“Have You Accepted The Offer You Shouldn’t Refuse?”
Strange Tales—Part 11
Matthew 20:1-16
July 21, 2013
1. AN INTENTIONAL PURPOSE.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out
early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.” v 1
2. AN IRRESISTIBLE PROPOSAL.
“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in
the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and
work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’” v 3-4
3. AN INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL RESPONSE.
“So they went…” v 5a
4. AN IRREVOCABLE PROMISE.
“He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into
his vineyard.” v 2
5. AN INEVITABLE PROTEST.
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and
each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired
first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also
received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble
against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only
one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who
have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’”v 9-12
6. AN INCREDIBLE PICTURE.
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you,
friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay
and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I
gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own
money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ‘So the last
will be first, and the first will be last.’” v 13-16