The greatest week in human history begins...

“Behold, Your King is Coming to You”

(Matthew 21:1-9, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 24, 2008)

Matthew 21:1-9 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Beth-phage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once." ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ⁵ "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" ⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Introduction – What kind of King, what kind of Kingdom?

The events recorded beginning in Chapter 21 through the end of Matthew’s gospel tell in significant detail the story of the most important week in human history. It should not surprise us that this week is unusual both in the events that take place and especially in the momentous impact of these events. The reason we should not be surprised is that the person at the center of the story, while a King, is a most uncommon King, and the kingdom that He brings is very different from every other kingdom that man has ever know.

This one week was an astounding triumph, yet at the very core of these days we have two very unusual events. The first is the death of our King on the cross, and the second is the resurrection of this same Man from the grave on the third day. What makes this all so amazing is that we have never seen a man that seemed so horribly powerless and so supremely powerful at the same time. That mystery of powerful powerlessness is all over the passages that tell us what took place in Jerusalem, as the ministry of the Law, that could only bring death, came to a close, and a new age of resurrection life by the Spirit was born. Over and over again in these chapters we see a Man who is completely in charge of everything that is happening and yet over and over we see that this same Man seems to be the victim of evil forces at work all around Him. The key to the mystery of this powerful King is that He exercised the height of His power in His willingness to be a humble victim for our sakes. Can you respect a king like that?

The Lord (1-3)

Jesus was going to Jerusalem. He knew very well what awaited Him there, and He had told His disciples about this three times. He was willingly heading into trouble. The time had come for this. Luke 9:51 says, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

When they arrive at a village near Jerusalem, Jesus sends two of His disciples on an errand. We will see that He was intending to make a visual statement of His identity by His plan to fulfill the Scriptures in the way that He would arrive into Jerusalem. Securing these animals may not seem like very much to do, but think about the facts here. How did Jesus know that the two disciples would find a donkey and a colt as soon as they entered the village? How did He know how the owner would react to the animals being taken away? How were the disciples even willing to do such a thing? It was a bold thing for the disciples to say “The Lord needs them.” The word “Lord” was God’s title over and over again in the Bible. While that word can simply mean an owner, it would be obvious to the owner of the animals that this Lord was not the owner of the animals. Imagine going up to people, taking their possessions and telling them that the Lord told you to do it since He needed them. How did Jesus know that would work?

Some have suggested that there is no miracle here at all, that Jesus may have had some arrangement with a friend in the village. Even if this were the case, of which we have no indication, this is only the beginning of a bigger drama. How did He know how the people would react to the events that are described in these verses? What if Jesus simply rides in on an animal and no one else does anything. That seems inconceivable, of course, because it appears so obvious that Jesus is confidently in charge of all of these events as One who is well aware of what He is doing, and completely convinced that everyone will play their part according to the divine plan. There is no panic here, just the first confident step in the events that will unfold in these chapters at the end of Matthew’s gospel. Jesus knew with divine certainty and authority, about the cleansing of the temple, about the institution of the Lord’s Supper, about his betrayal, arrest, trial, and death. Jesus knew with divine certainty and authority that He would lay down His life for us, and that He would pick it up again by rising from the dead. Jesus is Lord, and He is in charge of this week.

Your Humble King (4-5)

The Lord came into Jerusalem riding on the colt of a beast of burden. This was very deliberate. It was the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy from Zechariah 9.

Zechariah 9:9-10 ⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ¹⁰ I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

The prophet was speaking of a new day that would come. It would be a day of great rejoicing for God’s people. It would be a day of salvation and of peace, peace not only for Jerusalem, but peace for the nations far and wide, even to the ends of the earth. The way that people would know that the day had come would be through the return of the Davidic king riding on the colt of a donkey.

It is hard for us to understand what it would mean to the people to have a descendant of David reigning again as King. It had been centuries since there was a true King in Jerusalem. The righteous had been longing for His coming. According to Zechariah, He would be a man of peace, not coming into Jerusalem on a war horse, but riding as a king might ride when he came in peace. This king would have a word of peace for the whole world. He is said to be humble. The last kings of Judah were not humble. They were proud and brutal men who defied the word of the Lord, and brought great trouble upon the land. This new King would be different.

