INTRODUCTION: Imagine a new employee has just been hired into
your
place of work. The very first time you meet this new employee,
he
insults you. Then you hear that this new employee is telling lies
about you behind your back. Finally, every time you walk past
this
new employee, he tries to trip you. How do you feel towards this
new employee? Now imagine that everyone in your office starts
doing the same thing to you as this new employee! Are you thinking
"happy thoughts?" Jesus specifically suggests in today's lesson
that happy thoughts should result, so let's explore this startling
idea!
I. WHY HAPPY?
A. Turn with me to Matthew 5:11-12. Read. List
for me the bad
things that this text says is going to happen
to the saints.
(Insulted, persecuted, lie about you in a
bad way.)
B. What kind of attitude do these verses suggest
we should
have when this happens to us? (Remember
we have discussed
that "blessed" means "happy?" This says we
will have happy
thoughts!)
1. How many times
do these verses tell us we should be
happy about
this? (Three times. Notice the pattern here.
These verses
list three bad things that will happen:
insults, persecution
and lies. Then three times we are
told to be happy
about it: "Blessed," "rejoice," and "be
glad." Note
that "happy thoughts" is an inadequate
description
of the emotion. The "be glad" in the Greek
means "leap
for joy!" You are not just happy, you are
leaping!)
2. How can this
be true? Why should we have happy
thoughts about
this? ("Great is your reward in heaven.")
C. This is a delayed reward for the righteous.
Are delayed
rewards common or popular in our society?
Are they cause for
leaping for joy?
1. Are you currently working on a delayed reward?
2. Or are you
currently paying for some reward that you
already got?
(Our society is called the "instant
gratification"
society. Instead of saving for a car, we
get the car
now and pay later. The whole installment
credit plan
is built on this idea of instant reward,
delayed payment.)
3. Can you remember
a time in your life when you were
working on a
delayed reward? (Law school was a delayed
reward for me.
I did not care for the kind of "insults
and persecution"
from the faculty that is expected in law
school.
I did not care for the hard work. I did care,
however, about
the end result.)
4. A fighter
goes into training before a fight. An actor
practices before
a show. Do you think we should practice
delayed rewards
in our lives (and the lives of our
children) now
in order to be able to have a "leap for
joy" attitude
when the kind of trouble described in
Matthew 5:11-12
rolls around?
a. Or is this an attitude that is beyond the human
experience? Is this an attitude that can only come
from the Holy Spirit?
D. Look again at the nature of our reward in
v.12. Are those
who happily suffer through this simply promised
heaven?
1. Are some of
those who are saved given "greater"
rewards in heaven
than others? (This is something rarely
discussed in
our church. Jesus seems to say that
something beyond
"mere" heaven is given. Heaven is the
believer's destination.
However, the reward of the
believer when
in heaven can vary.)
2. Is this idea
of "classes" in heaven consistent with
the rest of
the Bible? (This is a very interesting topic
that we cannot
spent too much time discussing. There is
great contrast
in the Bible on this subject. If you look
at the first
five books of the Bible, you are hard-
pressed to find
a "hero" who is not rich, famous or
powerful.
Even Moses, who seemed to have to "unlearn"
the attitudes
of a prince of Egypt, was the leader and
judge of God's
people. When you continue on through the
judges and kings,
those who obey God do well. It is only
when you get
to the prophets that you find some who are
not "doing well."
Even then, we have Daniel who is
obviously a
very highly placed, powerful government
administrator
in two different kingdoms. It is only in
the New Testament
where the "heroes" clearly come from
the ranks of
he poor. Not only does Jesus give warnings
about being
rich (to the astonishment of His disciples
who were schooled
in the Old Testament -- see Matthew
19:24-25), but
we have the writings of James, who sounds
quite hostile
towards the wealthy. (James 2:2-7) Because
of our "New
Testament" views and our egalitarian society
we shy away
from this idea of "classes" existing in
heaven.)
E. Looking at Matthew 5:12 again, who is the
pattern for those
who face insults, persecution and lies now?
(The prophets.)
1. Since the
prophets were the "exception" in the Old
Testament to
the rule "obey and do well" (see Deuteronomy
6:3), is that
the reason they have a special reward in
heaven? (I think
that is what Jesus is telling us. That
if your experience
on earth was especially rough because
of your obedience,
you will have a special reward in
heaven.)
II. PERSECUTION A SIGN OF FAITHFULNESS?
A. Remember last week we were beating ourselves
up a bit with
the idea that if we were not suffering persecution,
it might
well be because we were not very faithful?
Remember me
talking about walking around in "enemy lines?"
You told me
that if we could do that, maybe it meant we
were no threat to
the enemy!
