Parables 3: Job offer. Don’t miss the appointment!?

Parables 3: Job offer. Don’t miss the appointment!

I’m so happy this morning!

The one – in times of state council elections for us, in the canton of Vaud and presidential elections, in neighboring France – of proclaiming in front of a microphone a slogan that will mark history.

For the good cause, the cause of God through the Bible

Well, I’m not doing it to play, but it’s because it’s in connection with the text that we are going to read in the Bible. The Word of God, that He watched over every word written.

So we too will try to pay attention to it.

We all know a bit of the Bible

And you will see that perhaps, without knowing it, you know powerful phrases from the Bible!

It’s up to us to take it into account

But all this because :

#God tells us that we have an appointment for a job: it is up to us to be there for the interview.#

###What is this job and how to take advantage of it?

I hope I have made your mouth water and that, like me, you will see how important and exciting the Bible is for our lives.

Presidential campaign slogan

• ” Work more to earn more “

Work more to earn more is a slogan of the 2007 French presidential campaign, used by Nicolas Sarkozy. It symbolizes the candidate’s desire to question the 35-hour week and to “liberate” the work of employees in order to increase their purchasing power.

But why am I telling you this?

Let’s read the Bible together.

The text transports us around the work of the vine, perhaps the harvest where the grapes are just right and it’s time to pick them.

I don’t know if you’ve ever had a day of harvesting, but I can tell you that the end of the day is appreciated…

In general, we have more back pain from the 4th day .

Everything is the opposite of my presidential campaign! ” Work more to earn more “.

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text of the day

In a gospel (which recounts the period concerning Jesus), that of Matthew:

Chapter 20 from the beginning of the chapter

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landlord who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

2 He made an agreement with them for a wage of a piece of silver a day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 He went out around nine o’clock in the morning and saw others who were in the square, without work. 4He said to them:

‘Go also to my vineyard and I will give you what is right.’ 5And they went there.

He went out again around noon and around three o’clock in the afternoon and he did the same.

6 He finally went out about five o’clock in the afternoon and found others who were there, [without work].

He tells them:

‘Why do you stand here all day without working?’

7 They answered him:

‘It’s that nobody hired us.’

‘Go also to my vineyard,’ he said to them, ‘[and you will receive what is right].’

8 When evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward,

‘Call the workers and pay them wages,

going from the last to the first.’

9 Those at five o’clock in the afternoon came and each received a piece of silver.

10 When the first came in their turn, they thought they would receive more, but they also each received a piece of silver.

11 When they received it, they murmured against the owner 12 saying:

‘These latest arrivals only worked for an hour and you treated them like us, who endured the fatigue of the day and the heat!’

13 He answered one of them:

‘My friend, I am not doing you wrong.

Did you not agree with me for a salary of a piece of silver? 14 Take what is yours and go.

I want to give to this latest arrival as much as to you.

15 Am I not permitted to do what I want with my possessions? Or do you take a dim view that I’m good?’

16 So the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. [Many are invited but few are chosen.]”

Everything is the opposite of my presidential campaign!

• ” Work more to earn more “

It is even the opposite that Jesus says.

Many of the first will be last, and many of the last will be first. Matthew 19. 30

But why does Jesus take this opposite view?

A parable to remember

Obviously so that we remember it and it is also the aim of

this fictional story,

this parable,

this illustration,

a bit like a press cartoon,

so that we can grasp and retain the spiritual truth it underlines.

Merit is not the central condition but the goodness of this owner to bring them into his vineyard.

But why ?

But why this parable? Read like that, it seems a bit “off the ground”!

Namely, a parable is always linked with a discussion, an event that took place just before.

A parable to compare a biblical truth to the story He tells
And there is a comparison between the fictional story, the parable and the spiritual truth that Jesus wants us to remember.

There is a comparison between the history of workers hired at different hours of the working day, who receive the same salary

and this truth which Jesus points out: Many of the first shall be last, and many last shall be first. Matthew 19. 30

To understand it is quite simple, just look at to whom they were addressed (it helps us to understand the meaning);
always with the same goal, it is important to understand what triggered this parable: why Jesus came to tell this parable and what did he want to explain?
That’s super simple, just look ahead.

