Our Guide Published by the Protestant Reformed Sunday School Association Writer: Don Doezema Artist: Connie Meyer Designers: Judi Doezema & Brenda Brands for little ones IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL Matthew 19:16-26 The Rich Young Ruler Most rulers of the Jews hated Jesus. And if they went to Jesus at all, it was only to try to find fault with Him. In our story for today we meet a ruler who was different. He came to Jesus for help. Jesus was outside, in the open, on the road, when this ruler, a rich young man, came running up behind Him and then kneeled before Him. Imagine! A ruler does this in broad daylight! What will the other rulers think of that, when they hear about it? But this young man didn t care what they thought. He had a serious problem, and he thought that Jesus, this great Teacher who seemed Himself to have found peace with God, might be able to help him too. That s what this man wanted. He Lesson 33 wanted peace in his heart here, and eternal life hereafter. He had learned well from the Pharisees how one is supposed to be able to get that peace just obey the laws of God. So he obeyed the laws of God. And what did he find? Not peace. Maybe, he thought, maybe the Pharisees can be happy with that, but I m not. There must be something else that I must do. There must be something besides the law of God, because I ve done that, and still I have no peace. So that is his question to Jesus: Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Note to Parents: These papers are intended for the younger Sunday School students grade 3 and below. Vocabulary and concepts are such that children in this age group, even the 3rd graders, will profit most if the stories are read to them, not by them. Most lessons have two stories, for two sittings if that proves to be beneficial. Our hope is that parents will find these lessons to be useful tools in the teaching of Bible stories and Bible truths to their children in the off season.
Lesson 33 2 Jesus said, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. That s exactly what the young man needed to hear. Does he want to know what he must do to earn heaven by his works? Jesus will tell him: He must keep, perfectly, the commandments of God. Which ones? The Ten Commandments. The commandments that had been written by the finger of God on two tables of stone. Jesus will add nothing to them. But I ve done that, said the rich young ruler. All my life, from my youth up, I ve kept those commandments. What lack I yet? Surely there must be something else that I must do. I ve kept them all. Do you see now why Jesus answered the rich young ruler the way He did? This man had looked into the law of God and did not say, I am a sinner. Before he can say, I need a Savior, he must first learn something about the law and about himself. Let s see how Jesus taught him what he needed to know. The young man had to learn that keeping the law was more than outward obedience to a set of rules. The sixth commandment is more than just Do not murder anybody. The fourth commandment is more than just Be careful not to lift any burden, or to walk too far, on the Sabbath day. There is a deeper meaning to the commandments a meaning that comes, really, to this, that we love God above all and our neighbor as ourselves. Did the rich young ruler do that? Did God and the things of God s kingdom have first place in his life? Or did the things of the world get in the way? The Bible tells us that Jesus, beholding the man, loved him. Yes, Jesus looked at the rich young ruler. He looked into him. He looked into his soul. He saw a man who, having been taught by the Pharisees and scribes, believed that heaven must be earned by good works, by keeping the law. But Jesus saw too that the Holy Spirit had begun to work in the heart of this man, so that, unlike the Pharisees, he was not satisfied with his own works. Jesus will therefore show him that there is indeed something lacking but it s not that the Ten Commandments are not enough, it s that he is not keeping the Ten Commandments. What is really first in his life? Jesus will put him to a test. One thing thou lackest, Jesus said, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me. Do you see what Jesus did? It was almost as if He uncovered a little idol that was tucked away in this man s heart. People who knew the young man did not know it was there. He himself would not before have admitted it was there. But then Jesus said, Give all your money away, and follow me. And now, looking into his own heart, the man had to admit, I can t do that. I can t give up my riches. So, without another word, the young man turned away sorrowful, for, the Bible tells us, he had great riches.
To His disciples, then, Jesus said, How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. What do you think, would you have been able to do what Jesus told the rich young ruler to do? If Jesus looked right now into your heart, would He see some little idols tucked away in the corners? The question, you see, is not whether we have things. Nothing wrong with having things even, maybe, lots of things. The question is, how large a place do those things have in our hearts? What do we live for? What is most often in our minds, in our thoughts? Is it spiritual things? or earthly things? The rich young ruler was a good man. He tried to keep God s commandments. He sincerely wanted to be pleasing to God. And yet, when faced all of a sudden with the thought of giving up his riches, all of his riches, for the sake of the kingdom of God, he discovered that he couldn t do it. The disciples saw all of that, and they must have wondered, Are we any different? For that matter is anyone any different? Do we not all find ourselves pulled every day, in a hundred different ways, not to the things of heaven, but to the things of earth? And now Jesus says that it s easier for a camel to go through a needle s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God! No wonder the disciples exclaimed, Who then can be saved? 3 Was the rich young ruler still close enough to hear Jesus answer? Perhaps he was. He needed to know this. And someday he would. With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Yes, that s what the rich young ruler needed to know. That s what the disciples needed to know. That s what we must know. Look away from self. Look to God. By grace are ye saved. Not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. How Well Did You Listen? 1. What question did the rich young ruler ask Jesus? 2. When Jesus told this man that he must keep the commandments, what did the man say? 3. What did Jesus then tell the man to do, in order to have treasure in heaven? 4. Did the rich man do what Jesus told him to do? 5. How hard did Jesus say it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? Laborers in the Vineyard Matthew 20:1-16 Many, many people were followers of Jesus. They would gather around Him whenever they heard that He was close by. There were twelve men, however, who followed Him wherever He went. They left their homes, they left their families, they left their work they left everything to follow Jesus. These men, the twelve disciples, must have pricked up their ears when they heard Jesus say to the rich young ruler,
