Hi, welcome to the
Books of the Book series.
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We are exploring
the gospel of Mathew
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with Dr. Ranko Stefanovic
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of Andrews
University Theological Seminary.
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Its just a joy to
study scripture together
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once again, isn't it, Ranko?
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Yes, Glenn, and we
have known each other
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for significant period of time.
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Even teaching the
Depatment of Religion
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there together before I move
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to the theological seminary.
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And its great
pleasure to be with you
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and with all good people of here
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we, we, we really enjoy,
enjoy taping this series.
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I think it's a
wonderful thing to partner
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together with 3ABN. Yes.
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Bringing
theological perspectives
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and ministry perspectives
and partnership with 3ABN
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and we wanna
encourage you to keep supporting
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this important
outreach ministry of 3ABN.
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This people are
doing here a wonderful job.
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I know how great
sacrifice that they are making
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to have the Bible
proclaim to the world.
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So please keep these
people in your prayers
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and if you are able to
support them financially,
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you would do a great job
in supporting this ministry.
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Now as we go
further in Mathew Chapter 20
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today, we want to be
sure God is guiding us.
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Let us enter
into prayer as we go.
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Lord, before we open your word,
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we realize that our
hearts are not pure.
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Our hearts are
not as they should be,
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so we ask for
forgiveness of sin.
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We ask for your cleansing.
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We ask for your
transforming Holy Spirit power.
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Jesus, we love you. We want
to, to serve you faithfully.
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We want to learn more of you
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and as we're
studying your scriptures,
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may we hear your voice.
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May we be drawn to you
as our Lord and Savior.
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As you move to the
cross in these chapters,
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may we be moved
to follow you there.
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In Jesus name, we pray.
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Amen.
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We've been
following Jesus journey
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through Galilee
now as He's heading
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towards Jerusalem
and He has just dealt
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with the story of
the rich young ruler
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who came and asked
what must I do to be saved
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and the disciples
were a little concerned
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about this issue
and they are wondering
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will there be a reward?
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Will there be a
benefit for following Jesus
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and He tells them a parable.
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Actually it's really the
introduction to chapter 20.
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One more time, let me remind,
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the viewer says
that when we started
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the Bible, lets be careful
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not just to stay
within one chapter
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because Matthew never divided
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His gospel in to chapters.
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Because chapter 20 is connected
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with the previous text
and the text that follows
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chapter 20 builds on that
so, so its very, very important
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to keep that, that
context of the text
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in order to get
the full message.
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So, Glenn, I would
really like to ask you
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if you can read verses 27 to 30.
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All right. Mathew Chapter
18 and we'll start with--
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No, 19-- Excuse me, 19, yes.
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Chapter 19 verse
27 and following.
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"Then Peter said in reply,
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'Lord we have left
everything and followed you.
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What then shall we receive?'
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Jesus said to
them, truly I say to you
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in the new world,
when the son of man
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shall sit on
his glorious throne,
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you who have followed me
will also sit on 12 thrones,
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judging the 12 tribes of Israel
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and everyone who has left houses
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or brothers or
sisters or mother or father
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or children or lands for my sake
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will receive a 100 fold
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and inherit eternal life,
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but many that are first,
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will be last and
the last will be first.
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So, Glenn, what
is now the context?
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You see the rich
young man became sad--
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And turned away.
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And turned away
and Peter looks at him
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and they say,
"Wow, who can be saved
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and Jesus answers in verse 26,
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"With people this is impossible,
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but with God all
things are possible."
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So Peter now became encouraged
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and he said yeah, the Lord.
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You see this
young men did not want
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to leave his procession
in order to follow you
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but we have left
everything and Jesus was--
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And that was an
honest statement.
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An honest
statement but Jesus says,
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yes, whoever leaves
everything in this world
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for the sake of the kingdom
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in the kingdom of
God, he will receive much,
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much more than
he had to sacrifice
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and to leave in this life.
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And I am sure
many of us have asked
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that same question.
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Jesus I've paid a
price for following you.
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What's the
benefit? Will it be worth it
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to follow Jesus that's
their question, isn't it?
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And who knows,
maybe, this rich ruler,
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young ruler want
they maybe he repented,
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came back to
Christ who knows that--
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We don't know, yes.
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But Jesus said
many who were now first,
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will be the last,
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okay? And the last first.
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The rich young
ruler he was first,
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I mean, he obeyed
all the commandments.
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He was the first,
but he would be the last.
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But those who were
last, they were not taken
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seriously by the
Pharisees like the disciples.
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But they will be the first
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and now Jesus in
order to illustrate it,
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now he says the
following parable.
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Glenn, would be good that
we read this parable, okay?
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All right. Mathew
chapter 20 verse 1.
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"For the kingdom of
heaven is like a householder
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who went out
early in the morning
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to hire laborers
for his vineyard."
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And we should say this
is a very common practice.
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Yeah. You'd go out
looking for workers for--
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To the market place there.
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Yes, still in many
parts of the world.
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I was in Cairo last year
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and you see men
waiting for work that day.
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They're sitting on the sidewalk
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waiting for
someone to hire them.