Just how humble would the new King be? Though equal with God, He would come as a lowly man. He would be willing to make Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and He would be obedient, even to the point of death. He would die on a cross, and through this death He would secure the promised peace of Zechariah 9. It would be this death of our humble King that would be preached to the nations as a word of peace and salvation for the world.

Hosanna (6-9)

All of this went according to plan. Jesus began this momentous week by riding into Jerusalem as had been prophesied. The crowd would play the part they had for this day. How can that be explained? By God’s power, at least for this day, they were made to see Him as the promised Son of David, and they rejoiced.

The part that our sovereign Lord had for the crowd included some more details, as well as another important passage from the Old Testament, and one very important word from that passage.

First, a few extra details: This was a large crowd. Many of them put their garments in the street before Him. Others cut branches from the tree and spread these on the road. All of this was a show of honor before the King. There were crowds in front of Him and behind Him. Of course Jesus had a reputation based on His miracles and His teaching, but it would appear in the verses following this text that many in the city were unaware of the Lord’s identity. The crowd identifies Him as Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet from Galilee. Can anyone explain how this all happened except by the plan and power of God?

Next, the crowd seems to spontaneously take up a most unexpected passage from the Bible. It is the time of the Passover, so it is not that amazing that Psalm 118 would be on their minds. It was regularly sung in preparation for the Passover. Nonetheless, it is surprising in this setting. I am going to read a larger section of the Psalm that the people were quoting.

Psalm 118:19-29 ¹⁹ Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. ²⁰ This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. ²¹ I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. ²² The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ²³ This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. ²⁴ This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. ²⁵ Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! ²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. ²⁷ The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! ²⁸ You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. ²⁹ Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

The crowd, surely without understanding what they are doing, were quoting from a Psalm that identified Jesus as the stone that the builders rejected which had now become the cornerstone – the beginning of the new kingdom. The way that this would happen was through the sacrifice offered up to God. Jesus would be this sacrifice. How did they come to speak these words?

Finally, the crowd is saying one important word from this psalm, “Hosanna.” This word means “Save us now!” This is what the King has come to do. He would save people far and near by being a sacrifice for sin. Through His death and resurrection He laid the cornerstone for a holy temple, His kingdom, the church. The word of peace that comes to men through His death has gone forth to the nations. Jesus is very powerful in his willingness to submit to a humble powerlessness. With perfect confidence and certainty He gave us an amazing beginning to the most important week in history. Do not miss this week, this word of peace, this kingdom, and especially this King.

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. What do you find to be unusual about the procuring of the animals in the first verses in this chapter?

2. What do we learn about the coming King from Zechariah 9?

3. If we look at Psalm 118 in its entirety, how does it add to our understanding of these events?

4. Why were the crowds shouting “Hosanna,” and how might they have misunderstood how Jesus would save?

Do we know what we are asking for when we ask to be close to Jesus?

“What Do You Want Me to Do For You?”

(Matthew 20:17-34, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 17, 2008)

Matthew 20:17-34 ¹⁷ And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸ "See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death ¹⁹ and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." ²⁰ Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. ²¹ And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." ²² Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." ²³ He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." ²⁴ And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸ even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." ²⁹ And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰ And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" ³¹ The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" ³² And stopping, Jesus called them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" ³³ They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." ³⁴ And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

Introduction – Expectations, surprises, and disappointments

In his famous inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy told the nation, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” It was a call to service that has inspired many. As Christians you not only want to serve your country, but you are also told to “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” You are supposed to “Serve the Lord with gladness,” and to “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” In these and hundreds of other passages you are called to sacrifice your own immediate preferences for the progress of the Lord’s Kingdom.

Yet as Christians, our faith is not in our ability to serve. Our faith is first a simple receiving of God’s amazing service of us. The service that must follow in our lives is important, but it is not the main point for us. The first thing is the love of God toward us, expressed supremely in the cross. It is as if God is saying to us, “Do not first ask what you can do for me, but what I have done for you.” That is a rather shocking truth about what we believe. In our passage this morning Jesus asks this: “What do you want me to do for you?” Since Christianity is first about God serving us, it should not surprise us that the Lord would ask this question. He came to serve.

