Month: February 2024

WORK IN THE VINEYARD

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WORK IN THE VINEYARD

Matthew 20: 1-16 NET.

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When it was about nine o’clock in the morning, he went out again and saw others standing around in the marketplace without work. 4 He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. When he went out again about noon and three o’clock that afternoon, he did the same thing. 6 And about five o’clock that afternoon he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day without work?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’ 8 When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give the pay starting with the last hired until the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each received a full day’s pay. 10 And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. 11 When they received it, they began to complain against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’ 13 And the landowner replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage? 14 Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you. 15 Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

We have been following the Gospel chronologically and stopping to analyze the commands of Jesus. Last week we looked at Jesus’ instruction to the rich young man in Mark 10. If I had chosen Matthew’s Gospel, that passage would have been Matthew 19:16-30. So, the following passage in Matthew is today’s text. It contains a parable that is not in any other place – the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Because it is a parable, we will not find a direct command in the passage itself. There is an implied command. Before we get to that, I want to look at today’s passage itself and see what we can learn from it.

Jesus is describing the work of the Kingdom.

Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like what happens to the characters in Jesus’ story of the workers in the vineyard. Matthew’s Gospel is about Jesus as the king of the coming kingdom. Matthew presents Jesus as the son of David and Abraham (1:1). Matthew presents evidence proving that Jesus is the rightful king of the coming kingdom by showing that he descended from David. That evidence is in chapters 1-4 of the Gospel. Matthew also shows that Jesus is the sacrifice God intended to provide atonement. Jesus is the sacrifice provided by God in place of Isaac in Genesis 22. That evidence is in chapters 26-28 – the final three chapters of Matthew’s Gospel. So, the focus of the seven chapters at the beginning and end of the Gospel is on who Jesus is as the coming king.

The other 21 chapters in Matthew’s Gospel are about the coming kingdom itself. Chapters 5-7 are called The Sermon on the Mount. It contains Jesus’ instructions for believers on representing his coming kingdom in this present age. Chapters 8-11 tell us how to spread the kingdom by evangelizing others. Chapters 12-13 encourage us to stay committed to his coming kingdom. Chapters 14-19 teach us how to live by the standards of the coming kingdom.

The focus changes around this point in Matthew’s Gospel once again. The following six chapters are all about when the kingdom will come and set up his kingdom on earth. This section will teach us more about the Second Coming than any other place. That is why Matthew chose to include this parable here. The parable as a story is about a day working in a vineyard. But the story is about working for the King today as we look forward to Him coming from the sky and setting up his kingdom on Earth.

The parable focuses on the workers’ pay at the end of the day. Although the landowner hires different workers at different times during the day, he pays them all the same wage regardless of how long they labored in the vineyard when he went to settle with them. Since the parable is about the kingdom, the work that is done in the parable symbolizes all the work done by kingdom citizens today.

It seems unfair.

Workers were hired to work the vineyard in shifts. Some started early in the morning. Others showed up to be hired at 9 am. Then noon, then 3 pm. Then, finally, a group started at 5 pm.  That meant that they only worked for one hour. When the last group got in line for their day’s pay, they were paid the standard wage. Every worker in the vineyard that day got the standard salary.

The first group – the one starting early in the morning- began complaining about the day’s pay. It was the pay that they had agreed to. But it didn’t seem fair that the pay was the same as that given to the last group – the one that only worked an hour.

The landowner insisted that he was not mistreating anyone. He paid everyone the same price. He was right to treat all his workers the same way and reward them with the standard wage. But it just seems unfair.

Part of the reason we can’t get our heads around this story is that we are accustomed to working for hourly wages. Business owners hire people by the hour and pay them according to a scale they can afford. For unskilled labor, it just makes sense. But it makes less sense if the employer ignores that arrangement and pays everyone the same wage regardless of their work hours.

But our modern problems with how this story unfolds are not that much different from the problems its original hearers and readers had with it. Remember that the story did not tell us how to pay our employees. The point of the story was not about proportional remuneration. It’s about the kingdom of heaven. It’s about what will happen when the kingdom in heaven comes down to earth.

Many things will happen when Jesus returns to Earth to set up his kingdom here. But one of the most important things is that he will gather all his kingdom citizens.  In the Book of Revelation, Jesus says that he is coming soon and has his reward to pay each one according to what he has done (Revelation 22:12).

