SERVANTS OF THE KINGDOM
12-16-2018
The Parable of Vineyard
Laborers
Matthew
20:1-16 NET
Laborers In The Vineyard: "For
the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to
hire workers for his vineyard. (2) And after agreeing with the workers for the
standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard. (3) When it was about nine
o'clock in the morning, he went out again and saw others standing around in the
marketplace without work. (4) He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too,
and I will give you whatever is right.' (5) So they went. When he went out
again about noon and three o'clock that afternoon, he did the same thing. (6)
And about five o'clock that afternoon he went out and found others standing
around, and said to them, 'Why are you standing here all day without work?' (7)
They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go and work
in the vineyard too.' (8) When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to
his manager, 'Call the workers and give the pay starting with the last hired
until the first.' (9) When those hired about five o'clock came, each received a
full day's pay. (10) And when those hired first came, they thought they would
receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. (11) When they
received it, they began to complain against the landowner, (12) saying, 'These
last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the
hardship and burning heat of the day.' (13) And the landowner replied to one of
them, 'Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn't you agree with me to work
for the standard wage? (14) Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this
last man the same as I gave to you. (15) Am I not permitted to do what I want
with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' (16) So the
last will be first, and the first last."
All
of the parables included in the gospels distinguish various aspects of the
Kingdom of God. Note that the gospel of
Matthew employs the phrase, “The Kingdom of Heaven”. It is claimed by some that Matthew wrote his
narrative specifically for the Judeans (Jews) and they expected the kingdom to
come from heaven. This does not give
evidence that people will be raptured away to live in heaven, but rather that
the glorification of heaven will be presented on the earth by God. Luke employs the phrase, “The Kingdom of God”
because Jesus Christ returning from heaven will rule the earth as King and this
(the earth) will be His kingdom.
The
first verse makes it clear this parable is about the Kingdom of Heaven (or
God). The first or beginning workers who
symbolically agreed to be kingdom workers would literally be the apostles and several
others around Judea. The next group would be the crowd who spoke
several different languages as Peter and other apostles preached after
receiving an anointing of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit allowed Peter to speak to speak to the crowd and all
understood him in their native language.
This is the true meaning of “speaking in tongues”. The modern babbling instances border on
heresy. About 3000 believers accepted
the message concerning the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and
were baptized into the faith.
Acts
2:41 NET So those who accepted his message were baptized, and
that day about three thousand people were added.
As the apostles, including Paul, and other believers
spread the word other sincere believers came forward and repeated the actions
of the apostles. This process of
preaching and explaining the gospel message of Jesus Christ has continued down
to the present time. All true believers
(i.e. Kingdom workers) regardless of the length of their service prior to death
will be paid (rewarded) the same. Length
of service is not an issue but the quality of service, as will be explained in
the next parable, is very important.
There are many claiming to be believers of the gospel
message but are all believers actually kingdom workers? Does salvation automatically merit you a
glorified body in the first resurrection?
Unfortunately it does not.
Salvation will allow you to receive little or no punishment at the
second resurrection but it will not necessarily grant you access to the first
resurrection. Only the sincere,
completely forgiving kingdom workers with the mind of Christ (and other things
to be discussed later) will partake of the first resurrection to be appointed preachers,
teachers, and Melchizedek priests under the
leadership of Jesus Christ.
The
Parable of Ten Minas
In the parable of the minas given to slaves (i.e.
servants), verse 19:15 claims that the King (Jesus) had returned to his land
(earth) after receiving the kingdom.
Luke
19:15-21 NET The Parable of the Ten Minas:
When he returned after receiving
the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted
to know how much they had earned by trading. (16) So the first one came before
him and said, 'Sir, your mina has made ten minas more.' (17) And the king said
to him, 'Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small
matter, you will have authority over ten cities.' (18) Then the second one came
and said, 'Sir, your mina has made five minas.' (19) So the king said to him,
'And you are to be over five cities.' (20) Then another slave came and said,
'Sir, here is your mina that I put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth.
(21) For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You withdraw what
you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.'
Mina: An ancient weight or denomination of money,
of varying value. A weight
containing 50 shekels, according to Hebrew usage.
The
King had given each servant a certain amount of minas which is symbolic of the
express authority and ability to transmit the gospel message. Each servant had been given equal amounts of
ten minas. The first subject doubled the
amount of minas. The second subject only
earned five minas. The third reported
subject buried his mina and did not attempt to earn anything.
The
first who doubled his amount was awarded authority over ten cities, the second
was awarded five cities, and the third reported servant had his minas taken
away and given to another. The first and
second will be a part of the first resurrection and the first will receive more
authority than the second one due to his kingdom work ethic.
The
third will have to wait for the second resurrection. Although at that time, he will receive a
glorified body (i.e. abode or mansion in the KJV) with little or no punishment
(i.e. the fire of God) he will not be given any authority.
It
is generally believed by many that all unbelievers are punished in “hell,”
while all believers receive “eternal life.” There appears to envision a type of
divine democracy, where all individuals 00are treated equally, depending only
on whether or not they believe in Jesus Christ.
However, there are two resurrections; and all the elect of the first
resurrection will not receive the same reward or authority.