What if He were asking that question to you this morning… “What do you want me to do for you?” What do you expect the Lord to do for you? Based on what you know about Christ, and what you truly want from Him, what are your expectations from Him this morning, or more broadly considered, what are your expectations from Him for your entire life on earth and in heaven? I cannot help but think that many of the things that we want are not the most important things to want, and that one day beyond all the disappointments of not getting what we want when we want it, we will be delightfully surprised when we experience fully what the Lord has actually done for us. On that day we will see with our own eyes what He has so graciously given to us.

We are going up to Jerusalem. (17-19)

Jesus said to His disciples, “We are going up to Jerusalem.” The Son of Man was going there to suffer and die for you and me. He would be betrayed by one of his friends, and handed over to the religious leaders, the chief priests and the scribes, who were plotting to kill Him. The chief priests were the leading men among a large group of the descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses. They were in charge of the sacrificial system and were called to offer up the sacrifices of the people to God and to pronounce the blessing of God to the people. The scribes were experts in the system of religious laws that was an unfortunate combination of divine commandments and human traditions that informed the people concerning their religious duties.

These men wanted to see Jesus dead, but they did not have the power to safely execute that kind of sentence, so it was necessary for them, after convicting him in their own religious courts, to turn him over to the Roman authorities (the Gentiles) who would beat him, and ultimately put him to death through the punishment of the cross, a Roman penalty reserved for the worst criminals. The point of the cross was public exposure. A crucified criminal was to be seen by all as a warning to others not to follow in this way lest this happen to you. Jesus predicted all these things, but he also predicted that he would rise again from the dead on the third day.

Whatever rising from the dead might have reasonably meant to them, it certainly meant something better than crucifixion. Jesus knew that the way to glory would be through suffering, both for Him and for us.

What do you want? (20-23)

Suffering is not what we want, and it is not what mothers ask for their children. They ask for Kingdom honor and blessing, but Jesus’ Kingdom would require suffering of them. No one seems to understand what they are asking for when they ask to be able to stay close to Jesus. When the mother of James and John knelt before the Lord, He asked her a simple question, the same question I asked you a moment ago: “What do you want?” She knew what she wanted. She wanted the best for her boys. When Jesus came into His Kingdom she did not want Him to forget Her sons. She wanted them to be important officials in the Kingdom, one on his right hand and the other on His left.

The root confusion here is that they do not understand what the Kingdom is like and they do not understand what it means to be the Messianic King. They are operating from their own frame of reference. They have seen people in positions of power and authority. Things seem to go pretty well for such people and for those who are around them. They are the distributors of patronage – good things for their family and friends. This is what everyone expects from big men who have power. They don’t expect that the King will soon be on a cross, though He did warn them this. They don’t understand that the Messiah is called first to suffer for us by atoning for our sins through His death. They don’t understand that they will also suffer when the day comes for them to serve Him. Herod will have one of these two young men put to death with the sword, and that wicked king will be happy when he says that this murder pleased the Jews. The other brother will suffer through a long life of service and will be an old man in exile on a lonely island because of his dedication to the Word of God. This was not what their mother was asking for. She did not understand the Kingdom, and she did not understand the Messiah.

They were indignant. (24-28)

The other disciples were not happy with James and John, and of course they also did not understand the Kingdom or the Messiah. Jesus tells them clearly that this Kingdom is not like the ones they are used to, where rulers use their authority to get what they want and to give it to others as they choose. Theirs is not a pathway of worldly privilege, but of unusual humble service. We are not talking here about the kind of service where people get their pictures in the paper next to a larger-then-life check with smiling faces all around. We are not talking about the service of prestige as you win the title, “Good guy of the year.” Service in God’s kingdom will bring you lower than others. The Word of the Kingdom will go forward at the cost of your lives. People will be hated, and even killed for the message of life that they bring. At the center of that message will be the Lord, who has come to give us life, to pay the ransom payment to His Father in order to free His people from the bondage of sin, guilt, and death.

