Today’s topic is service.
What is the best service you've ever had? FastPass at DisneyLand? A
complimentary dessert at your favorite restaurant for your birthday? Your
car vacuumed during an oil change service? What is the best service
you've ever given? A smile and a look in someone's eye when you greeted
them? A personal "thank you" written on the back of a
restaurant check with a smiley face? A lollipop for each of the kids
while mom conducted a transaction at the bank? Remember those days?
Service is not what it used to be, is it? If we follow Jesus' example, we
will give excellent service that never goes out of style.
Aim: Jesus sets the
example for His people to serve generously.
1.The last will be
first and the first will be last (19:30-20:16)
Principle: God is generous.
2.Jesus tells He
will be condemned to death and raised, to sit at His right and left in the
kingdom is not for Him to grant, and whoever wants to be great must be a
servant (20:17-28)
Principle: God came to earth to serve.
3.Jesus heals two
blind men, sends two disciples to bring a donkey and colt, enters Jerusalem,
and goes to Bethany to spend the night(20:29-21:17)
Principle: God came to fulfill prophecy, heal and
receive praise.
Last week we ended where we are going to pick up today.
Read Matthew 19:30.
Counter-cultural teaching that the first doesn’t come first. Jesus is going to rock our thinking again
today with another parable.
Read Matthew 20:1-7.
Jesus is describing how the kingdom of heaven is. The landowner goes out to hire workers for
his vineyard. He offers to pay a
denarius and they head off to work. He
goes back at 9 and hires more workers.
Where were the 9:00 people when he hired the first group? Late sleepers? He returns at noon and at 3 and at 5 and
hires more people each time. Again, I
wonder, where were the noon people at 9?
The 3:00 people at noon? The 5:00
people at 3? I doubt they were standing
there all day, or they would’ve been hired in an earlier group. Right?
Let’s keep going.
Read Matthew 20:8.
Can you feel the plot thickening? Let’s see what’s about to happen here.
Read Matthew 20:9-16.
If you were hired first, would you have expected more than a
denarius? Would you have remembered
that’s what you agreed to work for?
Would you have been disappointed?
Or would you have rejoiced at this landowner’s generosity? Would you have considered the exercise you
got throughout the day as part of the blessing you received? Would you have appreciated the day’s work and
the pay and hoped to work for such a generous landowner again? Do you appreciate your blessings? Or do you tend to look longingly on what
others have? Envy is the art of counting
someone else’s blessings rather than your own.
The workers hired first began grumbling against the
landowner, saying, “These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you
have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat
of the day.” The landowner reminds them
that he offered to pay them a denarius.
He says he wants to pay the last man hired the same as the first, and
doesn’t he have the right to do whatever he wants with his own money. Right?
Absolutely. He calls them out for
being envious of the man’s generosity.
Ouch!
This parable is a story about the kingdom of heaven. The generous landowner is God, who goes
looking for people to save. He begins
with the Jews, through whom all people would be blessed because of the
Messiah. Then He opens the door to the
Gentiles. All receive the same
salvation. Does that make a difference
in how you receive this teaching?
Principle 1: God is generous.
Application 1.
What could you change in your thinking to better align with God’s teaching on
the “first will be last”?
Where could you be more generous? Where are you envying when you should be
rejoicing with someone? Are you trusting
in God’s sovereign plan regarding the salvation of your loved ones? Before we move on, I’d like to share what God
is impressing upon my heart about this part of the passage. Those who were hired first should love on and
welcome those God keeps bringing to work in the vineyard. We should rejoice with every person who joins
us there and come alongside them to help them “learn the ropes” of what it
means to be a Christian. Not everyone
who joins us will have their life “together.”
Frankly, the discipleship process can be messy! We just need to love them as Jesus loves us…as
we want to be loved…and accepted.
Right? Just something to think
about. Whose face just popped into your
mind? Perhaps that’s the person you need
to take to lunch and “show them the ropes”.
Plug them into a discipleship program.
