Jesus' teaching about grace
The last article in this series concluded with some comments about Jesus’ teaching on grace. I noted that we might be surprised then to discover that the Gospels record Jesus only ever using the word “grace” on two occasions, even though it is a foundation teaching of the New Testament! I also noted that John says “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17) and “from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another” (1:16). Luke said “all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words [or words of grace] that came from his lips” (Luke 4:22).
From the two instances where Jesus spoke of grace in His teaching, we saw that He was teaching us something profoundly important about grace. His teachings were about doing good to others when there is no possibility that they can repay us – doing good to others without expecting to be rewarded for it. Showing grace to others in this way is our response to the grace God has shown us. We cannot earn salvation by good works. We cannot do anything for God which would ever repay what He has done for us. Salvation is God’s gift. So we are to be imitators of God by being gracious (or grace-givers)to others – behaving towards them in a way which imitates (on a small scale) the grace of God to us.
I concluded by saying: “No wonder then that so many of Jesus stories are about celebrating: wedding feasts, banquets, and celebrations are a common theme in His stories. God’s free gifts of salvation and of a renewed earth are worth such celebration that even when one sinner repents and sets out on the Kingdom-path as a Kingdom-person that the whole of heaven celebrates! (Luke 15:10).”
In this article I want to look at how Jesus taught about grace, even in stories and sayings where He did not even use the word! We will see from this why the doctrine of grace became so important to the church and why it features so prominently in Paul’s writings.
Gifts and rewards
The parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) tells of an employer who hires some workers early in the day, some later, and some an hour before quitting time, then pays each of them the same amount. When the workers who worked all day complain, the employer's explanation is: “Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' " So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Matt. 20:15-16). God’s standard of reward is totally different from human standards of payment – it is entirely a matter of grace. The labourer who puts in a full day received a denarius, which was a usual day’s wages – this is what they deserved. But those who were sent into the field at the end of the day and worked only one hour received the same wages as those who had worked all day. By human standards a day’s work deserves a day’s pay. But by God’s standards those who worked for one hour also received a day’s pay. Human standards are based on merit and reward. God’s standard is grace.
The well known parable of the Lost Son (Luke15:11-32) has a similar message. A son demands the family fortune and wastes it, then returns home expecting little in the way of good treatment. The father welcomes him handsomely, over the objections of his other son who stayed at home and served dutifully. The older dutiful son got what he deserved. The younger son got what he didn’t deserve. By human standards the older son should have been rewarded for his loyalty and service. But by God’s standards the younger wayward son was accepted because his father loved him. This is grace.
We can see a common thread in these parables of Jesus: the grace of God is something that upsets human ideas about merit, about what is deserved, and what is due as a reward.
In fact, we see in some of Jesus’ sayings and stories that the rewards are out of all proportion to the service which was rendered. Matthew records some examples of this:
- “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29)
- “" Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.” (Matthew 24:47)
- “" His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'” (Matthew 25:21,23)
This is the way it is with God.
- First, even our opportunities for service are a gift from God (Matt 25:14ff);
- then we are rewarded when we have only done our duty;
- finally we are rewarded out of all proportion to what we have done, even when we don’t reserve to be rewarded at all.
Such is God’s grace.
It is impossible to earn God’s favour. The story of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) makes the point that not even religious observances can make us deserving of God’s rewards. In the story the tax collector, in a class of people despised and often associated with “sinners”, is “justified before God” while the Pharisee who prayed, fasted and gave money to God’s temple comes in for criticism. Yet elsewhere we are taught to pray, encouraged to give to the poor, and told that fasting is valuable. This parable focuses our attention on the motivation for religious observances. If we are being “religious” in order to earn merit with God then our efforts are useless. However, if our observances are the grateful responses of someone who has been saved as a result of God’s undeserved favour, then they will not go unrewarded.
“Many are called but few are chosen”
In two places in Matthew’s Gospel we read of Jesus saying “many are called but few are chosen” (Matthew 20:16; 22:14). These words appear to be contrary to the idea of God’s overflowing generosity which we see repeatedly throughout Jesus’ teachings. It appears that Jesus is saying that only a small number of people are actually chosen by God to enjoy His Kingdom and that even many of those who respond to His invitation will be rejected. This is so radically different from the rest of Jesus’ teachings that we need to look at this saying carefully in its context.