But even reading those words, we might get the impression that the coming kingdom will be inhabited by some who are rewarded more than others. We know that society today is like that. Some make more money than others. Some can afford bigger houses, newer cars, and better clothes. Life is about status. There is an upper class, a middle class, and a lower class.

In other words, life today is unfair. Our Constitution tells us that all are created equal, but the moment some people are born, their inequalities scream out. Most seem trapped in a life that grants them undeserved blessings or challenges. Some people are exceptional and go from rags to riches. But most do not break the mold.

It is fair because of God’s grace.

The message of the parable of the workers in the vineyard is that when King Jesus returns to set up his kingdom, there will be a hard reset. Everyone who has ever come into the kingdom will receive the standard wage. Each will receive the gift of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23).

No one deserves this gift. It is a gift. That is why it will not matter how many hours you work in the vineyard. We will not be saved because we worked a single hour in the vineyard. Our salvation is based on the fact the landowner sought us out. Whether he found us first thing in the morning or just an hour before quitting time is irrelevant. We are saved because of the shepherd seeking out lost sheep.

Our God is seeking the lost even today. Some of us have been working hard for him for decades, but our time in service will not make us any more saved than those who answer his call on their deathbeds. Our conversion is not a work we perform for him. It is an act of grace by him.

The ground is level at the foot of the cross. That is why the Apostle Paul tells us that our status is all the same – there is “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female — for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Since our status is the same, our reward will be the same.

The kingdom that comes from heaven will not have upper and lower classes. He is preparing a place for us that will not reflect our greatness or lowliness. Jesus told us that we will receive the kingdom like a child. All our status, accomplishments, and things we take pride in are considered nothing because they make no difference to God. Our greatness does not impress God.

The problem that the rich young man had in last week’s message also relates to this story. The Lord told him that there was one thing he lacked. He told him to sell all he had and give it away to poor people. But this seemed so unfair for Jesus to ask him to do that. He had worked hard for his wealth. He had made wise decisions. It seemed unfair for Jesus to penalize him for making sound financial decisions. So, he was sad and left sorrowful because he had much wealth.

But Jesus is the king of his coming kingdom. He has every right to treat all of his citizens the same. He is not obligated to let anyone who does not agree to his terms into his kingdom. It is his kingdom. The king says “Come” to whoever wants to come. “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the thirsty one come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge” (Revelation 22:17).

The Apostle Paul discovered this amazing fact of God’s fair grace. He told the Philippians that if “someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more: I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee. In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things — indeed, I regard them as dung! — that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness — a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness. My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death,

and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:4-11).

Paul was a rich man who made the right choice. He decided to follow Jesus, but he first had to divest himself of all his “greatness.” Nobody gets into the kingdom by deserving it. We all bow to the one who bought us by his blood. We all surrender our ideas of fairness and receive his kingdom as little children. We all surrender our self-reliance and self-sufficiency and become objects of mercy.

For further study:

Buchanan George Wesley. The Gospel of Matthew. Wipf & Stock 2006. pp. 775-779.

Clarke Howard W. The Gospel of Matthew and Its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel. Indiana University Press 2003. pp.164-167.

Davis Daniel J. Parables of Matthew. FaithQuest Brethren Press 1998. pp. 49-57.

Fortna Robert Tomson. The Gospel of Matthew: The Scholars Version Annotated with Introduction and Greek Text. Polebridge Press 2005. pp. 168-169.

France, R.T. The Gospel According to Matthew. Grand Rapids (MI: Eerdmans, 2007. pp. 746-752.

Harrington, Daniel J. Meeting St. Matthew Today: Understanding the Man, His Mission, and His Message. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2010. p. 62.

Vann Jefferson. The Coming King: a new translation and commentary of Matthew’s Gospel. Piney Grove Publications 2023. pp. 197-199.

SELL IT AND COME

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SELL IT AND COME

Mark 10:21-31 NET.

21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”22 But at this statement, the man looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were astonished at these words. But again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They were even more astonished and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, but not for God; all things are possible for God.” 28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, we have left everything to follow you!” 29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 30 who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much — homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

You might have noticed that I preached on part of this passage for Father’s Day in 2021. My message was entitled “The Almost Perfect Son.” I spoke about this rich young man who would have been the pride of any father or pastor. He was almost perfect, but it was not enough. It was not something he lacked that kept this young man out of the kingdom of God. It was his strength: all his possessions. His temporary possessions kept him from God’s promise of permanent blessing.

