THE CRUX OF THE CROSS

Jesus told a story of a landowner who hired labourers to work in his vineyard at different intervals during the day. At knock-off time, he paid them all the same amount, starting with the ones he hired last.

The ones who were hired at the beginning of the day expected to be paid more than the prearranged amount. Imagine their disappointment when their unfounded expectation was not met. They turned on their employer, accusing him of being unfair.

Why did Jesus tell this story? He always told parables for the benefit of someone in the audience. This time, it was His disciples. He was intent on revealing the true nature of the Father whenever He could.

The punchline of the story lay in the landowner’s response to the accusation of being unfair. The word for “jealous” or “envious”, the Greek word, “poneros” in the text, has the idea of the outcome of a bad action. The real meaning of “poneros”, which is usually interpreted as “envious” or “jealous” in most translations, should read, “Has my generosity to others ever caused you any harm?”

The labourers’ interpretation of the landowner’s generosity highlighted their character, rather than the landowner’s. They felt cheated, so they cast a slur in his integrity, forgetting that the landowner had done nothing wrong according to their agreement.

Two observations emerge from this story.

Firstly, God the Father is not fair, but He is far more generous that we will ever imagine. If He were to treat us fairly, none of us would survive.

Secondly, we judge the Father by our imagined loss, not by His infinite goodness. When we don’t get what we want, we judge Him to be less than who He is.

Let’s be honest. Has God’s generosity to others ever harmed us? Since we are constantly comparing ourselves with others, we judge Him unfair when someone else gets more or better than we desire. The real “harm” is the exposure of our own sinful hearts.

Why do we find it so difficult to trust God’s love in every up and down of life? Has His generosity to everyone, demonstrated in the priceless gift of His only Son, ever harmed us in any way?

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

1 John 4:9-10 NLT

“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

Romans 8:32 NLT

Adam’s stubborn, rebellious, sinful nature is in all of us from birth. Our new birth by God’s Spirit has not eradicated our old nature. Yes, we are now all “partakers of the divine nature” because the Holy Spirit has transformed us and indwells us but, until we are released from our old nature in the life to come, there is a war going on inside of us between flesh and spirit.

It’s that old “me” that prompts me to judge God, not myself, when I am suspicious of His dealings with me. How can I overcome this flaw in me to doubt Him when His generosity, so evident in Jesus, has never harmed me?

What is the antidote to this pernicious tendency to doubt God and the judge Him unfair when we compare ourselves with others’ blessings or when we covet what others have, especially spiritual gifts?

The answer is simple but not always easy. It is a choice that eventually leads to a lifestyle.

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.”

Hebrews 13:15 NLT

A vibrant faith in God is the antidote to mistrust, and gratitude and praise are the language of faith.

Continually giving thanks in all circumstances will grow into a robust, joyous spirit that can meet all circumstances with a warcry of victory, like the Israelites of old.

“After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: “Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!” At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.”

2 Chronicles 20:21-22 NLT

A thankful heart leads to contentment which Paul said is of great value. When we are grateful and contented with our lot in life, we are willing to trust God in every circumstance because He is always working for our good.

I think that there is something else hidden in this story. The context includes one of Jesus’ many attempts to alert and prepare His disciples for His impending death.

Every murder has a motive even when it’s a spur-of-the-moment crime of anger, passion, or revenge. Was Jesus using the story of the generous landowner to awaken His disciples to the ugly truth of what was going on behind the scenes of the religious hierarchy?

The “Jews”, as John called them, since they were the representatives of Judaism and the Jewish nation, had taken their stand against Jesus and His representation of the Father as outrageously generous. They hated Jesus for His acceptance of “sinners” by treating them with dignity and kindness. It was His goodness that riled them because the God He represented loves bad people.

Even Pilate recognised this fact. Matthew commented on Pilate’s perception of the religious leaders’ motive for murder.

“So, when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” For he knew it was out of self-interest (Greek word  “pthonos” meaning envy) that they had handed Jesus over to him.”

Matthew 27:17-18 NIV

Envy differs from jealousy in that jealousy focuses on the object of the jealousy while envy focuses on the attitude of the one who envies, usually the desire to get rid of that person because he/she is the object of hatred for who they are.

So, the underlying meaning of Jesus’ story was that the religious leaders planned to kill Jesus because they believed that His generosity to others harmed them.