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Grace 19 APR 26
MATT 20:1 (Mat 20:1 RSV) “"For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.”
Parables were an important tool for Jesus. (Mat 13:34-35 RSV) "All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed Jesus said nothing to them without a parable. {35} This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world."" The Greek for “parable” is 3850. parabole, par-ab-ol-ay'; from G3846; a similitude ("parable"), i.e. (symbol.) fictitious narrative (of common life conveying a moral), apothegm or adage:--comparison, figure, parable, proverb. Herschel H. Hobbs stated (Matthew, 1965, pg 162) that a proverb, in one sense, can be considered a condensed parable. There two key differences between a parable and a myth: (used by Greek teachers):
1. Parables are true to life situations that could be true. Myths get into science fiction.
2. A Parable has only one central truth. The details convey no additional layers of meaning. They only support the central truth.
MATT 20:2-7 (Mat 20:2 RSV) “After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” {3}And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; {4} and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. {5} Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. {7} And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' {7} They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'”
This vineyard owner needed a lot of labors to get the grapes picked before they got overripe.
MATT 20:8-9 (Mat 20:8 RSV) “And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' {9} And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.”
MATT 20:10-12 (Mat 20:10-12 RSV) “Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. {11} And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, {12} saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'”
MATT 20:13-14 Mat 20:13-14 RSV) “But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you.”
THE OWNER PAID THEM EXACTLY WHAT HE HAD BARGAINED WITH THE FIRST GROUP (vs 2)!
A Christian is saved by the same procedure no matter when the person did (Acts 20:21 RSV) "testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ."
MATT 20:15-16 (Mat 20:15-16 RSV) “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' {16} So the last will be first, and the first last."”
The wage is set by the boss. The labors have no work if it were not for the boss. This boss paid (the Greek is denarius) which in that day was a common laborer's daily wage.
Jesus was pointing out that whether the saved person became saved under Him or was saved one second before Jesus’ Second Coming or anytime in between, the person will is saved!
APPLY THE WHOLE BIBLE BEFORE YOU STATE A DOCTRINE!
Best Study Guide: How to Study the Bible Principles with Bible, A Study Sources by Orin T. Binkley.
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