PARABLE

PARABLE.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29 ”‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. (Matthew 21:28-32)

Have you ever sung the song...

Create in me a clean heart, O God
And renew your Spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God
And renew your Spirit within me.

The sacrifices acceptable to you,
O Lord, are a broken spirit.
A broken heart, a contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

How contrite is your heart? But..... it is only a song, David...... I am worshipping as I sing it......you know what I mean.....

What do you mean?

It is so easy to let the religious words flow off our tongue and then do....... nothing!

So now, we can start to understand this parable of the kingdom.

For we are all guilty, at times if not all the time, of uttering words, that sound right for the situation, but which we do not convert into actions.

Our God is a God of action, not talk. We are not just to preach the word, but to be the living word. "I am not a preacher," I hear you say - with relief! But nor are we to be just hearers, but rather, doers of the word! No-one is excluded! Not me, not you.

Talk is cheap, action priceless!

Jesus goes on to rebuke the religious, through defining the true meaning of 'belief'. Belief here is a verb, a doing word, a word, a state of being, that requires action! Not only of the mind, but also of the emotions, and most importantly, of the will.

Who will be obedient to the Lord?

Jesus tells us. Those who need Him most. The most sinful who repent. For they know where they have been and don't want to go back there! They truly understand the meaning of 'turning their life around'.

Many who are reading this will have been blessed to have been brought up in Christian homes where church is a lifestyle inculcated in you from birth. It is easy to sing the songs and say the words, for they come naturally. We can even make a commitment, say the sinners prayer and live a good life, but not truly know and live for Jesus. Have been there and done that! I am talking from experience!

For me it took a rejection of this 'churchian' lifestyle and a period of 10+ years living in the world, firstly with success, then monumental failure, to bring me to true repentance.

We are all sinners,

We will all perish unless we genuinely repent (turn around and walk away from) our sins.

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-31)

This parable teaches the kingdom truth of forgiveness.

The master, God, through His Son, Jesus, forgave each and every believer our sins, on the cross. 10,000 thousand talents of gold, (many millions of dollars in today's terms) is but a limited physical illustration of the total sacrifice Jesus made on your behalf and mine.

Neither you nor I can live in the presence of God as we are in the natural, for God and sin cannot coexist.

This foundational truth was graphically illustrated when Moses brought the twin tablets of the 10 Commandments, provided by and written upon by God (pure God), down Mount Sinai, only to discover the Israelites had built a golden calf and were worshipping it as a God substitute.

Moses had no choice other than to smash the tablets, as God cannot live in the presence of sin. The only other alternative would have been for all the people to die instead. The smashing of the tablets therefore, was an act of forgiveness on God's part. A self-sacrifice, an Old Testament picture of what would happen with Jesus, in the New.

Forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus. Our forgiveness of others is required in order to receive forgiveness from God!

Did I, did you, read that! Do we put it into practice?

We all too often forget the conditional verse after the Lord's Prayer, which says exactly the same thing.

Forgiveness then, as the parable teaches, is at the centre of the establishment of God's kingdom.

By observation too, it is clear that lack of forgiveness is a huge problem, both in individual believers and in the church as a whole.

Holding on to grudges kills spiritual, and often physical, life! The root of bitterness, of unforgiveness, makes us captive to sin.

For a united church, for God's kingdom to be established upon the earth, total forgiveness of one another for the supposed wrongs we feel have been committed upon us, is an essential and foundational requirement.

How is your 'forgiveness quotient' today? Zero! 100%! Or somewhere inbetween.

What are you going to do about it? What you do regarding forgiveness is solely up to you, not the other party involved. As I have found out for myself, you too will be surprised to find out what a difference forgiveness makes in your life. A huge burden will be lifted off your shoulders.

Try it and find out.

In doing so, you will take one step towards seeing the establishment of God's kingdom upon the earth.

....... with a look at our final parable, The Vine and the Branches.

Repentance and forgiveness - two vital keys in living the godly life.

May we never forget!

IMAGES AND ART: Jerusalem

Mount of Olives

Dominus Flevit Church

Built in 1955 to commemorate the Lord's weeping over Jerusalem, Dominus Flevit features a beautiful view of the city through its distinct chapel window. Excavations during construction of the church uncovered a number of ossuaries (bone boxes) from the time of Jesus with numerous inscriptions.