Are you willing and able to mentor?
Or maybe they can sign up for a program like Bible Study Fellowship
(BSF). Let’s continue on.
Read Matthew 20:17-19.
Jesus pulls the 12 core disciples aside and tells them
what is going to happen when they get to Jerusalem. He says the Son of Man will be delivered to
the chief priests and teachers of the law, who will condemn him to death. To carry out that sentence, they are going to
hand Him over to Rome to torture Him and perform the crucifixion. Then He says, “On the third day He will be
raised to life!” I really would’ve liked
for Matthew to add some additional conversation here. Some commentary of his own, even. I don’t know about you, but I find that life
is full of interruptions, isn’t it?
Sometimes those interruptions throw us completely off track. At least they do me. So let’s talk about that interruption.
Read Matthew 20:20-21.
Bold words, Mama Thunder!
The Sons of Thunder got at least part of their boldness from her for
sure! So, the mother of the disciples
John and James approaches Jesus, kneels, and asks for a favor. Jesus acknowledges her and asks what she
wants. She asks that each of her boys
gets to sit on Jesus’ right and left in the kingdom. You can’t see me, but I’m making a gesture
that would indicate my mind is blown! At
the end of the last chapter, Jesus talked about the kingdom and the 12 thrones
the disciples will sit on. Now Mama
Thunder asks that the two closest seats to Jesus be given to her boys! We all want good things for our kids, don’t
we? Many of us will fight hard battles
for our kids to have the very best. I
just watched the movie “King Richard.”
It’s about Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena. This was a bold man who fought to get his
daughters the best they could get to help prepare them and position them to be
the tennis legends they became. Back to
our passage and Jesus’ response.
Read Matthew
20:22-23.
Jesus sobers the conversation by stating they didn’t know
what they were asking. They. Not just her.
Then He asks, “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” Their response was, “We can.” Even though Jesus has told them what is about
to happen in Jerusalem, I don’t know that these boys really know what that cup
is. It’s betrayal. It’s suffering. It’s death.
They just seemed to answer a little too quickly. Jesus affirms that they will drink the
cup. And they did. James is killed by beheading ordered by King Herod
in Acts 12:1-3. His brother John would
outlive all the apostles. He would be
the last apostle standing. He probably
met Paul after his conversion around 35 AD.
He may have watched his brother die around 44 AD. He was in Jerusalem for its destruction (and
the destruction of the temple) by the Romans in 70 AD. At that time, he fled Jerusalem for Ephesus. There he wrote the Gospel of John and the
epistles 1, 2, and 3 John. Somewhere around
95-96 AD, he would be part of the persecution of Christians by the Emperor
Domitian. Part of that persecution was
that he would be boiled in oil and survive according to the writings of an early
Christian historian named Tertullian. After
this, he was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he received and wrote the
Revelation of Jesus Christ. After his
time on Patmos, he returned to Ephesus to live out the rest of his days until
about 100 AD. Yes, they WOULD drink the
cup! They had no idea.
Read Matthew 20:24.
When the rest of the disciples hear about the
conversation they were shocked and angry with John and James. But this was not the time to become
divided. Jesus called them together for
a bit of teaching.
Read Matthew 20:25-28.
At my first few readings of this passage, I thought this
was a very odd thing to place right here.
Sort of a “squirrel” moment. I
love that, as I pray and persist in studying, God will give clearer
understanding. So the first nugget God
dropped was that this is about voluntary submission. The next reading reminded me that these
people were subjects of Rome. Rome would
conquer people groups and they would allow a certain level of freedom as long as
the people submitted to Roman authority.
The threat of violence was always present. Talk about a stressful life! Jesus teaches that such authoritarian
leadership (“lording over”) is wrong. He
is also teaching about humility and love and how we should serve Him and
others. Jesus sets the ultimate example
of how to serve by giving His life as a ransom for many.
Principle 2: God came to earth to serve.
Application 2: Where
is Jesus calling you to serve?