Sell everything you have, give to the poor, follow Me and you will have treasure in heaven. Peter spoke up. He said, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? In answer to Peter, Jesus promised that the twelve would indeed be richly rewarded. When the son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones. And not only will the twelve be rewarded, but so will also all those who choose Christ above everything and everybody else. Already in this life, Jesus said, they will have more joy by far (a hundred times more) than they would have had if they kept clinging to their earthly treasures. And afterwards they will inherit everlasting life. Truly, to give up things for Christ s sake is not loss, but gain. Then Jesus spoke also a word of warning, for the disciples, and for us. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. Do you understand that? Jesus had just been talking about places in heaven. His disciples, Jesus said, will sit on twelve thrones. First place, we would call that. There are also places in Christ s church on earth. Some people have very important places. They are always busy, busy, busy in church work. First place, we would say. Well, Jesus said, be careful how you judge. For some who are first in the church on earth will be last in heaven. And some who are last on earth will be first in heaven. To help His disciples understand 4 Lesson 33 this important truth, Jesus told a story. Listen. Once there was a householder who owned a large vineyard. He needed workers for the vineyard, so he went early in the morning to the marketplace and found men there wanting to be hired. They agreed to work in his vineyard that day for a penny, which was the usual pay for a full day s work, a day of twelve hours. Work started at 6:00 in the morning. By 9:00, the householder saw that he needed more workers. So he went back to the marketplace and hired more men, promising to pay them whatever was right. He did the same at noon, and then again at 3:00. Finally, at 5:00 in the afternoon, just an hour before quitting time, he hired another group of workers so that the work in his vineyard could be finished. At 6:00 the householder told his steward to pay the workers, beginning from the last hired to the first. The ones hired at 5:00 were surprised and pleased when they received each man a penny. Those hired at 3:00, 12:00, and 9:00 also received each man a penny. Then came the workers who had been working since 6:00 in the morning. Surely, they thought, we will get more than a penny. But they didn t. They, too, received each man a penny. That isn t fair, these workers thought. So they marched over to the householder and complained,
These last have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have worked through the heat of the day. These last have worked only one hour. Who are they? Let s see if we can figure that out. The vineyard in the parable is a picture of the church. The laborers, then, are those who are members of the church, who therefore have work to do in the church. Now, think about the church in Jesus day. In it, there were people like the scribes and Pharisees, the chief priests and elders. What was their work? They were busy studying the Scriptures, teaching the Scriptures, leading the people in their worship of God. Surely these must be those who are first in the church. Then there were people like Mary and Martha. All they did was keep house. And cook meals. And sit at Jesus feet. Not much as far as work in the church is concerned. Wouldn t they be like those who were hired, maybe, at noon? Or even at 3:00 in the afternoon? Mary and Martha would probably have thought of themselves as last. But how does God judge? Not the way we judge. For He sees the heart. Is there somebody who is hardly noticed in church? Maybe this person loves to sit at Jesus feet by reading the Bible and listening closely to the preaching of the Word. Maybe this person goes about his work, or her work, in a quiet, self-denying, God-glorifying way. All unnoticed by men. But God sees. And He rewards what He sees. Many, Jesus said, who are last shall be first. 5 Lesson 33 Now listen again to the complaint of the laborers who were hired at 6:00 in the morning. These last have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have worked through the heat of the day. Do we hear the Pharisee in that? God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are. Do we hear something of the disciples in that? Who of us is going to be the greatest in the kingdom? We have left all and followed thee. And do we hear something of ourselves in it? Ah, yes, sinful pride is not far from any of us. We like to think that we are really pretty good, and that we, of all people, have earned our penny. But, you might ask, isn t that true? Isn t that what the parable teaches that the pennies were earned by work in the vineyard? Let s ask the workers that question. How would the workers who were hired at 5:00 in the afternoon answer it? Remember that a penny is the pay for a day s work a day of twelve hours. Would the workers who worked only an hour say, We earned our penny? No, they would say, the householder was good to us. We didn t deserve a penny. And what about the rest of them? Only those who were hired at 6:00 in the morning earned their penny. But their grumbling showed that their works were wicked. We know, therefore, what their reward would be. But, for all the rest none of them worked a twelve-hour day, none of them earned a penny. Every one would have to say, The householder was good to me.
Lesson 33 6 And that s the point of Jesus parable. We hear that, too, in the answer of the householder to the wicked workers. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? That s right God does what He wills with His own. He gives work in His kingdom to those whom He chooses. He gives them, too, the strength they need to do that work. And He rewards them for the work that they do in His strength. By grace are ye saved. Not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. How Well Did You Listen? 1. Peter asked Jesus if there would be a reward for the disciples. What did Jesus tell him? 2. In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, how much did the householder agree to pay the first workers he hired? 3. What time of day did the first workers begin working? 4. Other workers were hired later in the day. Why did the first workers complain when they were paid exactly what they had earned? 5. We, too, are workers in the church. Do we earn our penny? How Well Do You Understand? 1. How was the rich young ruler different from most of the other rulers of the Jews in Jesus day? 2. The rich young ruler thought he had kept all of the commandments of God. Why did he think that there must be something more that he had to do? 3. What was the idol in the rich young ruler s heart? 4. Why were the disciples astonished when Jesus said that it was harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? 5. What did Jesus mean when He said that many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first? Memory Verse Matthew 19:26 With God all things are possible. Follow the dots to draw a camel. Color the picture. Camels can carry people. Camels can go a very long time without water. But can camels go through the eye of a needle?