting their children to have some “Jesus time”, or simply to have Jesus touch their child, quickly escalated into what could only be considered a crowd of parents and exponentially more children. Half a dozen children who were well-behaved young men and women were one thing, but if we understand and use Luke’s gospel to help us frame this event in our minds, when more parents caught on and started bringing more children, we might now begin to see some unruly children and even infants. Bringing babies and/or infants probably was a little too far for the disciples.

In this event, Luke’s gospel shares something else that is unique from the other two. Luke says in verse 16 that “Jesus called the infants to Him”. While Mathew and Mark include Jesus’ challenge to His disciples to stop keeping the children away, I am amazed that Luke frames Jesus calling the infants specifically. It is very possible Luke simply worded Jesus’ challenge to His disciples in a different way that leaves more room for interpretation, however I wonder if Jesus actually called any infants to come by name.

Right after our first child was born, my wife, baby daughter, and I went to her first baby appointment together. Being brand new parents, we didn’t know what to expect. When the nurse came to call us back, she called out our daughter’s name. It was an initially odd experience. The nurse didn’t do anything wrong, but my wife and I as new parents weren’t expecting our daughter’s name to be the one called.

I wonder if Jesus, calling out to the infants and perhaps toddlers, called them by name as our nurse did for our baby daughter. If this was the case, to help illustrate the truth He wanted the disciples to learn, Jesus may have called several of the children by name. By doing this, Jesus elevated these children and infants as being important to Him.

We can relate to this as well. The people who we know by name are in almost every case the most significant to us. Perhaps they are significant in a bad way, like that annoying person at work, or perhaps they are significant in a good way like a close friend or relative. People who call us by name tell us that we are significant to them.

When Jesus called the infants to Him, He may have called some of them by name, but even if He didn’t, He did want to be close to them, and that was something that was incredibly counter-cultural. First century culture was very hierarchal, almost certainly more hierarchal than most places in the world today, with each person alive being categorized above someone and below another. Babies were among the lowest in society, perhaps even being only slightly ahead of animals.

Jesus upsets the cultural norm by calling children to Him to set up His big truth in verse 17: “Whoever doesn’t receive God’s kingdom as a little child receives it will never enter it.”

If Jesus didn’t challenge the cultural norms at the time by being with babies, He certainly did by setting up these infants and toddlers as an example for the adults. Culture says that children must learn from adults, but Jesus’ big truth in this event is that adults must learn from children regarding entrance into God’s kingdom.

Jesus teaches us that we are all equal: Babies receive God’s kingdom in the same way adults do, and this should be encouraging for us as adults. Not only is everyone equal in God’s eyes, but the standard to receive salvation is simple: trust in Jesus. Babies err on the side of trusting the adults in their lives until they are old enough to determine if the adult is trustworthy.

In the same way, we should always err on the side of trusting God, regardless of whether what is happening in our life makes sense. The point in time when we will have grown up enough to decide whether God was worthy of our trust happens at the point in time when we enter heaven. Judging God’s trustworthiness anytime before heaven is judging with only half the perspective necessary. Someone could ultimately reach a very biased and inaccurate picture of God by looking only from an earthly perspective.

Children trust adults because this is a part of their nature. In the same way, originally we all trusted God as a part of our nature, but then sin came and distorted this trust. Jesus came as a representative from Heaven to tell us that God really is trustworthy, that He loves us, and that He wants to live with us forever. We are all equal in God’s eyes, and Jesus came to save us all equally.

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to understand, accept, and trust that God loves you more than you can imagine, regardless of your background or your place within society. Jesus came and died to save you, me, and every person, regardless of our age or any other social distinction culture chooses to push our way.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and discover who God is, what He is really like, and how trustworthy He is. While pastors or podcasters can share ideas to think about, always take what you read, see, and hear and test it against the truth found within the Bible.

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 doubt yourself into leaving 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!

Shortly after Jesus healed some lepers, the gospel of Luke includes a two-verse interaction Jesus has with some Pharisees who appear to have a legitimate question that isn’t a trap. If you have spent any time reading the gospels, you will quickly understand how rare of a situation this is. With only a handful of exceptions, whenever Jesus interacts with religious leaders, we see Jesus masterfully evade a trap they had set for Him, and if we aren’t careful, we could conclude that 100% of the religious leaders disliked Jesus, which would be untrue.

While I am willing to accept an argument that would suggest the question in this passage contains a trap, within the details Luke’s gospel includes, whatever the trap might have been is not clearly visible to me.

With that said, let’s look at this interaction Jesus had with these Pharisees and see if we can uncover something significant we can use in our own lives from how Jesus responded to this surprisingly genuine question He is asked. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 17, and we will read it using the New International Reader’s version of the Bible. Starting in verse 20, Luke tells us that:

²⁰ Once the Pharisees asked Jesus when God’s kingdom would come. He replied, “The coming of God’s kingdom is not something you can see. ²¹ People will not say, ‘Here it is.’ Or, ‘There it is.’ That’s because God’s kingdom is among you.”

In this short, two-verse passage, we see a simple question and a simple answer. In some ways, I wish Jesus had elaborated more in the response He gave, but perhaps, Jesus kept this answer short knowing that one of the biggest themes in His entire preaching ministry was sharing details about the kingdom of God.