Today, I’m picking up the passage where I left off and focusing on Jesus’ command to the young man. Jesus told him to go, sell whatever he had, give the money to the poor, and promised that he would have treasure in heaven. Then he said this man to come, follow him.

Jesus promised treasure in heaven (21, 23, 25, 30).

I want to unpack this treasure in heaven that Jesus spoke of. It’s essential to do this because the gospel invitation Jesus gave this rich young man is somewhat unique. As we have been following Jesus in the Gospels, we have noticed that he does not always give the same invitation to people. He told Nicodemus he could be born of the Spirit. He told the woman at the well that she could have some living water and never thirst again. He told the hungry crowds that he was the bread of life – they should come to him and would never go hungry. Jesus always invites people to receive the same promise, but he tailors his invitations to each heart.

He told this rich young man that he could have treasure in heaven. He already had plenty of treasure on earth. He was rich in houses and lands and had many goods loaded on his back. He was a big, fat camel. He was not worried about paying his bills. He knew where his next meal was coming from. If he wanted to marry and raise a family, he certainly had enough loaded on his back to take care of every contingency.

Not only was this young man rich in the things of earth, but he had also been very fortunate to avoid doing the things that spoiled rich men. He had his anger under control – he hadn’t murdered anyone. He didn’t prey on other men’s wives. He gained his wealth, honestly. He didn’t lie, defraud others, or disrespect his parents.

But there was one thing this rich young man did not have. He had treasure in every bank except the Bank of Heaven. He had his life under control but hadn’t invested in the next life. That was the man’s question. He had asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (vs. 17).

What did Jesus mean when he promised this young man that he could have treasure in heaven? He was answering that question. Having eternal life is having treasure in heaven. It is having what it takes to make it to God’s permanent life. This young man was not stupid. He knew that what he had now was not going to be enough to get him the eternal life in the future that he wanted.

Jesus had talked about that future. He called it the kingdom of God. He had challenged his listeners to believe that a future kingdom of God was coming. He called it receiving the kingdom. Our present life is lived in this age, but the future kingdom begins in the age to come (vs. 30). To enlist in that future kingdom, you had to receive it today. If you don’t receive the kingdom today, you will not be able to enter it when it comes to Earth.

Jesus is teaching this rich young man that what he presently has is an obstacle to what he wants. He is a big, fat, fully loaded camel, and he can squint his eyes and see through the needle’s eye, but he cannot pass through it. This man didn’t get the invitation he thought he would get. He thought Jesus would be standing there with a clipboard, ticking off the blocks in the list, and would automatically get to the end of his list and tell the man to come and follow him. But that is not what happened.

Jesus commanded divestment before investment (21-25).

Jesus did invite the young man to come and follow him, but first he would have to do three other things. These three other things were prerequisites. If this young man would not do these three things, he would not be able to come to Jesus and follow him. If he did not come and follow, he would never get his treasure in heaven. That would mean that all he had gained in this life would be lost forever when he died. That’s like having an undefeated season, getting all the way to the Super Bowl, and then losing. Nobody wants that.

So, let’s carefully examine what Jesus commands this young man. First, instead of inviting him to come, Jesus commands him to go. Jesus had told him that he lacked one thing. He probably said, “Okay, if I just lack one thing, I’m sure I can use my resources to buy that one thing, and then I’ll be all set. So, Jesus tells him to go, which is not a significant problem. It’s just a minor setback. He’ll go and get what Jesus wants and then come back and finish the list on the clipboard.

But he needs to go because Jesus commands him to sell whatever he has.  This doesn’t make sense to the young man. He’s sure he must have misunderstood Jesus. After all, the man had spent his life amassing a fortune, and he looked at his portfolio as the key to his subsequent acquisition. He would be worthless if he divested himself of everything he had gained. He would be back at square one. It was hard to imagine being of any use to the kingdom of God if you could not afford a cup of coffee in this kingdom. So, the young man was probably thinking, “I know what Jesus wants here. He wants me to sell what I have to invest the proceeds in his ministry.” That made sense. He could look at it as an investment in the ministry, and it would pay off because his money would be funneled into ministry projects.

But then the other shoe dropped. Jesus commands him to give the money to people experiencing poverty. That didn’t make sense at all. This young man had known about poor people all his life. They were a burden to him and all the other rich men. People with low incomes are a leaking bucket. It doesn’t matter how much they get; they will still be there on the corner of the market the next day with their hands out.

