NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, Lifeway publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Explore the Bible curriculum.
Bible Passage: Matthew 20:1-16
Discussion Questions:
— What have you learned personally about God’s grace?
— How does your obedience to God reflect what you believe about Him?
— How can we be instruments of God’s grace, pointing others toward His blessings?
Food for thought:
Everybody wants to be treated fairly. We become resentful when we perceive we have not received equal treatment. “Unfair,” we cry as we demand justice. “He got a bigger piece of cake!” “Her bonus was larger than mine.” We always want what we think we deserve. Yet life often is unfair.
Life never levels the playing field for all those participating. Some are treated better, while others are pushed down. But all suffer the inequalities of life.
This parable by Jesus is like other parables about the rule and reign of God. The kingdom of heaven is the sovereign rule of God over all things. The kingdom has a ruler — God the Father — along with the Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom also has subjects — those who have entered a relationship with God through faith in Jesus.
In the parable the landowner, symbolizing God, arose early to hire some workers for his vineyard. Early morning would be around 6 a.m. He reached an agreement with these men to work all day for a denarius, the common daily wage in first-century Israel. The landowner returned to the marketplace to hire more workers at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. With each of these groups, he promised to pay “whatever is right” (Matthew 20:4). He also hired a final group around 5 p.m. with no mention of how much he would pay them.
The law of Moses specified that day laborers were to be paid daily (Deuteronomy 24:15). Their families would depend on that pay for daily expenses. So the landowner ordered his foremen to pay the men when evening came. Interestingly, the foreman started by paying the men who had come last. While the landowner could pay the workers however he wished, this reversed order helped set the stage for the parable’s larger point. Those who had been in the vineyard all day saw what others were being paid. When the 5 p.m. crew received a full denarius for just an hour’s work, those who had labored longer noticed, assuming they would receive more.
However, the 6 a.m. workers also received a denarius. Offended, they grew angry and began to complain. They failed to recognize that the owner had not given any of the workers what they deserved, but what they needed.
In response to the workers’ complaints, the landowner affirmed that he had done them “no wrong” (Matthew 20:13). He had kept his word by paying them a day’s wage for a day’s work. He had honored their bargain. Still, they were jealous. The landowner also had the right to pay workers any amount he wanted. His generosity toward the other workers did not diminish his integrity toward those hired at 6 a.m.
Jesus taught that participation in the kingdom of heaven is not based on human effort, but on the benevolence of God. All of us stand condemned before God and desperately need His generous grace. Through this parable, Jesus emphasized that God is both just (fair) and generous.
Explore the Bible
Explore the Bible is an ongoing Bible study curriculum that helps groups dig into the key truths of each Bible book, while keeping the group on pace to study through the Bible books in a systematic way. More information can be found at Lifeway.com/ExploreTheBible.
Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by Lifeway can be found at Lifeway.com/SundaySchool .
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