The Parable of the Talents
Matthew
25:13-40 This parable is similar in content to the parable of the minas. However, this version uses talents as a value
of currency rather than minas.
Talent: If the talent was silver it would be
equivalent to 3,000 shekels, 6,000 denarii,
or 94 3/7 pounds of silver.
This
parable features a man going on a journey rather than a King receiving a
Kingdom which could be a parallel feature or issue. Also each of three servants were given
differing amounts: 5 talents; 2 talents;
and one talent. Each servant was told to
invest their talents and earn even more.
The 5 talents earned 5; the two talents earned two; and the third
servant with one talent buried it in the ground and earned nothing.
Verse
25:14 is the key verse which says, “To one he gave five talents, to another
two, and to another one, each according
to his ability”.
This implies that if a person can manage well at his/her level of
ability he/she can be trusted to manage even more. The first two mentioned servants were both put
in charge “of many things”.
Robertson’s
Word Studies: According to his own ability. Each had all
that he was capable of handling. The use that one makes of his opportunities is
the measure of his capacity for more.
Fire; Hell; Judgment
The
source of the fire in the “lake of fire” which most believe is “hell” is the
throne itself. Thrones symbolize authority and law, or more specifically, the
administration of the law by one in authority. To be seated upon a throne
signified that the king was issuing decrees or judgments in an official
capacity according to the laws of the nation or in this case, the laws of God
in the Kingdom of God.
Man
punishes; God judges. Burning people
alive in hell is not justice, it is punishment. True justice is never fully
accomplished until all the victims of injustice have been recompensed and the
sinner restored to grace. This cannot happen in a human devised prison system,
nor could it happen by torturing sinners forever, nor could it even happen by
annihilating all sinners in fire. All of these alternative methods represent punishment,
not divine justice.
The Elect, Chosen, Saint,
Overcomer
The
Jubilee year was called every fifty years and was a time for forgiveness.
It stood as a reminder of God's providence and mercy. The dedication of a
year for this emphasis provided the community with a time to come back into
right relationship with one another and with God.
The
Jubilee was a season of total forgiveness and the complete evisceration of all
debts: legal, monetary, and
criminal. All land was restored to its
rightful owner; all slaves and indentured servants due to unpaid debt were set
free with no recurring penalties for that particular debt.
A
better word that is easily understood is “forgiver”. An overcomer is essentially a person who
forgives or lives by the principles and standards of the Jubilee as written
above. It is a person who is living or
growing up into the Kingdom of God which is the laws and standards of Jesus
Christ. It is one who is coming into a
state of maturity in Him. An Overcomer is putting on His Father’s mind and is
coming to agree with what God does in the earth and how He accomplishes those
goals. He is learning to say “Amen” to all that God does, bearing witness to
Him in all things, and not disagreeing with Him. An Overcomer is one who is coming
to understand the Father and His ways.
Revelation
3:21 KJV To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me
in my throne, even as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Revelation
3:21 YLT He who is overcoming--I
will give to him to sit with me in my throne, as I also did overcome and did sit down with my
Father in His throne.
The Parable of the Wedding
Feast
Matthew
22:1-14 NET
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: (2) "The kingdom of heaven
can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. (3) He sent
his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would
not come. (4) Again he sent other slaves, saying, ….”Come to the wedding
banquet." (5) But they were indifferent
and went away, …..(6) The rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them,
and killed them. (7) The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put
those murderers to death and set their city on fire. (8) Then he said to his
slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not
worthy. (9) So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the
wedding banquet.' (10) And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered
all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
(11) But when the king came in ….. he saw a man there who was not wearing
wedding clothes. (12) And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here
without wedding clothes?' But he had nothing to say. (13) Then the king said to
his attendants, 'Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!' (14) For many are
called, but few are chosen."
The
Kingdom was first offered to the Judeans (Jews). The kingdom was described as a wedding
banquet (i.e. the true Church will be the metaphoric “bride of Christ”). Jesus and his disciples spread the gospel of
the Kingdom and Jesus taught many lessons and performed many miracles, but the
religious leaders and many of the population did not respond.
The
religious leaders declared war on the believers and proceeded to beat,
imprison, and kill many of them throughout Judea and further north as they
delivered the gospel word.
In
70 AD the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and set the remainder on fire. Most of the Christians in the area, heeded
the words of Jesus found in Matthew 24 and fled the city to a northern
location. The believing group then
traveled to various places. One apostle
went to India, another to Egypt and other apostles and believers spread out
into the Roman world of Turkey, Greece, and other European areas. They garnered many believers throughout the
land and the majority were descendants of the northern ten tribes of Israel who
had been forced to leave the Canaan area and later migrated to European areas.
Verse
14, “For many are called, but few are chosen" refers to the above
discussed “Elect, Chosen, Saint, Overcomer” group and not to everyone who
claims to have made a statement of faith.
One person is indicated who did not receive the first resurrection and
he was to be 'Tied up and thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth!'
The
“weeping and gnashing of teeth” is not literal pain but rather it symbolically
represents regret, dismay, remorse, and anguish which again is not
literal. The dead souls do not think or
express emotion, but the verse serves to imagine their thoughts.
