EXPLORE THE TEXT
We can trust God to always do what is right.
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like
a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
2 After agreeing with the workers on one denarius,
he sent them into his vineyard for the day.
3 When he went out about nine in the morning,
he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
4 He said to them,
‘You also go into my vineyard,
and I’ll give you whatever is right.’
So off they went.
5 About noon and about three,
he went out again and did the same thing.
6 Then about five he went and found others standing around
and said to them,
‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’
7 ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.
‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them.”
The Jews had been subject to many kingdoms in their history.
In Jesus’s day, the Romans were in charge.
But God’s kingdom would be nothing like those.
Pack Item 13 (Handout: Interpreting Parables).
Briefly discuss how the principles in the article can be applied to this parable.
a comparison from daily life to express an eternal truth.
Farmers, social customs, shepherds and sheep, fishermen.
Stories that project ethical living, godly values, the kingdom of heaven, etc.
God's kingdom.
God's nature: lost sheep, lost coin, prodigal son.
major theological topics: Relation of old and new covenant, prayer, stewardship, judgment, resurrection.
To understand the parable, you need to understand the setting, and that there is only one major point.
Not to be considered allegorical.
Walk through each of the times the landowner hired a new group of workers.
Share this insight into the landowner’s actions and motives:
The landowner was filled with compassion for these laborers
who desperately needed to work each day.
It wasn’t so much that more workers were required.
Instead, this was a benevolent landowner giving to these workers what they desperately needed. .
He promised to give them whatever is right. (PSG, p. 75)
Affirm that the landowner promised to give each group what was right.
Since the landowner represents God,
we can trust Him to always do what is right in every situation.