Lord, let our eyes be opened. (29-34)

The words of Jesus Christ here were clear, but the disciples could not see it yet. As they went out of that area they encountered two blind men that call Jesus by the royal title “Son of David” as well as the word “Lord” that is used for God throughout the Old Testament. People wanted them to stop shouting these things, but they yelled all the more. Then Jesus stopped and asked them that key question: “What do you want me to do for you?” They knew exactly what they wanted. Without a moment’s hesitation they said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”

They had an eager desire. We can have eager desires for all kinds of thing. The poor man Lazarus was said to have an eager desire. He was so hungry that he longed for the food that fell from the rich man’s table. Some people have an eager desire for companionship, for a certain kind of life, for wealth, for pleasure, for prestige, to prove themselves right, for things to go faster, for things to slow down, for a longer life, or for a shorter life. Have I covered just about everybody? If not, the question is there for you. What do you want Jesus to do for you?

I want your eyes to be opened. I want you to see the Lord as the first and most eager desire in your life, so far above your other wants, that you could say that He is your only desire. “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42) “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.… You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, LORD, do I seek." …Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path.” (Psalm 27) Do you see enough yet that your eager desire is for the One who made the blind see?

We want all kinds of things, and the Lord gives us things because of His compassion, but it is most important that we would have Him, and for that to be your eager desire, you need spiritual sight. The Psalmist says, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!” He then instructs us: “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” (Psalm 27) Open your eyes by faith this morning, look at the King and desire Him. Measure His Kingdom rightly, and follow Him, for He has done great things for us.

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. Is there some significance to the fact that Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem as he again warns of His death.

2. What parts of his prophecy do they seem to understand, and what parts do they still not appreciate?

3. The disciples believe that they are able to face suffering for their Lord. What do you make of their statement?

4. Identify the three episodes in this passage. What is the connection between them?

Do you want the Lord to be fair to you?

“My Generosity”

(Matthew 20:1-16, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 10, 2008)

Matthew 20:1-16 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' ⁷ They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' ⁸ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' ¹³ But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last."

Introduction – The last shall be first …

It seems that it is a very difficult thing for us to rest in the idea that salvation belongs to Jesus Christ. It is not our right, and He is free to do with it whatever He desires. He has determined to give it as a gift of His mercy.

What that means is that some folks who seem to have done almost nothing for the Kingdom receive it just the same as those who seem to have given everything for it. Some come to “work” very late in the day and they get the same blessing of eternal life that someone else receives who has been working all day long from before the rising of the sun. They seem to have worked much harder for the Lord but they are right there with others who have nothing more than the simplest faith in Jesus. Does that seem fair to you?

When you come right down to it, does election seem fair to you, where our salvation is more about God’s sovereign eternal choice of you, rather than your choice of Him? Does grace seem fair to you, where our participation in eternal blessings is not so much about our own charitable works, but more about the charity of Christ for us? Does it seem fair that a horrible murderer justly walking to his death in chains because of his crimes might actually be claimed by God at that moment, truly resting in Christ in the very last hour of his life, and that a man like that would actually be given eternity by a just God? Does it seem fair that a faithful woman in a nursing home who has willingly suffered for the Lord all of her life would have to wait in pain for years for the Lord to take her home? She was first in line, but the murderer comes home to glory in a moment, while the faithful saint of 100 years has to wait until it seems that she is somehow last. All of her family and friends may be gone. She may die alone, and it seems like every one else has forgotten her as she spends her last years in discomfort or confusion, perhaps not even able to recognize the name of Jesus Christ anymore. Does it seem fair to you that the last should be first, and the first last?

Laborers for the Master’s vineyard (1-7)

If that all seems wrong to you, then you need to listen carefully to this story that Jesus told His disciples, because this will help you to see why you need to accept election and accept grace, because election and grace are not about “fair.” They are about “generous.” Fair is not the same as generous, and with God, generous is much, much better than fair.

