Go Thy Way-The Parable Of The Workers In The Vineyard Series

Introduction: Just after the rich young ruler came running to Jesus, and walked away, Jesus gave this parable about workers in a vineyard. This was one of the last parables Jesus ever told.

The immediate context stems from the disciples’ reaction to what Jesus said to the rich young ruler. Peter, speaking perhaps for the entire group, asks the question, “We left everything to follow You (even though that guy who just walked away from You didn’t), so what will we get in exchange for it (paraphrased)?” Jesus then gave this parable to explain why things aren’t always as they seem.

The text is from Matthew 20, verses 1-16 (KJV):

1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man [that is] an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, [that] shall ye receive. 8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them [their] hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9 And when they came that [were hired] about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 11 And when they had received [it], they murmured against the goodman of the house, 12 Saying, These last have wrought [but] one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take [that] thine [is], and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

For this message, please let me focus on this particular verse:

Mat 20:14 Take that thine is, and _go thy way_: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee (emphasis added).

I The problems in the parable

According to various commentaries (David Gusick; Jamieson, Faucet, and Brown; Adam Clarke and others), there wasn’t a lot of time between harvest time and loss of the produce. Jesus Himself stated in another parable (see Matthew 13) that it was only one man who sowed seed, some resulting in a harvest of 30, 60, or 100 fold for an increase. That’s the background here, namely, that harvest was ready but there apparently weren’t enough men “on staff” to get the job done and the harvest gathered.

There was another problem that some of us may not quite “catch” the first time or two we read this parable. Not only was there a plentiful harvest, and not only was there a shortage of workers, there was the problem of how much each worker was going to get paid. Remember, there was no minimum wage, no contracts, no guarantees of anything—in spite of the very real fact of high unemployment in those days. I can imagine the look of surprise when Jesus related the “agreement” for a “penny a day”, as a “penny” was the term for a more or less standard day’s wage for a day’s work. And, too, there were no employment agencies or other aids for job hunters so unless one had “connections”, the odds of finding good jobs were pretty small.

Still another problem was that no matter how many men were “hired”, more were needed! Apparently the landowner had a bountiful harvest which needed to be gathered in before the grapes would become unfit for harvest. We can read in the text that men were called, or given jobs for part of the day, at various intervals. Some men weren’t hired at all until one hour before the end of the work day. That they were still needed speaks to how enormous the harvest must have been. I mean, I don’t know of many employers who will hire people they don’t really need or assign workers to jobs that don’t really need to be finished!