But these were Jesus’ three prerequisites. The rich young man was free to get treasures in heaven, but he had first to divest himself of all his treasures on earth. He could come and follow Jesus, but first, he had to remove everything about himself that he identified with.

The man went away sorrowful because he was very rich. I’ve known a lot of sorrows in my life, but I have little experience with this one. This man had what most people think they want, and he had just learned that all he had was an obstacle to getting eternal life. He went away with regret because he thought that eternal life was impossible.

He was right. He was a big fat camel, loaded with a life of earthly treasures, and as such, he could never get through the needle’s eye. Salvation is impossible for mere humans but not for God.

Jesus promises the same thing to all: salvation by grace (26-31).

The disciples stood there with their mouths open. They had just watched this young man walk away from Jesus. Of all the people they had encountered in their short time with Jesus, he was the one they thought most likely to join them as an apostle. He could have made such a difference. But he walked away. They felt they would probably be next if Jesus rejected this man.

Then Peter realizes that each of the disciples had been given a choice similar to that Jesus gave the rich man. The fishermen were called to follow, but they had to leave their boats first. Matthew had to leave his booth. The disciples were not known for the advantages they brought to Jesus. They had gone and sold their old lives to follow him.

Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything to follow you!” They had divested before they could start investing. That is what living in the current phase of the kingdom is all about. Jesus points out to Peter and the rest that they gain something by that initial divestment. They may be called to leave their family. Jesus will give them another family. Like this rich man, they may have to leave their possessions (their fields). Jesus does not promise them an easy life for doing so. There will be persecutions. But Jesus does promise that now – in this age – everyone who dares to give up anything or anyone for him will find a hundred times more from him.

But that’s not all. By trusting in God’s grace instead of our riches, we will all gain a permanent life in the age to come. It won’t happen when we die. It begins when the new age begins, at the resurrection.

But the rich young man in this chapter reminds us that so many all around us today have been told the gospel good news, but for them, it is terrible news. Some are rich and not willing to divest themselves, so they will never have the opportunity to come and follow Jesus. Some are poor, but even if they have something, they are unwilling to give it away to gain treasures in heaven. As long as the self is put first, those who put themselves first will be last on God’s list.

The gospel is good news, and it is good news because God does not require that you give him anything to get his salvation. That puts us all on the same level. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. All that God required, he provided in the death of his Son.

But there is one thing that God wants from us. He wants us free and clear of all baggage. If we are willing to come to him empty-handed, he will gladly give us all we need for eternity. That’s grace. “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; naked, come to thee for dress;

helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.”[1]

When Jesus calls all of us to accept God’s grace and trust in God’s love, we all face the same challenge that the rich young man did. We all want to offer ourselves to God based on what we have – what we have accomplished – our strengths – our assets. But God does not need any of our assets. Jesus can turn stones into bread; he does not need to raid our refrigerators. There’s nothing we can tell him that he doesn’t know. There’s nothing we can give him that he doesn’t have. There is nothing we could build for him today that will not burn before the new age begins.

That is why the picture Jesus gives of how someone receives the kingdom is, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it” (vss. 14-15). Children are dependents because they are dependent. Mommy and Daddy provide the kids with what they need. That’s how the kingdom works.

If you are reading this today, I want to ask you to consider everything you own. They may be things you possess, talents, or inherited gifts – whatever you own. Now ask yourself, what if you had to give away these things to live eternally? Would anything you now possess be worth missing that opportunity? Don’t go away sorry because of what you have. Sell it and come to Jesus.

For further study:

Fair Ian A et al. Matthew & Mark: Good News for Everyone. Barbour Pub 2008. pp. 84-85, 182.

France R. T. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press 2002. pp. 404-409.

Healy Mary and Peter S Williamson. The Gospel of Mark. Baker Academic 2008. pp. 204-206.

Martin George. The Gospel According to Mark: Meaning and Message. Loyola Press 2005. pp. 261-268.

McBride Alfred. To Love and Be Loved by Jesus: Meditation and Commentary on the Gospel of Mark. Our Sunday Visitor 1992. pp. 94-96.

Ortlund Dane C et al. Mark: A 12-Week Study. Crossway 2013. pp. 52-53.

Sweetland Dennis M. Mark: From Death to Life. New City Press 2000. pp. 124-130.