1. Why does Jesus
say in v.12 "in the same way they
persecuted the
prophets who were before you?" Why doesn't
He say, "in
the same way they persecuted all the faithful
who were before
you?" Is it possible that only a certain
class of Christian
can expect this more serious
persecution?
2. What is a
prophet? (Unger's Bible Dictionary says,
"one who speaks
for God.")
a. Does this suggest that only those who speak for
God will be persecuted?
b. Or does this simply mean that when we are
persecuted we should know that Godly people forged
this trail before us? (We should all speak God's
words to those in need of hearing them. However, I
am troubled by the fact that it only mentions "the
prophets." Let's look at a parable to see if we
can better understand this.)
III. THE VINEYARD PARABLE
A. Turn with me to Matthew 21:33-35. Read.
Let's break this
down so we can understand it.
1. Who is the
landowner? (God. He owns everything. Psalms
50:12.)
2. Who is the vineyard? (Us. The church. See John 15:5)
3. What does
it mean when the text (v.33) says the
landowner "put
a wall around" the vineyard? (We have been
speaking about
persecution. This says that God protects
us.)
4. Why does the
landowner "dig a winepress?" What does
this have to
do with us? (As the vines, we have a real
interest in
the winepress! The winepress helps to
transform the
fruit of the vines.)
a. What does the "wine" from the winepress
represent? (It would be our good deeds! Our
allegiance to God. See John 15:4 again.)
5. What is the
purpose of the "watchtower?" (Once again,
this shows that
God is watching over his vineyard: us!
He is protecting
us.)
6. What does
it mean when it says the landowner "rented
the vineyard?"
a. Can the church be rented?
b. Can you be rented? (A renter is temporarily in
charge, to some degree, of the property. People can
be "in charge" of a church or another person.)
c. What were these renters supposed to do? (The text
(v.33) says the renters were "some farmers."
Farmers would be people who theoretically knew how
to tend to the vineyard. If the vineyard is us,
then the "renters" would be those who claimed to be
"in charge" of us.)
(1) Would these farmers be spiritual leaders?
Or could they be just anyone who thought they
knew how to raise vines? (You would think that
the landowner would only rent to those who
correctly understood how to tend the vineyard.
This would seem to describe spiritual leaders
who have the right spirit. As verse 35
indicates, however, something becomes
seriously wrong with the "farmers.")
d. What is the obligation of the farmers? (To get
fruit from the vines.)
(1) Which means what? (As before, tending the
vineyard so that it produces good works and
allegiance to God.)
7. If the renters
did not want to "pay the rent," what
were they doing
with the rent?
a. Or is it more likely that they turned out to be
lousy farmers and they just did not produce any
"fruit?"
8. Why would
the renters beat and kill those the
landowner sent
to collect the rent? Does this mean the
renters no longer
had allegiance to the landowner? (Yes.)
a. To whom did they have allegiance? (Themselves.)
B. Let's read on. Read vv. 36-41. Who are the
servants? (This
sounds like the prophets referred to in Matthew
5:12. These
are clearly God's representatives. Those who
are sent from
God.)
1. As you look at this, tell me:
a. Who causes the persecution? (The farmer/renters.)
b. Why do they persecute? (In v.38 we get the first
real insight into their motives. They want the
vineyard. This clears up our previous discussion
about motives. It is not that they are lousy
farmers (although they could be), the problem
arises from the fact that they want the "fruit" and
the vineyard for themselves. They are selfish.)
(1) How could a man keep the "fruit" that would
otherwise go to God? (Allegiance. Self-glory.)
c. Do the renters/farmers persecute everyone?
d. Who is "the son" in vv.37-39? (Jesus)
e. Is it possible to just be a "branch" in the
vineyard and avoid all the nastiness?
C. Our lesson suggests that Matthew 5:11-12,
because of the
"verb forms" used, was spoken only to
the disciples.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's commentary also
suggests that
Jesus has narrowed His discussion to the disciples
at this
point. Does that square with this parable?
(This looks like a
conflict between "leaders" who are in a fight
over who is
rightfully entitled to the fruit of the vineyard:
God or
man.)
1. What obligation
does this place on religious leaders?
Must they most
closely examine their actions and
allegiance?
(Yes!)
2. Does this
also mean that if we are the vineyard, that
we might not
feel the brunt of the persecution? (This
parable suggests
the class of those who are seriously
persecuted may
be smaller than the class of all
Christians.
However, since the Beatitudes reflect a
growth in our
character, we all have the possibility (and
opportunity)
of entering the "leader" stage where we are
more completely
at the center of the conflict.)
3. If such persecution
not only reflects your allegiance
to God, but
also your "leadership" status (and greater
reward), does
that more clearly reveal a reason to be
happy when you
are suffering? (Yes!)
IV. NEXT WEEK: "YOU ARE THE SALT." Study Matthew 5:13!