#1150: What does Jesus communicate about fairness? | Matthew 20 | Isaiah 9:8-10:34 | Psalm 61

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Original airdate: Monday, July 20, 2020

(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see how)

Focus Question:

What does Jesus communicate about fairness?

Intro:

Imagine this: You sell your house. The buyer’s going to pay cash, half now, and half in 30 days. You agree, and the deal is signed. A week later, they come back and want to renegotiate the deal. “Wait a minute,” you think. “Didn’t we have an agreement and even a signed contract?”

Or another scenario. You’ve got this money in the bank, and you hear about a local shelter that helps out families struggling with poverty. You decide to adopt (in a sense) every family in the shelter and give every single family $500 to help them out. Along the way, though, you hear one mom’s story and it touches your heart in a special way. You give her family $1000. The next day, however, you get angry text messages from some of the families you gave $500 to. “It’s not fair!” they complain. “Wait a minute,” you think. “Wasn’t it my money?”

Friends, today’s focus question is a two-for-one deal. We’re going to hear Jesus share a parable, and to be sure, the main point is a theological point. But listen to the illustration Jesus uses as you consider, “What does Jesus’ message communicate about fairness?”

New Testament segment:

Passage: Matthew 20
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 34
Words: ~719

The parable of the vineyard would have resonated with the Jewish audience Jesus was speaking to. Remember how yesterday we talked about the prevalence of vine imagery in Jewish culture and in the Hebrew Scriptures, our OT?

The vineyard owner, of course, represents God. Jesus uses a scenario that would have made a business owner wince. Didn’t we have a contract? I was fair with you. Why are you complaining about the deal I made with someone else? Isn’t it my money to do with what I want?”

The money, of course, represents grace. We are prone to compare ourselves to someone else and complain, “It’s not fair!” The theological point is that none of us are saved by somehow earning merit. Grace is God’s to give freely. We don’t earn anything based on merit. And it also just so happens that the story includes a respecting of private property rights, too.

In our OT segment today, you’ll recall that we’re a section in Isaiah that describes broadly speaking, God’s grace exhibited through judgment — first for Isaiah, then for Judah, and today for Israel.

Old Testament segment:

Passage: Isaiah 9:8-10:34
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 48
Words: ~1309

Wisdom segment:

Passage: Psalm 61
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 12
Words: ~197

The bottom line:

So, what did Jesus communicate about fairness? First and foremost, grace is probably the unfairest thing of all…freely given by God and based nothing on our merit. Along the way he happens to use a story where an individual laborer enters into a contract with the boss…but instead of thinking the boss was fair for signing that deal, he begrudges the deal because the boss struck a different deal with someone else.

How about you and me? Eyes on Jesus, my friends. Be grateful for a grace that’s overwhelmingly amazing.

Love you!

Roger


ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org


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