[1] “Rock of Ages” (verse 3) – Augustus Toplady (1776).

LET THE KIDS COME

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Let The Kids Come

Mark 10:13-16 NET.

13 Now people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, but the disciples scolded those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.

When the Holy Spirit inspired the Gospel authors to tell the story of Jesus, he did not have them list his commands. Each of the commands of our Lord came within a context, and the Gospel authors were careful to fill in the details of their stories so that we could understand what Jesus commanded and why.

In today’s story, Mark tells us that the disciples were doing something that made Jesus angry. When he saw what they were doing, he was indignant. The last thing any employee wants to do is to make the boss indignant. It is better not to be seen at all than to be seen doing something that makes the boss mad.

Today’s lesson tells us something about the importance of Jesus’ command. It is important enough for Jesus to underline, highlight, and put in bold print. Our attitude toward children is something that our Lord cares very much about. It is a priority for him. Let’s take a closer look at today’s passage to understand why.

Jesus loves little children (13-14,16).

People (presumably, their parents) were bringing little children to Jesus for him to touch. It was a tradition for prominent people in Israel to bless little children, just like for grandparents to bless their grandchildren. Jesus sometimes criticized the Jews for unthinkingly following their traditions, but he had no problems with this tradition. He loved little children. They were not a nuisance to him. He would smile at them, and they would smile back at him. He enjoyed spending time with them.

I’m sure by this time, the disciples knew that Jesus would want to spend time with children typically, but they had just heard him predict that he was going to be betrayed and killed in Jerusalem. Mark records that prediction in chapter 9, verse 31. Hearing something like that would naturally make a person sad. So, the disciples were not in the mood for frivolity. When they saw the children lining up to be blessed by their master, they probably thought he didn’t have time to waste on them. He was important and had an important message to share and limited time to do it.

But Jesus always has time for the people he loves. I am so grateful for that fact, and I know you are too. Jesus was not just formally touching the foreheads of these kids. He was taking them in his arms and embracing them. He loved kids, and he still does.

That fact should challenge us as a congregation. We should make time for the kids. We should figure out how we can help their parents raise kids in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We should minister to the children. They are not just the future of the church. They are essential to Jesus now and should be just as important to us now.

One of the reasons that kids are so important is that we adults can learn something from them.

Children can teach us how to receive the kingdom (14-15).

Jesus said that we should let the little children come to him and not try to stop them because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Little kids can show us how to respond to the gospel. It’s not that they are sinless and innocent. We know they are not. But little children know how to depend on others. Unless they have been harmed, they naturally trust others. Children seem to have a supernatural ability to forgive even if they are harmed.

I think it is this ability that little kids have that Jesus draws his disciples’ attention to. He tells them that children instinctively know how to receive the kingdom of God.

When Jesus taught his disciples about receiving the kingdom, he used many illustrations to help them understand how it was done. He talked about different soils and their capacity to receive the seed and produce crops of different levels. He spoke of sacrificing things in this life to receive eternal life at the resurrection. He talked about the simplicity of asking for and seeking the kingdom.

Kids are not ashamed to ask for what they want. I saw a commercial the other day about a man at an ice cream truck who was trying to tell a bunch of kids about a football game. The kids were not interested at all in football. They wanted ice cream. The man kept talking about football, but the kids kept bringing the conversation back to ice cream.

What Jesus was talking to his disciples about here was receiving the kingdom. The kingdom of God is coming to earth in the future, but it can be received today. It is an inheritance promised by God for our future, but it is an inheritance we can put our faith in today. Kids take hold of a promise and get joy in it. They love sitting on the older man’s lap and reviewing their Christmas list. They love reminding us that next month is their birthday.

Jesus drew attention to the fact that children know how to receive the kingdom. We adults have lost this marvelous ability to accept a promise as a present reality. We have matured beyond the capacity for confident expectations. That is why we must return to school and learn from the kids. They know how to receive the kingdom.

We might miss the promise if we don’t learn this valuable lesson from the kids. Jesus said…

Only those with child-like faith will enter the kingdom (15).

Unless we learn to receive the kingdom today, it will not be waiting for us at the resurrection. Unless we live in confident expectation of it now, we will not be able to enter it when Christ returns. Matthew spends an entire chapter in his Gospel telling us that there will be many people when Jesus returns who will learn that they only thought they were true Christians. Five were ready when the Bridegroom came in the parable of the ten virgins, but five were not. In the parable of the Talents, one servant failed to invest what he had been given. His laziness earned the loss of everything he thought he had. One group inherited life in the parable of the sheep and goats, but the other did not.