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Especially we go to
near east, it's still common.
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You go to the market
there, people even begging you,
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asking you for a job
that's, that's very normal.
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And after
agreeing with the laborers
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for a denarius for a day,
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he sent them into his vineyard.
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And going out
about the third hour,
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he saw others standing
idle in the marketplace,
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and to them he said,
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'You go into the vineyard
too, and whatever is right,
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I will give you.' So they went.
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Going out again
about the sixth hour
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and the ninth
hour, he did the same.
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And about the eleventh hour,
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he went out and
found others standing,
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and he said to them,
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'Why do you stand
here idle all day?'
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They said to him,
'Because no one has hired us.'
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He said to them, 'Go
into my vineyard also.'
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And when the evening came,
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the owner of the
vineyard said to his steward,
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'Call the laborers
and pay them their wages,
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beginning with the
last, up to the first.'
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Now that should--we
should be alert to that point.
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There's some reason
for the last to the first.
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"And when those hired
about the eleventh hour came,
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each one of them
received the denarius.
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Now when the first came,
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they thought they
would receive more,
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but each of them
also received a denarius.
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And on receiving it,
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they grumbled at
the householder, saying,
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'These last
worked only one hour,
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and you have
made them equal to us
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who have borne
the burden of the day
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and the scorching
heat.' He replied to them,
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'Friend, I am
doing you no wrong,
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did I not agree
with you for a denarius?
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Take what
belongs to you, and go,
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I choose to give to
this last as I give to you.
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Am I not allowed to do
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what I choose with
what belongs to me?
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Or do you
begrudge my generosity?'
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So the last will be first,
and the first will be last."
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We come right back to
that book end statement.
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So verse 16 is actually
a repetition of verse 30
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of the previous chapter
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so telling us that the
parable of the Jesus said
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he has stated it's
related to what is before.
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So let's put it in the context.
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Who are those who were
the first starting working,
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who are those who are
the last? I don't know.
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Maybe this young ruler
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who was so
perfect in keeping the law
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maybe he could be that
who really worked hard.
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He work very, very much.
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What about Peter and
the apostles? Could they be?
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Peter said you see
we have left everything.
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They could counter themselves.
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What about some of the Pharisees
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who were the first
to obey every rule. Yes.
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But the point that
Jesus made it here,
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He says that a man went there
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to the marketplace
looking for laborers.
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When did he go
there? We don't know.
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But the fact that
he said that he went
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for a second time after--
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He was early the
first time he was.
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Yeah. He said in third hour,
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we have to
understand what third hour is
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and with the Jewish people,
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the day started at 6:00
in the morning so 7:00 a.m.
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would be the
first hour, 8:00 a.m.
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would be the second, okay?
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And the third
hour would be 9:00 a.m.
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So he went at
9:00 in the morning.
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Then after that, he went when?
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At the sixth hour
which will be noon.
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Then he went at the ninth
hour, which will be 3:00 p.m.
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and the 11 hour
would be 5:00 p.m.
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Almost quitting time.
They worked only for one hour.
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Ranko, I have, I have
worked in this kind of situation
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where you hope someone hires you
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and you know you're
gonna get paid by the hour.
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You're not gonna get
the same wages. Sure.
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So the question is
he said what is right
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I will give it to you.
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What was right to pay to them?
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We know the time of Jesus.
00:10:00.37\00:10:02.23
If you work one day,
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there was something
very right to be paid
00:10:03.78\00:10:06.53
and what was that one denarius,
00:10:06.54\00:10:08.62
which was daily wage.
00:10:08.63\00:10:10.07
Very generous, very
established standard
00:10:10.08\00:10:13.85
and norm to pay
person for daily work
00:10:13.86\00:10:18.73
so there was no
issue with regard to that.
00:10:18.74\00:10:21.58
But we have a great
surprise here in the story.
00:10:21.59\00:10:25.34
What's going on,
Glenn? It's interesting.
00:10:25.35\00:10:27.29
At the beginning,
He arranges the price.
00:10:27.30\00:10:29.32
Later, he says I'll pay
you what's right. That's right.
00:10:29.35\00:10:31.63
So they have to trust that
he's gonna be fair with them.
00:10:31.64\00:10:34.59
They know they don't
expect to get a full wage.
00:10:34.60\00:10:36.82
But there is no fairness here.
00:10:36.83\00:10:38.92
Well, the fact that he arranges
00:10:38.93\00:10:44.08
how they're gonna get paid
is very intentional, isn't it?
00:10:44.09\00:10:46.88
Yeah. If he had just paid
00:10:46.89\00:10:48.60
the first ones
first and they left,
00:10:48.61\00:10:50.40
they would've
gotten the denarius
00:10:50.41\00:10:51.70
that they had agreed to.
00:10:51.71\00:10:53.01
The contract was fulfilled.
00:10:53.02\00:10:54.53
They would've gone home happy.
00:10:54.54\00:10:56.46
But now, when they are
at the end of the line,
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and they see those
who worked an hour,
00:10:58.28\00:10:59.60
are getting what they expected,
00:10:59.61\00:11:01.29
they know
they're gonna get more.
