What Jesus Did

"'So take your pay and go. I want to give the man that was hired last the same pay that I gave you. I can do what I want with my own money. Are you jealous because I am good {to those people}?'"

—Matthew 20:14-15

Key Thought
The truest sense of grace is joy for others who receive it. This sense of joy runs counter to our human self-interest and human standards of fairness. To rejoice with those who rejoice means just that—our genuine joy is when someone else enjoys the blessings of...

 

"But the man that owned the field said to one of those workers, 'Friend, I am being fair with you. You agreed to work for one silver coin. Right?'"

—Matthew 20:13

Key Thought
Sometimes, I fear, we forget who God is. We forget he is the vineyard owner. He doesn't manage it; he made it. He doesn't supervise it; he created it. God is God. We should serve because he is God. He has no reason to be gracious to us other than he loves us and is gracious. But we have no reason to expect, much...

 

"Then those workers that were hired first came to get their pay. Those workers thought they would be paid more than the other workers. But each one of those workers also received one silver coin. When they got their silver coin, these workers complained to the man that owned the land. The workers said, 'Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as us. And we worked hard all day in the hot sun.'"

—Matthew 20:10-12

Key Thought
Unlike the workers...

 

"At the end of the day, the owner of the field said to the boss of all the workers, 'Call the workers and pay all of them. Start by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the workers I hired first.' The workers that were hired at five o'clock came to get their pay. Each worker got one silver coin."

—Matthew 20:8-9

Key Thought
Wow! Imagine getting a full day's wage for working just the last part of the day! They didn't have to work through the heat. They...

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like a man that owned some land. The man grew grapes on his land. One morning, the man went out very early to hire some other people to work in his field. The man agreed to pay the workers one silver coin for working that day. Then the man sent the people into the field to work. At about nine o'clock the man went to the market place and saw some other people standing there. These people were doing nothing. So the man said to them, 'If you go and work in my field, I...

 

Peter said to Jesus, "We left everything we had and followed you. So what will we have?" Jesus said to the followers, "I tell you the truth. When the new world is made, the Son of Man will sit on his great throne. And all of you that followed me will also sit on thrones. You will sit on twelve thrones and you will judge the twelve family groups of Israel. And every person that has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, or farms to follow me will get much more than he left...

 

When the followers heard this, they were very surprised. They asked, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at his followers and said, "This is something that people cannot do themselves. But God can do all things."

—Matthew 19:25-26

Key Thought
In a world where financial blessing is equated with God's blessing, it was hard for the disciples to imagine who could be saved if the "rich" were not saved. Jesus reminds the disciples that salvation is not the work of mere mortals: saving...

 

Then Jesus said to his followers, "I tell you the truth. It will be very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

—Matthew 19:23-24

Key Thought
The radical nature of Jesus' words is found in two attempts through the years to soften them. Some later texts of this passage have "rope" instead of "camel" (they look and sound somewhat similar...

 

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, then go and sell all the things you own. Give the money to the poor people. If you do this, you will have a rich treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me!" But when the man heard this, he was very sad. The man was very rich {and wanted to keep his money}. So he left Jesus.

—Matthew 19:21-22

Key Thought
It's the "because" word that is most important here. Jesus moved past commands to the heart issue for the young man—he had great wealth...

 

Jesus answered, "Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. But if you want to have life forever, obey the commands." The man asked, "Which commands?" Jesus answered, "'You must not murder anyone, you must not do the sin of adultery, you must not steal anything, you must not tell lies about other people, you must honor (respect) your father and mother,' and 'you must love other people the same as you love yourself.' " The young man said, "I have obeyed all these things. What...