That is what Jesus is talking about here. If we don’t receive the kingdom today, we will not be able to enter it when it comes tomorrow. There is only one way to receive the kingdom: like a child. When the disciples argued about who was the greatest, Jesus had taken a little child and had him stand among them. That child had been his visual aid. He represented what it is like to receive the kingdom. It’s not about who is the greatest. It doesn’t matter who is the strongest, the smartest, the wealthiest, or even the wisest.

The gospel of God’s grace is available to all of us. God has handled our sin problem by nailing it to a cross with his Son. Nothing stands between us and a future life of eternal joy and blessing. But we have to say yes. We must put our pride and self-importance aside and come to Jesus for his blessing. We can’t work our way into his kingdom. We can’t accomplish our way into his kingdom. We can’t achieve our way into his kingdom.

Jesus says for us all to come to him. We work hard and carry heavy burdens and must learn to accept his grace like little kids do. Jesus says for us to go to him, and he will give us rest. We don’t earn that rest. He offers it freely. All we have to do is go to him.

Jesus’ command for all of us today is to let the kids come. He is not too busy to spend some time with us. He wants to smile at us and to watch us smile back in return. He wants to bless us with his touch. He wants to take us in his arms. “Like a shepherd, he tends his flock; he gathers up the lambs with his arm; he carries them close to his heart.” You have a Savior, and he loves you, and he wants to bless you. He does not have a list of things you must do to win his approval. All he asks is that you come to him and receive him like a child.

For further study:

Barclay William. The Gospel of Mark. Revised ed. Westminster Press 1975. pp. 241-244.

Byrne Brendan. A Costly Freedom: A Theological Reading of Mark’s Gospel. Liturgical Press 2008. pp. 160-161.

Carrington Philip. According to Mark: A Running Commentary on the Oldest Gospel. University Press 1960. pp. 211-213.

France R. T. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press 2002. pp. 395-398.

Gundry Robert H. Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross. Eerdmans 1993. pp. 544-551.

Hughes R. Kent. Mark (Vol. 2): Jesus Servant and Savior. Crossway 1989. pp. 55-60.

Marshall F. The Gospel According to St. Mark (Revised Version). 1st ed. George Gill 1921. pp. 53.

Moloney Francis J. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary. Hendrickson 2002. pp. 196-198.

NO LONGER BOUND

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No Longer Bound

Romans 7:1-6 NET.

1 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. 3 So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. 4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.

The Apostle Paul considered preaching the gospel as the objective of his life – what he had been set apart for. He was eager to proclaim the gospel to everyone everywhere he went. When he sat down to write his epistle to the Romans, he wanted to explain why. That is why no matter what topic Paul gets on, it relates back to the gospel sooner or later. This is the message that Paul says he is not ashamed of. There were lots of things before his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road that Paul was ashamed of, but he was not ashamed of his decision to accept the gospel and live by it from then on.

Paul explains the gospel in the early chapters of the Book of Romans. He outlines the doctrine of justification by faith in the grace of God, made possible by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He explains that there is no other way to be saved other than by faith in the grace of God. Paul himself is the perfect example of the statement made by Peter in Acts 4:12: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.” Once Jesus came to Paul, Paul was only about Jesus and his gospel.

It would be safe to say that Paul was a committed man. That was true of Paul before he became a believer. When Paul was rounding up Christians to have them punished, persecuted, and imprisoned, he was also a committed man. He was busy harming the body of Christ with a sword in one hand and a Bible in the other.

That was why Paul needed to write the Book of Romans. He knew how easy it was for a person to do the devil’s work and be fully persuaded that he was following the Bible. He knew that Rome contained a large community of believers raised on the Old Testament law just like he was. So, in today’s text, he addresses those people.

The audience: those who know the law (1).

In Rome, there were many Gentiles, but there were also lots of Jews. Many proselytes had turned to Judaism before they heard the gospel and pledged their lives to Christ. Paul is addressing those people in today’s text. He is writing to people who know the law of Moses.

Earlier in his letter (chapter v2), Paul had addressed those who boast about knowing the law yet continue to dishonor God by transgressing it. Now, he has returned to talk to these people – those who claim to know God’s law. He knows that they will be tempted to live like he did. He had lived as an enemy of God even while he claimed to be defending God.