00:11:01.30\00:11:02.50
So those who
worked for only one hour,
00:11:02.51\00:11:05.65
they got the
denarius. A day's wage.
00:11:05.66\00:11:08.08
So if he, those
who came the first one,
00:11:08.09\00:11:10.53
they expected, boy,
if they got denarius,
00:11:10.54\00:11:14.58
boy, at least 12 times more.
00:11:14.59\00:11:16.57
At least, double in the day
00:11:16.58\00:11:18.87
and they were surprised actually
00:11:18.88\00:11:20.76
when they
received the same amount
00:11:20.77\00:11:23.86
as those who came
in the last moment.
00:11:23.87\00:11:27.04
May I say they weren't just
surprised they were offended?
00:11:27.05\00:11:29.79
Yeah. They were upset
and the way they speak
00:11:29.80\00:11:33.18
to the master is quite
interesting, the householder.
00:11:33.19\00:11:36.19
You know, these last worked
00:11:36.20\00:11:38.01
only one hour you made them
00:11:38.02\00:11:39.17
equal to us who have what?
00:11:39.18\00:11:41.10
Who have borne
the burden of the day
00:11:41.11\00:11:42.86
and the scorching heat.
00:11:42.87\00:11:45.54
They seem to misunderstand
the intentions of the master.
00:11:45.55\00:11:50.45
Why is He doing this,
Ranko? What's His point?
00:11:50.46\00:11:53.02
Why is He overly generous?
00:11:53.03\00:11:55.94
What is the issue here really?
00:11:55.95\00:11:57.75
Its verse 12.
00:11:57.76\00:11:58.77
Verse 11-12.
00:12:01.81\00:12:02.94
When they received one
denarius, were they deserved?
00:12:02.95\00:12:08.30
The master did
not cheat on them. No.
00:12:08.31\00:12:12.66
They really got what
is-- but they said verse 12.
00:12:12.67\00:12:16.98
'These last men have
worked only one hour,
00:12:16.99\00:12:20.69
and you made them equal to us
00:12:20.70\00:12:23.28
who have borne the burden
00:12:23.29\00:12:25.63
and the
scorching heat of the day.'
00:12:25.64\00:12:29.52
We worked, since we worked,
00:12:29.53\00:12:32.47
we have to be
rewarded for what we work.
00:12:32.48\00:12:36.38
What is the answer
that the person gives?
00:12:36.39\00:12:40.09
He said friend, I
am not doing you wrong,
00:12:40.10\00:12:43.82
did you not agree
with me for a denarius?
00:12:43.83\00:12:47.29
Take what is yours, and go,
00:12:47.30\00:12:49.54
But I wish to give to
these last men, the same as you.
00:12:49.55\00:12:52.69
It is not lawful of me to
do what I wish what is my own.
00:12:52.70\00:12:56.91
Now the last statement is,
00:12:56.92\00:12:58.49
Or is your eye
envious because I am generous?
00:12:58.50\00:13:04.52
We have to honestly say
00:13:04.53\00:13:06.52
we would've reacted
as these labors did.
00:13:06.53\00:13:09.41
Come on, you know--
That's our human nature.
00:13:09.42\00:13:13.23
If I do eight times, nine times
00:13:13.24\00:13:16.86
what someone else does
and they get the same pay,
00:13:16.87\00:13:19.94
we would not
consider that justice.
00:13:19.95\00:13:21.99
This is beyond
justice, isn't it?
00:13:22.00\00:13:23.93
Where is it telling us
about the heart of God?
00:13:23.96\00:13:26.56
Glenn, we are
dealing here with the gospel.
00:13:26.57\00:13:30.00
Gospel is not
about how much I worked.
00:13:30.01\00:13:34.95
Is not about
how much I deserved.
00:13:34.96\00:13:37.76
Let's keep something in mind.
00:13:37.77\00:13:40.31
Those people, even
those who worked all day,
00:13:40.32\00:13:42.80
they did not get
what they deserved.
00:13:42.81\00:13:45.80
The fact that they got a job
00:13:45.81\00:13:48.09
was the grace and the
mercy of this person is.
00:13:48.10\00:13:52.93
You see the gospel message
and salvation is not based on
00:13:52.94\00:13:56.80
what we worked, what we deserve.
00:13:56.81\00:14:00.96
It's everything
because of the grace of God.
00:14:00.97\00:14:03.93
Glenn, do we have
here a reminder of the text
00:14:03.94\00:14:07.07
that comes from Paul,
we are saved by grace? Yes.
00:14:07.08\00:14:11.64
It's not according to the works
that we can boast, everything
00:14:11.65\00:14:15.75
is because of the grace of God
00:14:15.76\00:14:17.18
more about that after the break.
00:14:17.19\00:14:18.99
It's not a wage. It's a
gift of the generous God.
00:14:19.00\00:14:22.59
We're gonna come back to explore
00:14:22.60\00:14:23.86
a little bit more
of Mathew Chapter 20.
00:14:23.87\00:14:26.26
Don't miss it. We'll be
right back after our break.
00:14:26.27\00:14:28.59