We will read the preceding text.

Matthew 19

13 Then people brought little children to him so that he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

14 Jesus said, “Leave the little children alone, do not prevent them from coming to me, for the kingdom of heaven is for such as they are.”

15 He laid his hands on them and walked away.

16 A man approached and said to Jesus:

“[Good] Master, what good must I do to have eternal life?”

17 He answered him:

“Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

“Which?” he said to him.

18 And Jesus answered:

“Thou shalt not commit murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not commit theft; you shall not bear false witness; 19 honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

20 The young man said to him:

“I kept all these commandments [from my youth]. What am I still missing?”

21 Jesus said to him,

“If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

22 When he heard this word, the young man went away sad, for he had great possessions.

23 Jesus said to his disciples:

“I tell you the truth, it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

25 When the disciples heard this, they were amazed and said, “Who can be saved?”

26 Jesus looked at them and said to them,

“For men it is impossible, but for God everything is possible.”

27 Peter then answered and said:

“Behold, we have left everything and followed you. What will happen to us?”

28 Jesus answered them,

“I tell you the truth, when the Son of man, at the renewal of all things, sits on his throne of glory, you who have followed me, you will likewise sit on twelve thrones and you will judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And everyone who leaves their houses or their brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children or lands because of me will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life.

30 Many of the first will be last, and many of the last will be first.

Real link between the 2 paragraphs

Ah, we are sure that there is a link between what is happening here and the parable that we discover next because these 2 paragraphs end with the same idea:

Matthew 19:30 Many of the first will be last, and many of the last will be first.

And

Matthew 20. 16 So the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.

In both paragraphs, we have two well-marked populations:
children

who did not count in the “spiritual affairs” of the “great” and for whom Jesus will have to emphasize the fact of letting them come to him

And finally the “great” ones should imitate their simplicity and wholeness Matthew 19. 13-14

“The greats” (rich young people and disciples)

And on the other side, the one who has the profile of the “ideal son-in-law” who has done everything right from the start (from the first hour) but who is blocked in his approach to God by his adult complexity , its calculations, its attachments. Matthew 19. 16-26

Note that this friendly boy asks

what to do,

what work to produce

to inherit eternal life.

Conversely, children who just want to get close to Jesus.

We have understood it well, it is not a question of age but of attitude of heart.

In the parable, we also have two populations:

those who from the first hour work for a negotiated salary,
those who return to work in the vineyard at the end of the day.
God is good, the master is good
In the exchanges with the rich young man, it is emphasized that only God is good; in the story of the parable, the owner is good.

God alone saves forever and the owner is unique in his remuneration

In the discussion with the rich young man, it is a question of

eternal life,
to be saved,
and that only God can save.
In the parable, the good owner is the only one who can give a salary to the workers, his way of doing things is not in human habits!

Matthew 19 25-26

“Who then can be saved?”

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but with God everything is possible.”

So who are these comparisons for?

Whose ?

So just as much:

religious leaders (the rich young man represents their way of thinking);

to the crowd (children therefore parents, etc.)

to the disciples (in any case Peter is there).

Jesus has a message to convey.

For what ? The trigger.

The need for a tune-up.

The need for a parable for us to understand even better.

It’s this idea of ​​deserving something in relation to eternity.

The rich young man asked what should be done, he who from the first hour had done just right.

Peter points out that in terms of sacrifice, with the other disciples, they gave well so they would deserve something in return…

And the children who are worth nothing (at the time), who have produced nothing are excluded from spiritual affairs (and Jesus is obliged to rectify).

Comparison of characters
And if I understand correctly, Jesus awakens His audience by comparing the young man who, from his youth, did everything just and the disciples who, from the beginning, followed Jesus with the workers of the first hour.

In the same idea, there is a comparison between the workers, who had just returned to the vineyard at the end of the day, and the children who struggled to approach Jesus.

The good and generous owner is compared to God who is good and who is the only one who can save.

Overall comparisons

One would expect those who do the most for God to be welcomed into eternity. In comparison, it would have been logical that those who work the most, from the start of the day, would earn more.