The story that Jesus tells is very clear. There was a man who was the “master of a house.” The Greek word there is a combination of two words, the first simply meaning house, and the second from which we get the English word “despot.” The point I want to make is that the man had absolute control over the house and all of his property. He was the owner and the master over it all, and it was his to do with as he wished.

He went out early in the morning to a place where people congregate who want to work, and he hired a number of workers for the day to work in his vineyard. His terms were very fair. He gave a day’s wages for a day’s work. As it happens he went out three hours later and then again three hours later and again just before the sun went down. Each time he did the same thing, he hired workers. He said to these later workers that he would give them whatever was right. I suppose that they were all expecting some kind of proportional wage. For those who worked for half of the day, they should get half a day’s wages. Something like that would have been fair and would have caused no problem.

Pay them their wages (8-9)

But that is not what the master of the house did at the end of the day. He had his foreman start with the ones who had worked the least, and he paid the men who had only worked one hour a full day’s wage. That was something like twelve times as much as they would have expected. My guess is that everything would have been fine if he continued with that same practice and paid everyone twelve times as much as expected. But he did not do that either. He paid them all the same amount – a day’s wage.

It might help us to think some more about his payment system this way. The ones who worked one hour received one hour’s wage, but then they were given a gift from the master of the house equal to eleven hours wages. The ones who worked three hours received three hours wages, but then they received a gift equal to nine hours wages, and so on. Finally the people who worked all day received twelve hours wages, and no extra gift at all, which is what they agreed to, and what they originally expected, but not what they thought might happen when they saw that these other people had been given unusual gifts. Of course everyone had received the same thing, an amount equivalent to one day’s wage, but since some of them had worked much less than a day, the wage component for them was much smaller, and the gift was much larger. The ones who had worked all day got no extra gift at all, just what they had agreed to in the first place.

They grumbled at the Master (10-12)

Everyone received a day’s wages, but some expected more, and they thought that it was not fair. Therefore, they complained against the master of the house – the lord of the vineyard. They did not judge based on their agreement with the master. They knew that they had no case on that point. They did not complain even based on the actual amount that they had received or on the work that they had to suffer through, although it might seem that this was their root concern. Their real problem was what the other people got. If everyone had received a proportional amount, then there would not have been any complaint.

As it was, there was grumbling. They were judging based on the horizontal rather than the vertical. They would have had to admit that they could not bring any charge against the master of the house. They just did not want to see anyone else do unreasonably well. That was the problem. Would we all be OK without eternal life, as long as we could be sure that not only would we miss out on heaven, but that nobody else would ever end up there either? At least then we would all be equal. Would that be OK with you? At least it would be fair.

Do you begrudge My generosity? (13-16)

The words of the master are very penetrating here in response to the stir that he has caused. He says, “I am doing nothing wrong.” He explains this based on the agreement that he had with the first workers. He agreed for one day’s wage with them, and he gave them one day’s wage. There is no unfairness in that. He says, “I choose!” “I choose to give to the last just the same as I gave to the first.” That is the master’s choice. No one can accuse Him of wrong-doing. He says, “I own my resources.” Is a man not allowed to give away his own money? Then He closes with a great question: “Do you begrudge me my generosity?”

That is the question for you and me. Salvation is the Lord’s. We don’t deserve it. It is not about fair. It’s about generous. Are you against his generosity? The Lord changes hearts where He will. The Lord shows mercy where He will. The Lord gives faith where He will. The Lord saves a thief on the cross in the eleventh hour where He will. It is a gift from beginning to end or it is not the Lord’s salvation.

The fair wage for your life and mine is eternity in hell. There is no option for all of us simply to have no existence for our spirits after this life. Fair is fair. We can all have hell, if that is what you want. But the Lord has determined not to be fair with us. He has determined to be generous with us.

Are you clinging to the hope that the Lord will be fair with you? Are you sure that’s what you want? I need something more that that. I need the Lord to be generous. I need a big gift; my wages would not be good. Jesus took my wages on the cross. It was very unfair, but very kind. He took my sin and received my wages. His wages were the full blessing of eternal life, but that was His to do with as He wished. He chose to give it to me as a gift. That is more than fine with me. How about you?