However, one big idea that I see present in this question and answer combination is a redefinition of what God’s kingdom actually is. For most people thinking about the concept of God having a kingdom, the closest idea we can picture is something that would be similar to an earthly kingdom or an earthly government. I suspect that the Pharisees understood God’s kingdom in a similar way. I picture those in the first-century Jewish culture eagerly expecting the Messiah to appear, ushering in God’s kingdom by overthrowing Rome’s kingdom and giving their nation independence.

With this likely assumption in place, it would not surprise me at all if Jesus’ answer confused these religious leaders. Instead of framing God’s kingdom as something that would be coming in the future, Jesus frames God’s kingdom as already being present and “among” them.

However, it is interesting when we contrast Jesus’ words here with other places in the gospel that focus on the kingdom of God.

Looking at the beginning of most gospels, we see John the Baptizer, who was Jesus’ forerunner in ministry proclaim that the kingdom of God is coming. Also, Jesus beings His preaching ministry with the same message that God’s kingdom is coming. Also, when Jesus sends His disciples out in pairs to preach partway through His ministry, He tells them to preach that the kingdom of God is coming.

It would appear as though Jesus shifts His focus when giving this answer to the Pharisees. Instead of focusing on the “coming” nature of God’s kingdom, Jesus draws the focus onto the already present nature of God’s kingdom, even though those present might not have been able to see it.

When reading this passage, I am challenged by the question: If the Pharisees missed seeing God’s kingdom that Jesus said was among them, am I missing seeing God’s kingdom that is present today?

This is a powerful question, and when wrestling with an answer, I am pushed to think deeper than I might normally think. From the biggest perspective we can imagine, God rules the universe, and technically speaking, everything is “His kingdom”. Because of this, the kingdom of God that Jesus refers to must be about something different, or perhaps a different aspect of God’s kingdom that isn’t just His ownership of the universe. Since God owns the universe, which includes us, His kingdom is always present, but that also would then mean that it technically could not then also be coming.

Perhaps a key phrase to helping us understand what Jesus is teaching is the phrase “among you”. At the end of Jesus’ reply in verse 21, Jesus says: “God’s kingdom is among you.” Jesus had been present with the disciples for a few years at this point, and Jesus might be referencing a deeper truth in His answer.

In His response, Jesus might be saying something like, “God’s kingdom is wherever God is.” Since Jesus, a member of the Godhead, was among them, God’s kingdom could then be said to be among them – even if they didn’t accept or recognize Him.

When God is present, lives are transformed, hearts melt, and people return to God. Well, I should probably say that not all lives are affected in this way. When God is present, some hearts are hardened and when that happens, those people openly reject God instead of accepting Him.

As I am talking here with you, I wonder if God’s kingdom is wherever the Holy Spirit is moving or present. I hope this is the case, otherwise when Jesus returned to Heaven, God’s kingdom left with Him. God’s Spirit is not something we can see directly. Just like the wind, we cannot see it, but we are able to feel it and see its effects.

When God’s Spirit is moving in people’s lives, we see the effects I shared earlier: some people’s lives are transformed while other lives are hardened. Perhaps the polarizing of culture is due to the Holy Spirit drawing closer to this world. We could also wonder together if God is “turning up the heat”, prompting some hearts to melt towards Him and other hearts to harden against Him.

As earth’s history moves forward, the closer Jesus’ return gets, the more urgent will be the need for revival, and the closer the Holy Spirit comes, the stronger the life transformation or life hardening will become.

When we picture God’s kingdom as wherever God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are, then God’s kingdom is always among us, and it is always within our grasp being at most just a prayer away. Just because Jesus returned to heaven does not mean that God’s kingdom has left. Jesus promised that when He leaves, He would send the Holy Spirit from the Father who would come and empower His followers. This began with the disciples, and it continues with His followers today.

Some people misunderstand Jesus’ words to mean that the Holy Spirit was not present while Jesus was on earth, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Holy Spirit was definitely present, but He was working in a different way when Jesus was alive on earth than He would be following Jesus returning to heaven. When Jesus returned to heaven, the disciples could then more fully receive the Holy Spirit’s power as they were Jesus’ representatives who were still alive. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they were commissioned to spread God’s kingdom throughout the world.

As followers of Jesus, we are to carry out the commission that Jesus started long ago, leaning into the Holy Spirit while spreading the great news of Jesus to the world. Where the Holy Spirit is, God’s kingdom is, and that means that His kingdom is among us – wherever we are when we are allied and pointing people to Jesus!

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Seek God and His kingdom in your daily life by asking Him to send His Holy Spirit to live in your mind and heart and intentionally orient your life towards sharing Jesus with those you meet. While some might think this challenge might be too awkward or extreme, feel free to choose the best method for sharing Jesus and God’s love that you know of for each situation God places you in. Trust that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide you to the best way to share Jesus to those He brings into your life.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to keep your connection with God strong. Study the Bible to discover just how much God loves you and what He wants to reward you with when we give ourselves for His kingdom, and trust that when we dedicate our lives to God, we receive infinitely more than we could ever give up.

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 abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!