Finally, God looks more at those who approach Him as children, the “last ones”. In comparison, to the same generosity of the good master for those who have worked only one hour.

The truth
What truth could we take away for us?

It doesn’t matter when, how, the background, even the moment to come to God whether it is sooner or later, God can save you and grant you eternity (and this eternity is the same for all).

We have no merit, it is the work of God who is sovereign, good and just.

Two applications

Invitation to enter into the eternity of God.
Invitation to never think that we have a personal merit.
Invitation to enter the eternity of God

This teaching of Jesus invites us all to His salvation, to His eternity.

# ” Better late than never ! »
Whatever our course, our difficulties, our pretexts, our pride, our religion, what matters in the end is to come to God, even if I “burnt my life”.#

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“Come to God, it’s never too late!”

The same eternity awaits you.

The same salvation awaits you.

Just like the others who have already done this.

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Longer route
I don’t know if you noticed but the last ones waiting for a job say to the owner:

‘It’s that nobody hired us.’

The good owner answers:

‘Go also to my vineyard

Matthew 20. 7

We all have people around us whom we would like to see enter God’s eternity.

But, who knows, maybe it takes them longer to see that no one really cares about them and there is no one to actually fulfill them.

Invitation to never give yourself any credit

Entering the eternity of God never works on merit

The opposite of Jesus by this parable obviously underlines that we have no merit to claim to enter the eternity of God, for paradise.

Nothing – religious or conduct – is meritorious!

We are totally lost.

We are totally at fault.

We are out of order by God.

We rightly deserve only his greatest wrath.

The image of the person drowning and reaching out to get out of the water is false to image our perdition, all of humanity is at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (11,521 meters deep), completely lost !

And

“Who then can be saved?”

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but with God everything is possible.”

Matthew 19. 25-26

For the rich young man
Admittedly, it is addressed to the young rich man who had everything “free”.

But also to the disciples who could have entered into the same meritorious mechanism.

As for the disciples
– “Look, Lord, at all the sacrifices we have made for you”.

Look at all the Sunday mornings I get up to go to worship, while the rest of my family sleeps in!

It’s worth something (even when we say it), you owe me something in return.

God is just, let’s never worry, but there’s nothing of merit.

All the credit goes to God who, in His grace, allows us to walk with Him and serve Him.

8 For it is by grace that you are saved, through faith. And it’s not from you, it’s God’s gift. 9 Not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2.8-9

Get to know God better
We learn a lot about God in this passage.

Sovereign

God is sovereign. He does what he wants. And not what we want.

But when we talk about, on a human scale, “doing what he wants”, we think of whims (ours or those of others) or despotism…

sovereign and good

But what this text masterfully shows us is that the total sovereignty of God is linked with the same force with His goodness.

The good master can give 1 denarius to all,

God offers His eternity to whoever desires it.

He has the sovereign possibility and this sovereign possibility is linked, on the same level, with His disconcerting goodness.

sovereign, good and just

The sovereignty and the goodness of God are linked to His justice which has no equal with our conceptions.

Our conception of justice would never have given the same salary to someone who would have worked one hour and to another who would have worked all day.

All of God’s personality traits are intertwined

All of God’s perfect character traits are totally bloodless from sin.

All the traits of God’s personality are intertwined, there is not one that will overwhelm the others.

Our conceptions of creatures affected by sin are light years away from being on the level of His person, from blaming Him for anything.

Am I not allowed to do what I want with my property? Or do you take a dim view that I’m good?’

Matthew 20. 15

May God help us not to focus on one aspect of His person but to try to grasp the whole of it.

The price: that of Christ
This sovereignty, this goodness, this justice leads to welcoming those who want to enter into His eternity, into eternal life.

We could put, as a passage in our Bibles, for today’s text:

Job offer.

Don’t miss the appointment!

It came at a high price.

And we celebrate Easter weekend.

And here again, it’s a counterpoint that deprives us of all merit!

The perfect Son of God, He the divine judge, took our condemnation on the cross, in our place, to save us, because only God can save us.