This evening’s message is entitled “A Day’s Wages,” and it’s taken from what is commonly called “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.” This parable speaks of the reward or payment for one’s labor in the kingdom. There is a story among Aesop’s Fables that addresses the reward for one’s labor; which is the fable of “The Ants and a Grasshopper.” The story goes like this:
As the Ants were [gathering] their provisions one winter, a hungry Grasshopper begged a [favor] of them. They told him, that he should have [worked] in the summer, if he [didn’t want to lack anything] in winter. Well, says the Grasshopper, but I was not idle neither; for I sung out the whole season. Nay then, said they, you will [then] do well to make a merry year of it, and dance in winter to the tune that you sung in summer.(1)
In this fable, we heard how the grasshopper didn’t have any food to eat during wintertime because he had sung all summer long instead of gathering provisions. When winter came he begged the ants for help, but they told him to dance in the winter to the same tune that he had sung in the summer. Likewise, there are many people who spend their life enjoying the passions and pleasures of this world instead of living for Christ. One day, however, winter will come and the Day of Judgment will arrive; and people will have to dance to the same tune that they have sung in this life.
If we have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and have worked for the Lord by helping others come to know Him, then we will have a sweet reward. If we have played around all our life, never confessing Jesus Christ as Lord, then we will have to suffer death like the grasshopper; except ours will be a spiritual death.
Hiring of the Workers (vv. 1-7)
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius 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 to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 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?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive’.”
So, what is the symbolism contained in this parable? Who or what do the landowner and the vineyard symbolize? The landowner represents the God of Israel. The vineyard represents the Lord’s kingdom, which is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. When the Lord hires laborers at different time periods to work in His vineyard, this represents God extending a call for all people from all ethnicities to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and enter into the kingdom of heaven; and anyone who accepts Him will become a citizen of the kingdom.
Notice that when the laborers were hired, they were hired at different times. The times mentioned here are literal. “The sixth hour was always noon, and the third hour and ninth hour came at approximately 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The eleventh hour was approximately an hour before sunset.”(2) Even though the times are literal, they can also be viewed as symbolic. In verses 1 and 2, the landowner hired his first set of laborers to work in the vineyard. Spiritually speaking, this group of workers represents the first people called to be kingdom citizens. If this is true, then what people group was included in this first dispatch of laborers?
According to J. R. Graves, the different hiring times represent the calling of “two classes of people – the Jews and the Gentiles.” He said, “Those who were first called, and entered, represent the Jews, to whom the gospel was first preached.”(3) The first hiring, or calling, is observed in Matthew 15:24 when Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (NIV). This parable establishes the Lord’s calling as being extended first to the Jewish people; however, we understand that many of the Jews would reject Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore, since many would reject Him, there would be other hiring times established.
Jesus’ parable not only told of His ministry to the Jews, but it was prophetic of His future ministry to the Gentiles. Graves said, “The hiring of the laborers at different hours of the day represents the calling of the Gentile nations at different periods in the gospel dispensation.”(4) This means that all non-Jewish or Gentile people, from the time of Peter’s rooftop vision in Joppa (Acts 10:9-15) to the present day, would be allowed to receive salvation through Jesus Christ. The door to the kingdom of heaven is open to anyone, no matter what race or background he or she may be. All that is necessary to receive eternal life is to repent and confess Jesus Christ as Lord.
After the first group of workers was hired, the remaining workers are portrayed as standing idle while waiting to be hired (v. 3, 6). Does this mean they were no good, lazy workers? Is this a put-down to the Gentiles, or to anyone else who is not born Jewish? William Barclay said,
The men who were standing idle in the market place were not street-corner idlers, lazing away their time. The market place was the equivalent of the labor exchange. A man came there first thing in the morning, carrying his tools, and waited until someone hired him. The men who stood in the market place were waiting for work, and the fact that some of them stood on until even five o’clock in the evening is the proof of how desperately they wanted it.(5)
If we wish to enter God’s kingdom, then we must eagerly desire salvation in Christ; and the Lord wants those who accept His Son, Jesus, to be whole-heartedly committed to Him. If we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, then it doesn’t stop there. We shouldn’t accept Jesus as fire insurance and then propose to sit idly by the rest of our life. God has hired us to labor in the kingdom by helping bring other souls to salvation in the Lord. James 2:20 tells us, “Faith without works is dead.” We need to be as the laborers who were watching and waiting; meaning we should gladly anticipate the work that God has in mind for us to accomplish each and every day.
In verse 2, we read about a denarius. A denarius was a “Roman silver coin representing a worker’s daily wage.”(6) It was an above average amount of pay for a worker, representing the Lord’s generous offer of grace to all who accept His gift of salvation. When a person receives Jesus Christ as his or her Savior and Lord, the Lord does not cheat a person, but offers top pay. The individual actually becomes an heir to the kingdom, meaning that he or she will inherit all the riches of heaven.
Payday Finally Arrives (vv. 8-12)
8 “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ 9 And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day’.”
Verse 8 shows how the owner of the vineyard, or God, called the steward to deliver the wages to the workers. Who is the steward? It is Jesus Christ. Jesus will give each individual his or her pay for their labor in the kingdom. The pay that Christians receive from Jesus Christ is eternal life, and that exact same wage goes to all who have been hired, or rather called, by the Lord.
