GOD’S WORD FOR FEBRUARY 5 ~ ~ Luke 12:32 ~ ~  “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

OUR PERSONAL PROMISE:

John 12:46

“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”

Today, Dr. MacArthur gets back to the original purpose of the parable of the wages paid by the landowner, in the section called:

 THE PROVERB

Now look at the immediate context of this parable, and notice that both the preface and the epilogue are a single, simple proverb:  “Many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:30)  — the chapter break between Matthew 19 and 20 is an artificial interruption.  The last verse of chapter 19 actually introduces the parable that follows. – Then the same proverb is repeated at the end of the parable:  “So the last will be first, and the first last”  (20:16).  An echo of the proverb is also found in the parable itself – in that key phrase in Matthew 20:8 where the landowner instructs the steward how to pay the workers their wages:  “Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.”

Jesus used variations of that same proverb on other occasions.  We find it, for example, in Luke 13:30: 
“Indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last”;  “and in Mark 10:31:  “Many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The proverb is also something of a riddle.  What does it mean?  It’s not saying precisely the same thing as Mark 9:35:  “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and a servant of all.” Or Mark 10:43-44:  “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.”  Those verses elevate humility and self-sacrifice.  Those are “imperatives:”  commands instructing us to be humble servants rather than seeking prominence and power.

But the proverb that goes with this parable is an “indicative”, a simple statement of face:  “The last  “will be” first, and the first last.”  What does that mean, and how would it work?  In a foot race, for example, the only way for the last to be first and the first to be last is for everyone to finish simultaneously.  If everyone crosses the finish line at exactly the same instant, the first are last and the last are first.  Everyone ends in a dead heat.

That, of course, is precisely the point Jesus was making in the parable.  Those hired first and those hired last all got exactly the same pay.  All of them, from the first to the last, got the full benefit of the landowner’s generosity, in equal shares.

What spiritual lesson is woven into that story?

THE POINT:

The lesson is actually quite simple:  the story is a precise picture of God’s sovereign saving grace.  Since sinners are all unworthy, and the riches of God’s grace are inexhaustible, all believers receive an infinite and eternal share of His mercy and kindness, though no one really deserves it.  “In Him we – all of us – have complete redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:7).  He “raised us up TOGETHER, and made us sit TOGETHER in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (2:6-7).  That speaks of all who are redeemed.  It is the Father’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom (Luke 12:32) – all of them, and in equal abundance.  The dying thief who repented in his final moments entered paradise where he is enjoying eternal life and everlasting fellowship with Christ just the same as Peter, James and John who literally gave their lives in service to the Savior.

The landowner in the parable represents God.  The vineyard is the Kingdom, the sphere of God’s rule.  The laborers are believers, people who come into the service of the King.  The day of work is their lifetime.  The evening is eternity.  The steward, perhaps, represents Jesus Christ, to whom has been committed all judgment.  The denarius represents eternal life.

NOTE: This pay is not something the workers have earned.  It is not given to them like a minimum wage in the fair exchange for labor done.  It is far too much for that.  Rather, this represents a gracious gift, a lavish endowment that exceeds the best reward any day worker could ever merit.

So this is the point:  If you are a genuine believer, you receive the full benefits of God’s immeasurable grace, just like everyone else in God’s Kingdom.  Your place in heaven is not a timeshare where your access is determined by the length of time you spent doing the Lord’s work.  The blessings of redemption are not doled out in quotas based on one’s personal achievements.  Forgiveness is not measured by weighing our good deeds against our sins nor is it partially withheld if we have sinned for too long or too badly.  EVERYONE who enters the Kingdom receives the FULL abundance of God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  When this earthly life is over, if you  believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again,  and you have repented of your sins,  you will go to be with Christ, just like that thief on the cross (Luke 23:43); just like the apostle Paul (2 Cor 5:8); and just like every other saint who has died since.

If that seems inequitable, remember, that it is far more than any of us deserve.  The benefits of the kingdom are the same for everyone, because we are redeemed in the first place ONLY by God’s grace, and nothing else. 

2 Peter 1:3

as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

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