Understanding the Authority of God and Our Place in His Will

READING FOR THE DAY:
Matthew 20 (click the link)


KEY PASSAGE:
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:25-28, NIV)


THE BIG IDEA:
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16). God’s sense of order and fairness is different than ours. 


REFLECTIONS:
Matthew 20 has four sections:

• The parable of the workers in the vineyards
• Jesus again predicting His death
• James and John’s mother making a request of Jesus
• Two blind men receiving sight

I believe all these sections give us insight into God’s position of authority and His sense of order. 

I love the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. But in my head I switch the story from a harvest of grapes in a vineyard to a harvest of wheat in the fields of Nebraska. I had the pleasure of working during the summers on my uncles’ ranches and in their fields. Harvest was a very exciting and sometimes stressful time. Most or all of a farmer’s profit for a year is secured during about a week. You can’t harvest wheat too early, it isn’t ready. You can’t wait too long because the grain will begin to fall off the head and be lost. Also, on a harvest day you can’t start too early or work too late because the grain will be wet from the dew. The time and the conditions have to be right. When it’s time to harvest, all the equipment must be ready and everyone must contribute. We woke at 4:30am to do the regular farm and ranch chores. Then around 10:30am we got the combine and trucks into the fields. We worked through lunch and supper and into the night as long as the conditions were right. We worked Monday through Saturday, but never, ever on Sunday. 

I believe this parable is about God’s desire to harvest the souls of mankind throughout time. He called Abraham and made covenant with Abraham, but Abraham died before all of what God had promised was fulfilled. After Abraham, there were many called: Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and the list goes on throughout the Old Testament. All pushed forward the agenda of God to harvest the souls of mankind. By the time of Jesus, the culture and history of the Hebrew nation had turned in on itself. They held that they were specially blessed and separated themselves from the rest of the world. God’s plan was to bless them so that they could be a blessing to the world.  

The parable tells a story about an urgent landowner wanting to gather his harvest. Early in the morning, he makes an agreement with workers for a fair day’s pay, but then throughout the day he urgently gathers workers any where he can find them. It was harvest time and he needed to quickly gather his crop. Isn’t this God desire? He urgently seeks workers to work in His vineyard to gather the souls that are ready for harvest.  

But then comes the twist. Everyone gets paid the same wage. How unfair! The early morning workers are upset. But what’s the problem, the landowner made a deal with them and paid in full. This story foretells the out pouring of grace that was just about to happen with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and the explosion of the Gospel to the Gentiles in Acts. God was and is urgently gathering workers to harvest the souls of mankind and the rewards are the same for all the workers: grace. It is a gift of grace to be called to serve God. It is a gift of grace to be used by God. It is a gift of grace to be given the ability to serve God. It is a gift of grace to have the right state of mind to do God’s work. It is a gift of grace to succeed in serving God. Can we see God’s authority and submit to His will and accept the personalized gift of grace that He offers each of us?  

My all time favorite book in the Bible is Jonah. Compare the thoughts contained in Matthew 20:15-16 to Jonah 4. To get the complete picture read all of Jonah. It’s only 4 chapters. Basically, Jonah begrudges God’s forgiveness and mercy to the people of Nineveh. Who is Jonah and who is God? The landowner and God have the authority to pass on blessings as they see fit not as we think would be fair.  

In the next section, Jesus again predicts His death. He had already told the disciples about His death that was coming. He is preparing the disciples and we get to see Jesus’ resolve to follow through with the Father’s plan for mankind. Jesus could see and understand the Father’s authority on His life.  

Then comes the section where James and John’s mother makes a request that her sons be able to sit at Jesus’ right and left in His kingdom. They, John, James, and their mother, really didn’t understand what the Father and Jesus were up to. I love Jesus’ response, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father” (verse 23). Jesus knew they didn’t understand and that they weren’t prepared for what was coming, but He understood His place and the authority of His Father. When the other disciples hear about this request they are upset, but Jesus refocuses them by saying “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (verses 26-28). It’s amazing how selfless Jesus is. He never takes a place of authority He doesn’t possess. He completely understands and communicates His relationship with His Father and His role in the Father’s plan for mankind.  

The last section tells the story of two blind men receiving their sight. They had a need; Jesus had compassion; so Jesus interrupted His journey to Jerusalem to heal them so that they could see. Even in a critical time in Jesus ministry on earth, Jesus stepped out of the moment, embraced this interruption and chose to serve. 

POINT OF ACTION:

God wants you to be the best you He created you to be. He needs you in His fields at harvest. Enjoy the work and the blessings of being used by God. 

PRAYER:

God we surrender to Your will. We accept the blessing of grace you have of each of us. 

WHO AM I?

I am David Norris. I wasn’t going to share another story about Nebraska, but since you asked…This is a picture of the type of a combine my uncles used. Can you believe that they would let me drive the combine? This combine has multiple throttles, multiple hydraulic controlled decks and paddle wheels. Each must be controlled real time while the combine moves through the wheat field. There was only one combine and there were many fields to harvest in a short time. What a risk they took on me. That’s the risk God takes on us. His harvest fields are ripe, He needs workers, and we are called.