Mar. 03, 2024

Matthew Lesson 34 Study Questions

1.    . “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?” - Spurgeon applied this to us spiritually: “Why is any one of us remaining _____ towards God? Has nothing yet had power to ________ us to sacred service? Can we dare to say, ‘No man hath hired us?” 

2.    They supposed that they would receive more: The men who worked for the landowner all day saw the men who worked for only an hour come away from the pay table, and they __________, “If the landowner is paying these guys a full day’s pay for one hour’s work, then we will get far ____.”

3.    They complained against the landowner: After being paid, the men hired first took up their __________ with the landowner. They were offended that the landowner gave the men who worked less equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.

Why do people look at someone else’s good fortune as their misfortune?

4.    Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? The landowner reminded them that he had been completely ______ to them. He did them no wrong, and had broken no __________.

5.    I wish to give to this last man the same as to you: The landowner did nothing to ________ why he did it, other than simply to say “I wish.” The reasons for the landowner’s generosity were completely in the landowner himself, and not in the ones who __________.

6.    So the last will be first, and the first last: Peter and the disciples knew they had given up a great deal to follow Jesus. Peter wanted to know what they would get in return. Through this parable Jesus assured Peter and the disciples that they will be _________ – but the principle of many who are first will be last and the last first (Matthew 19:30) meant that God may not reward as man  – even as the _________ illustrated.

7.    Last will be first, and the first last: This is the essence of God’s grace, when He rewards and blesses man according to His will and pleasure, not necessarily according to what men ________. The system of law is easy to figure out: you get what you deserve. The system of grace is foreign to us: God deals with us according to who ___ is, not according to who we are.

8.    The point is that God rewards on the principle of _____, and we should therefore expect surprises. He will never be ____ than fair, but reserves the right to be _____ than fair as pleases Him. God’s grace always operates righteously.

9.    For many are called, but few chosen: This was said in the context of this illustration of ______. Jesus emphasized that both the calling and the choosing of God is based on His ______ – especially His choosing.

10.    The Son of Man will be betrayed: Jesus again told the disciples what awaited Him in Jerusalem, but no ________ from the disciples is noted. A reaction might especially be expected when Jesus said He would be _________.

11.    Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink: Their answer (“We are able”) seems to come a little too ______. Jesus recognized that they didn’t really ___________, but they would.

12.    But to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give: Jesus here showed remarkable __________ to His Father. He would not even claim the right to choose how His servants were ________ but yield that to His Father.