Notice how some of the workers in the vineyard had worked a full day. Work in the vineyard was extremely difficult. For instance,
A vineyard was generally planted on terraced hillsides, most of which were stony. Preparing the terraces involved digging out the tiers and using the stones to build small retaining walls on the outside edges. When the terraced areas were completed, they had to be filled with good soil which usually had to be carried a considerable distance up the slopes from more fertile ground below.(7)
It is no wonder why those who were hired first complained that those who were hired later in the day should not receive the same wages.
The first laborers complained because the last received as much as they who had “borne the heat of the day” (Mt 20:12). They were not talking about ordinary heat [either] . . . The [Greek] word used is kauson, and it literally means “the burner.” It means “the burning east wind,” which is terrible. When it blows from the desert it is so dry and hot that it is painful to breath, and it makes it difficult to speak.(8)
A day in this passage represents an individual’s life, for life is full of hardship and difficulty, especially for Christ-followers. Believers will often face persecution for their faith in Christ. This parable reveals how people who have accepted Jesus early in life, and those who have accepted Him in the middle or even near the end of their life, will each receive the exact same reward; which is eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.
The laborers who were hired first, and who complained, represent the Jews. They complained because the Gentiles would receive the exact same inheritance as they would. The Jews recalled how God had set their nation apart for Himself, and how the people of Israel had endured a long history of testing and trials. The Jews had suffered much persecution, and they believed they should still be paid the most. The problem is that many of the Jewish people rejected Christ.
The Lord opened the door for the Gentiles to receive salvation; and the Lord shows no partiality among those who choose to accept His Son, Jesus Christ. If some of the Jewish people had accepted Him, then they would have received the exact same pay as the Gentiles, which is eternal life with the Lord. Paul said in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all one in Christ Jesus, and we are each headed for the same destination and eternal reward.
You might be someone here this evening who is convinced that when a person receives Christ that he or she has to work to become holy enough to enter heaven. Let me assure you that no one can work to acquire holiness. It is something that can only be bestowed on someone by Jesus Christ. Grace is a free gift, and once a person has confessed Jesus as Savior, then he or she is automatically made righteous, and will be assured an equal place in heaven with all the saints.
Maybe there is someone here who does not believe that a person can give his or her life to Christ after having lived an entire life of sin. Maybe you doubt the genuine conversion of an elderly person. Perhaps you struggle with the notion of deathbed repentance. Some people unfortunately abuse deathbed repentance; nevertheless, someone who has lived a wayward life can still accept Jesus Christ before his or her last breath, and receive the same reward as any other believer.
Don’t Question the Boss (vv. 13-16)
13 “But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”
In these verses we see how the landowner, or the Lord, answered the first group of laborers who were complaining; and He did so by replying to one individual in particular, which was someone whom He addressed as “friend.” Commentator Greg Thurston says, “The word ‘friend’ is not the term for a close friend, but rather a casual companion. Since the landowner only addresses one person implies that this ‘friend’ probably was the spokesman of the group.”(9)
This “friend” was informed that the landowner cannot be unjust, and that His decision to have each person receive the exact same pay is correct. It’s His land and His reward, so He can do what He wants to do with it. How can a worker tell the boss what to do? If a worker were to dictate to his boss how he should run his business, then there would no longer be any line of authority. Without authority then the workers would call the shots, and some of them would exalt themselves above others.
If there were no Lord of heaven and earth, then there would be no one to establish perfect justice. The Lord wants to tear down the walls of segregation that have been constructed by people. Through Jesus Christ we are all one, and we are all equal in the eyes of God.
If we choose to go against the boss, or God, and exalt ourselves above another Christian, or even a non-Christian, then the Lord will look unfavorably on us. Verse 16 says the first will be last. If we make ourselves first, then God will be displeased with us; however, if we choose to accept one another in brotherly love, and respect one another in Christ then we will be exalted in the eyes of the Lord.
Time of Reflection
This parable reveals that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). It doesn’t matter what age, race, gender or background a person may be, he or she is extended the same opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. All who accept Him must have a deep desire to be saved, and to serve Christ once they are saved. At the end of one’s life, if he or she knows Jesus Christ and has been faithful at working in the vineyard by bringing others to know the Lord, then that individual will receive the same wage as any other person who has done the same. Remember, the wages for the workers in the vineyard is eternal life.
Let me close by asking, “At the end of your life, do you want your wages to be eternal life in Jesus or eternal death?” Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If you refuse to accept Jesus Christ and work in the vineyard, then you will suffer eternal death and never ending separation from God.
NOTES
(1) Aesop, Treasury of Aesop’s Fables (New York: Crown Publishers, 1973), 56-57.
(2) Robert L. Cargill, All The Parables of Jesus (Nashville: Broadman, 1970), 31.
(3) J. R. Graves, The Dispensational Expositions of the Parables and Prophecies of Christ (Memphis: Graves and Mahaffy, 1887), 132.
(4) Ibid., 132.
(5) William Barclay, “The Gospel of Matthew,” vol. 2, The Daily Study Bible Series, revised ed. (Philadelphia, Westminster, 1975), 223.
(6) Achtemier, Paul J., Th.D., “Denarius,” Harper’s Bible Dictionary, (San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc.) 1985.
(7) Greg Thurston, The Vineyard Workers, taken from the Internet August 2000 at http://geocites.com /Athens/Styx/4119/para/para8.html.
(8) Cargill, 34.
(9) Thurston.