If it is a gift, then it is all grace. If it is grace it must be at root all about God, and the fruit of God’s decree of election, rather than the fruit of my own spiritual wisdom or obedience. That is a good thing, because my spiritual wisdom and record of obedience would lead a man to eternal damnation. Is it not better to receive the gift of the Lord’s wisdom and His record of obedience? Is it not better to receive the gift of Jesus, rather than to insist that God be fair? Receive the Lord’s gift, and live with Him in heaven forever.

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. Was the owner of the vineyard a fair man? Why or why not?

2. What did the workers find offensive? Can you appreciate their concern?

3. What was the point of the parable?

4. What does Jesus mean when He says that the last will be first and the first will be last?

Don't Walk Away

“There Is Only One Who Is Good”
(Matthew 19:16-30, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 3, 2008)

Matthew 19:16-30 16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" 17 And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." 18 He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 20 The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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." 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 27 Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" 28 Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Introduction – More than a teacher…
The passage before us tells us the story of a prominent man who was paying Jesus a very high compliment. He finds himself strangely rebuffed by the Lord. Something similar is recorded in John’s gospel about an older man named Nicodemus, who also wants to say that Jesus is a great teacher. Of course Jesus is a great teacher, but what do you think… Is that all He is to you? Nicodemus not only called Jesus by the title “Rabbi,” he even said that he knew that Jesus had to be a great teacher from God, because of the miraculous signs that Jesus had been performing. Even this was not enough. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus needed a spiritual blessing from outside of himself to even have the life to see Jesus for who He is – more than a teacher from God. A teacher from God speaks the Word of God faithfully, and we are thankful when we have that benefit, but Jesus was more than a teacher from God. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Men like Paul, Peter, Calvin, Whitefield – they are teachers from God, and even many lesser men and women are teachers from God, but Jesus died for our sins.

What good deed must I do to have eternal life? (16-19)
In Matthew 19:22 we are told that the man questioning Jesus here was young and that he had great possessions. This man does not seem to be sent by the enemies of Jesus in some effort to cause trouble. There is every indication that his question is sincere. “What good must I do to have eternal life?”

This is a very common question among those who think that there is some way to earn our way into heaven. Many suppose that if the weight of their good deeds is more than the weight of their bad deeds, God will let them into heaven. Others, perhaps like this man, don’t seem to have any sense of the weight of their sin at all, and they simply wonder how big the good deed needs to be in order to merit heaven.

The simple answer to this question is that God demands perfect obedience, and He never relaxes that standard. Paul says that the wages of sin is death. Any sin on our account is an insurmountable obstacle. Looking at this positively, heaven is the place where the righteous dwell. We need complete righteousness without any sin. Before Jesus answers His question, He asks this: “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good.” That one who is good is God Himself. He is the only one who is good. The requirement for eternal life is perfect obedience and the only one who can give this is God himself, because God is the only one who is good by God’s standard, which is the only standard that matters for eternal life. God has set a standard for heaven that only God could keep. We needed God to come and keep God’s standard for us, and then to take the awful debt of our sin away. How could that ever happen? Only through the provision of Jesus, God the Son, as our substitute.

Jesus does not state all of this right away of course. What He does say is this: “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” Jesus is not saying anything different here than what we already know. He does not say that we should try our best, or that we should do some great good work that would be enough, or that we should do more good than evil. He simply says that we need to keep the commandments. Perfectly. No sin. Perfect obedience. The young man asks for clarification and Jesus gives some sample commandments from the summary of the commandments in the law, that part of the Ten Commandments that focuses on our duty to love our neighbor as ourselves. This should cause the man to realize that he has not given his all, and neither have any of us. The good follow-up question would then have been this: “Is there any other way?” But that is not what the young man asks.