What acts of service have you read about Jesus
performing? What acts of service did He
ask of His disciples? Who do you know
who needs help where you can step in?
What areas of your church needs volunteers? What ministries are missing from your church
that you could volunteer to start up?
Have you asked your pastor what needs doing around the church? Let’s
wrap this up.
Read Matthew
20:29-34.
Here is a quick story about two blind men. They heard Jesus was going by and called out
to Him, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
They know enough about Jesus, who He is and what He’s been doing to
acknowledge Him as “Lord,” and by calling Him “Son of David,” they indicate
that they acknowledge He is the Messiah.
They ask for mercy, knowing He is able to bestow it. And they say “us.” They are a team, out to help each other, not
each man for himself. How beautiful. The crowd rebuked them, but they yelled
louder. When the enemy or people rebuke
you, do you withdraw into yourself, your thoughts, your guilt, shame and self
condemnation? OR DO YOU YELL LOUDER: “LORD, SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY!!!!” I pray that the opposition you experience
always DRIVES you to Jesus!!! Back to
the blind men. Jesus hears them and
stops and asks what they want Him to do.
Isn’t Jesus a great communicator!
He engages people. He doesn’t
just say, ah, you want mercy, poof, there you go! He wants to get to the heart of the
matter! “What do you want me to do for
you?” They wanted their sight. Our compassionate Savior touched their eyes
and immediately they could see. He didn’t
just speak a word. He touched. Who might you serve with a touch today? Of course, they followed Him! Wouldn’t you?
Read Matthew 21:1-5.
As they approached Jerusalem, Jesus sent two disciples to
get a donkey and her colt and bring them to Him so He can ride into Jerusalem
and fulfill the prophecy written in Zechariah 9:9.
Read Matthew
21:6-11.
Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The beginning of the end. Such praises being shouted: “Hosanna,” which
means “save!” Declarations that Jesus is
the Messiah (Son of David)! “Blessed is
He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
The city is stirred by the praise and asks who this is. The crowds say, “This is Jesus, the prophet
from Nazareth in Galilee.” And Jesus
goes to the temple.
Read Matthew
21:12-16.
The King has entered the temple and doesn’t like what He
sees. People buying and selling for
profit, inhibiting true worship of God.
Quenching the spirit of prayer with a vile marketplace! He flips those tables and benches in
righteous indignation. Yet those who
truly sought healing still came to Him.
They weren’t frightened that the Lord broke up the bazaar in the temple
courts. They saw the King’s
righteousness and were inspired to be healed.
Did they know the prophecy of the donkey? Did they see the Lord ride in? Did the disciples think, “Oh, finally! Jesus is about to overthrow Rome!” The chief priests and teachers of the law saw
the wonderful things Jesus did. And they
heard the children praising Him in the temple courts. And their hearts were hard. They were indignant. Shocked and angry. Just like Jesus was at the conduct of the
money changers and dove sellers in the temple courts. Just like the ten disciples were with John
and James for asking for prestigious positions in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus tells them, “Have you never read, ‘From
the lips of children and infants, you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?” Psalm 8:2.
Jesus gave many hints as to who He was!
They didn’t get it. These are the
very people groups, the chief priests and teachers of the law, Jesus said would
be responsible for handing Him over to the Gentiles (Romans) to be mocked,
flogged and crucified. But that is not
the end of the story. On the third day,
He would rise again. What a day! Our passage concludes today with verse 17.
Read Matthew
21:17.
He probably went to visit with Lazarus and Martha and Mary. He got to sit and refresh and have a meal and
a rest before the chaos continued the next day.
Principle 3: God came to fulfill prophecy, heal and
receive praise.
Application 3. What
has Jesus done lately for which you want to praise Him?
Where do you go to refresh yourself? Who do you know who always advises you by
pointing you back to God? Who is God
calling you to spend time with and encourage, even if you may be suffering at
the moment? How and where is God calling
you to serve? Where are you running away
from serving? What will it take for you
to stop running and submit to His will?
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