For Paul, a change had to happen. It did not matter how much he knew the law; the law itself would not turn him into a servant of God. He thought he was living by the law, but every aspect of his life was breaking the law and the heart of God.

The old bondage: the flesh attempting to obey the law, producing death (5).

Paul says that “when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.” Just carrying around his Bible was not enough. Just knowing what God wants, as revealed in the Scriptures, was not sufficient. Sin had a grip on Paul’s life. It was producing death and using the law to bring death about. It’s like a criminal who steals a surgeon’s scalpel. That scalpel was designed to cut out disease and repair injury. But the thief uses the same scalpel to harm instead of heal.

So, what Paul is saying is that he was in bondage. Just having the Bible and knowing the law – was not enough for him to get out of that bondage. Something had to happen to set him free from that bondage. If it didn’t happen, the knowledge of the law would keep him in bondage.

That is why it is so important for Paul to address these people. They were people like him. They were Bible-toting, Scripture-memorizing, law-abiding sinners as he had been. But unless they experience the gospel, they will never experience the freedom that he now lives in.

Freedom through the cross: release from the law’s lordship (2,3-4,6).

Note that Paul talks about a married woman who is released from the law of marriage when her husband dies. When he dies, she is set free from that law. So, Paul tells these biblically knowledgeable Christians that when Christ died on the cross for them, they died to the law. Paul says that all believers have been released from the law because when Christ died for us, we died to what had controlled us when we were merely followers of the law.

Paul explains this new freedom Christians can walk in with the illustration of the married woman whose husband dies. Before her husband dies, she is bound to him by their covenant. After his death, she is released from the bondage. She is now free from the previous commitment and all its responsibilities.

Now, this is where some people have grossly misinterpreted Paul’s meaning. Paul is not saying that all Christians are released from the law as God’s instruction. He’s saying that because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we can live free from the law as a tool for sinning. We are free to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We are free from the bondage that made us sin, regardless of how much we studied the law.

The freedom Paul talks about here is only half of the equation. Once the death of Christ set us free on the cross, it remained for each believer to put their faith in that atonement and to begin walking in step with that new life. Paul explained that to the Romans by using the illustration of a second marriage.

Remarriage: joined to Christ for productive service (3-6).

This woman who became a widow did not remain a widow. She is joined to another man. She becomes a newlywed again. We, believers, are released from the bondage to the flesh to serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.  Unless we allow the Holy Spirit to take over, we are in danger of going back to living in bondage to the flesh.

The warning Paul gives the Romans here is significant for you and me today. We can walk with the Bible in our hands and still be walking according to the flesh. We can claim to be doing what God wants yet all the while be doing what we want. What we want and what the devil wants is the same thing. The law no longer binds us as the devil interpreted it. We are set free from that bondage.

However, just being set free is not enough. We have to be who the gospel says we are. We now have a new husband. We are the bride of Christ. We now have a new covenant. With it comes a new commitment. Self is not on the throne anymore. Christ is the Lord. We are joined to him.

We serve the same God that we thought we were serving before. But now, his truth is revealed to us clearly by his Holy Spirit inside us. The life we live is not a legalistic interpretation of the letter but a life empowered by the Spirit to know and accomplish our Father’s will. Anyone who has ever lived that life for a second can never be convinced to go back to the old life of bondage and control by the flesh.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus fully atoned for all your sins and set you free from your old life of trying to please God with your works. We are now free to serve in the new life of the Spirit. We are no longer bound!

For further study:

Abendroth, Mike, and S. Lewis Johnson. Discovering Romans: Spiritual Revival for the Soul. 2014. pp. 110-113.

Achtemeier, Paul J. Romans: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2010. pp. 113-118.

Dewey Donald Kent et al. Walk through Romans: Based on the Sermon Outlines of Dr. Howard F. Sugden. Morris Publishing 2010. p. 66.

Erdman Charles R. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans: An Exposition. Westminster Press 1925. pp. 75-77.

Forrester E. J. A Righteousness of God for Unrighteous Men: Being an Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. George H. Doran 1926. pp. 140-145.

Hutchings N. W. Romance of Romans. 1st ed. Anniversary gift ed. Hearthstone Pub 1990. pp. 196-207.

MacGorman J. W. Romans 1 Corinthians. Broadman Press 1980. pp. 60-61.