In actual fact Jesus is only recorded as saying these words on one occasion. While the King James Version (KJV) also places them at Matthew 20:16, most translations do not include it here. It seems that the KJV is based on a manuscript which incorrectly included the saying here, as the best and most ancient manuscripts omit it.
So we need to look at the one place where Jesus used these words: at the end of the parable about the wedding feast (Matthew 22:14).
This is quite different to another parable about a wedding recorded in Luke 14:16-24 so we shouldn’t confuse the two. A dominant theme in Matthew’s Gospel is the inclusion of the Gentiles in the people of God because of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. This is highlighted in the words “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (Matthew 21:43). It is this message which is being emphasized in this parable.
The parable is in two parts. In the first part (verses 1-10) the people who are invited to the wedding ignore the invitation so the invitation is extended to anyone the king’s servants can find – good or bad – so the wedding hall is filled with guests. The message here is clearly a reference to Israel’s rejection of their Messiah, and therefore His kingdom, and the invitation going to the Gentiles instead.
The second part of the story (vv. 11-14) has a very unexpected twist. The king notices one guest without an appropriate wedding garment, and has him bound and thrown outside. There are two unusual features of this twist.
(1) It seems strange that someone who was invited at very short notice would be criticized for not dressing appropriately; and
(2) the consequences seem overly harsh in the circumstances.
However, this is no ordinary wedding: it is the King’s son! It would have been a great honour to have been invited and it seems that everyone else had time to dress appropriately. So the harsh treatment of the one person who didn’t take the honour seriously may not have been overly harsh after all (although we must remember that Jesus often used exaggeration for emphasis).
The story ends then with the punchline: " For many are invited, but few are chosen” (verse 14). If many people were thrown out of the wedding hall and only a few allowed to remain then this saying would clearly refer to those who remained for the banquet. However, in the story many stay for the banquet and only one is rejected. If this saying referred to the fact that one person was “not chosen” because he wasn’t properly dressed then it would have been more accurate to say “many are invited and most are chosen, but a few will be rejected”. Obviously Jesus has something else in mind.
You may recall from previous articles that a parable usually has one main point, or two at the most. The closing line, the “punch line” (also called the “end-stress”), relates to this main point. In this story the main point is that the people who were originally invited to the wedding banquet rejected this invitation and therefore others were invited in their place. The final line takes us back to this point. Many people make the mistake of interpreting this line to mean “many are called (from the world), but few are chosen (from those who are called)”. This interpretation has no connection to the context.
The “many” who are called, or invited, refers to the second group to be invited. The story makes it clear that a large number were included in this second invitation. “Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” On the other hand the first group appears to be relatively small: “one to his field, another to his business”. So the saying is better interpreted “many are called (from the world) but few are chosen (from the world)” and there is a contrast between being called and being chosen (there is possibly even a play on words in the Greek, where the word “called” or ‘invited” is kletos and the word chosen is eklektos).
The word “chosen” (Greek eklektos) has the meaning of being “picked out”. It is a great honour to be “chosen” or “hand-picked”. In this story the ones who were “hand-picked” to be at the wedding banquet were those who were initially invited. From all the people in his realm the king chose these people to celebrate with him on this special occasion. But they treated this honour with contempt, and so they too were rejected.
The person in the second part of the story had a similar attitude. Although he came to the wedding he did not take the honour seriously of being invited to such a special occasion. He was very casual in his attitude, and in this way was similar to those earlier who casually chose to carry on with their business rather than answer the king’s summons.
We could paraphrase it this way: “It is a great privilege to be invited, and many have been invited; but it is an even greater honour to be hand-picked, and only a few have that honour – so don’t take it lightly.”
This story emphasizes the great honour which is offered to us when God invites us to the celebration in the kingdom of His Son. Israel suffered severely because they rejected that honour, and those who come into the church “casually” without considering what an enormous honour it is will also be treated severely. While we are saved by grace we must never take grace lightly. We have been given a wonderful privilege.