What do I still lack? (20-22)
Instead he says, “All these have I kept.” This shows an appallingly low view of the Law of God. That is not a great surprise. The Pharisees had been teaching an interpretation of the Law that included many man-made rules that were designed to be keepable. The people who followed that way could be sure that they were keeping the law. That was the idea. “All these I have kept.” The true understanding of God’s Law is what we have in the Sermon on the Mount. The Law is about more than outward obedience. Murder is a matter of hate in our hearts as well as a vicious offense of physical violence. We have not kept the Ten Commandments.

What do you say to a person who is convinced that He has perfectly kept the Law of God? Discover the man’s idol and simply ask him to throw it away as a matter of choosing God above the idol. If you claimed that you have always obeyed the Ten Commandments, and if Jesus was with you knowing the idols of your heart, what would He have to ask you to give up that would send you away sorrowful? The point is not that everyone has to give up all their possessions in order to be a Christian. The point is that the man had not obeyed the Ten Commandments from his heart all his life, and that it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven, because many rich men, and not a few poor men and women incidentally, have an idolatrous attachment to money.

Before we move on to the disciples’ reaction to this incident, I want you to notice something wonderful from Mark’s account of what happened here. Mark says that Jesus, looking at this rich young man, loved him. And if you are a little boy who thinks it just might be that you love the idea of a new mountain bike more than Jesus, or if you are a young woman looking for the right man, and you are thinking that you might love the idea of being happily married more than Jesus, or if you are a parent who worries that maybe you love your child more than you love Jesus, I want you to know something. If you are truly one of His disciples, then He is looking at you right now and He still loves you. The call to loosen your grip on your idols is not the call of one who hates you, but one who loves you, and one who is here to help you. Don’t walk away from Him. He loves you. Let go of your idols.

Who then can be saved? (23-26)
It is not at all easy to get into heaven. Let me reiterate again what I said earlier. God requires perfect obedience, and demands that we have absolutely no sin. Idols in our pockets will certainly exclude us as we stand before Almighty God. A camel cannot go through the little hole in a sewing needle, and people that love money, husbands, children, or anything else in this world more than God are sinning against Him, and they cannot get into heaven. What an outrageous statement I just made. You might be wondering how anyone could ever be saved. That’s exactly what the disciples were wondering too.

Jesus tells them plainly: “With man this is impossible.” He does not say that it is unlikely. He say it is impossible. But then He adds our only hope: “With God all things are possible.” When Jesus tells us that the way to heaven is to keep the commandments, we need to ask this question: “Is there any other way?” There is another way of righteousness that is not by your works, but by God’s works, and you do not get that other way of righteousness by some great achievement of holiness on your part, but by faith in Jesus Christ. There is no one good but God. What if God sent God to be perfectly good for you? What if God sent God to erase the debt of your big sin by paying for it Himself through the death of His Son? This is the only possible way for us. With God. With God it is definitely possible. With man it is impossible.

What then will we have? (27-30)
So what should you do with the idols in your pockets? Well, they are weighing you down. Unfortunately they seem to have some staying power. They seem equipped with some kind of elastic band. You throw them away one day and they are knocking again on the door of your heart the next day. The Christian life is in part an honest recognition of remaining idolatry, and a willingness to say “yes” to following Christ and “no” to idols by the power of the Spirit of God, a power that proceeds from the death and resurrection of Christ for you.

There is a new world that is breaking into your heart even now. In that new world we reign with Christ. By the power of God, give up whatever weighs you down now and you will find yourself abundantly blessed in the new world. Giving up things cannot secure Your way into heaven. Only God can do that. He may turn things around in ways that you don’t expect, but that is His right, because eternal life is His gift to us, not something that we could ever earn.

If you insist on earning your way, remember that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. This Jesus is a great teacher. But He is much more than that. He is God our Savior.

Questions for meditation and discussion:
1. Is the man’s initial question to Jesus a good question? How do you react to Jesus’ answer?
2. Why do you suppose that Jesus lists only commandments regarding our duties to one another?
3. What do you make of the disciples’ reaction to this conversation and Jesus’ teaching on this matter?
4. What is the new world that Jesus speaks of here? In what sense might we say that it is already here?