THE SCANDAL OF GRACE
November 24, 2024
Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Matthew 20:1-16
Today we're going to take a look at a parable that I rarely hear a sermon preached about. It's not one of the most popular parables because it strikes at the heart of our sense of fairness and justice. Many times we don’t know what to do with injustice, especially when it comes to our perceived injustice from God. Yet we know that God is fully just. When we say that God is just, we mean that He is perfectly righteous in His treatment of His creatures. God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34), He commands against the mistreatment of others (Zechariah 7:10), and He perfectly executes vengeance against the oppressors (2 Thessalonians 1:6; Romans 12:19).
For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. (Hebrews 6:10)
Watchman Nee, a Chinese evangelist, tells of a Christian he once knew in China. He was a rice farmer, and his fields lay high on a mountain. Every day he pumped water into the paddies of new rice. And every morning he returned to find that an unbelieving neighbor who lived down the hill had opened the dikes surrounding the Christian’s field to let the water fill his own. For a while the Christian ignored the injustice, but at last he became desperate. What should he do? His own rice would die if this continued. How long could it go on? The Christians met, prayed, and came up with this solution. The next day the Christian farmer rose early in the morning and first filled his neighbor’s fields; then he attended to his own. Watchman Nee tells how the neighbor became a Christian, his unbelief overcome by a genuine demonstration of a Christian’s love for others.
We sometimes struggle with God's justice is in understanding His grace. Not so much when we are the recipients of God's grace (after all we are very deserving of it); the problem comes when we observe someone whom we see as undeserving be the recipients of grace. Let's face it. We're Americans. We like the good guys to wins and the bad guys get what they deserve.
God's grace defies human expectations and standards of fairness. It emphasizes that grace is a gift, not earned, and God’s generosity is available to all, irrespective of how long they have served Him. This message is going to challenge you to appreciate the generosity of God’s grace. The grace of God is a radical and scandalous gift that levels the spiritual playing field. It reminds us that no one earns their place in the kingdom, but all are welcomed into it purely by His benevolence.
Today we're going to do things a little different. Rather than reading everything up front and unpacking the truths found in scripture, we are going to go through this parable verse by verse. With that, let’s read Matthew 20:1-2
1. The Generosity of the Owner
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. (Matthew 20:1-2).
What we just read would have been a typical scene in Jesus’s day. Just as we have employment agencies today, in Jesus’s time there were places where day laborers would have gathered to receive some work. Most of these people were unskilled laborers, living on whatever little work they could find.
Likewise, working in a vineyard was not easy and only available certain times of the year. Harvest time was often during hot temperatures, on rugged rocky soil, requiring heavy lifting without the use of modern machinery. Moreover, when it was harvesting time, the grapes had to be harvested quickly before bad weather set in. Because of that, when the work was available it became available suddenly and was a hectic time of year.
Notice that the workers were promised by the owner to be paid a denarius. This would have been a very generous wage; the same wage as a Roman soldier, about the equivalent of receiving $50. This underscores the extravagant generosity of the owner of the vineyard.
3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ (Matthew 20:3–7)
Apparently the harvest was great but the laborers were few and the land was large. The landowner needed more workers to get the job done. He tells these workers, “I will pay you whatever is right.” (verse 5 ). We see that the workers trusted the landowner. They weren't promised a wage like the first group, they were just told they would be paid. Then as he needs more workers, verse 6, says that he found others standing around emphasizing the unemployment situation. This pattern continues throughout the day.
The Jewish work day began at 6:00 AM. This was called the first hour period the third hour was at 9:00 3:00 AM. The 6th hour began at noon. The 9th hour began at 3:00 PM. The 11th hour was at 5:00 PM. And it's at this point that the parable takes a dramatic turn. At the 11th hour- 5:00 PM-the work on the plantations would have been winding down. However, the rest of the day laborers were still standing around, probably losing hope. This is when the last group of laborers are hired. Now let’s look at the scandal.
2. The Scandal of Grace
8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ (Matthew 20:8)
Typically, payday was distributed by calling in the first workers that were hired. But in typical Jesus fashion, when the time comes around in the parable, he shocks his hearers by saying that the last that were hired come to be paid first. For the workers in the parable this would have been a confusing means of protocol.
9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. (Matthew 20:9–10)
Even though Jesus doesn't say it, the implication here is clear, all the workers who were hired were paid a denarius. Perhaps, as the workers hired first watched the workers who were hired later in the day also getting paid a denarious, they thought that they were going to get even more. Maybe they even started talking about among themselves anticipating an extra special pay today for their long hours in the field. Truth be told, that assumption is not too unreasonable. However, their hopes were dashed.
11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? (Matthew 20:11–13)
As I said before, working in the vineyard was very hard work laboring on a hillside in the heat of the day. So it can be easy to understand the workers complaint. In fact, most people when they hear this parable sympathize with the first workers. Their anticipation is turned to anger when they realize they will receive the same pay as those who had worked for only one hour at the end of the day. With that, they begin to protest not wanting to leave until they received some recompense from the landowner.
But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ (Matthew 20:13–15)
The word, “friend” here is not a term for a close friend, rather it is a casual, general salutation. Perhaps this person was the spokesman for the group of original workers. The plainly owner states, “I did you no wrong.” I paid you exactly what we agreed to. Moreover, the workers were paid at a high wage. In reality, the point is not about fairness – it is about the prerogative of the landowner. So Jesus brings the parable to a close by comparing this story with the spiritual truth of what the end will be like with the Kingdom of God.
So the last will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:16)
Here's the truth that we must remember. In the Kingdom of God, our perceived position, our labor, and our length as being a Christian have no bearing on our position In the Kingdom. In fact, in God's economy, things are often just the opposite of what we would expect. This is what's going to happen at the end of the age. That’s the very nature of God’s grace.
Grace has an edge to it, doesn't it? To some, it can be challenging or even disturbing. And if we were honest, we would say that God's grace seems a bit scandalous. Because grace is not the way we normally do things. It turns worldly values and even our values on their head.
So how do we apply a text like this to our lives?
First, Are you offended by God’s grace in other people’s lives or do you celebrate when you see His mercy? The early workers who grumble when others receive the same wage. This reveals human tendencies toward comparison and envy, and challenges us to evaluate our attitudes towards God’s generosity to others. In Christ, we learn that grace is given not based on merit but born out of divine love.
Grace reminds us that God’s favor is a gift and that’s the point of our text. The orginal works expected something more because they were hired first. Often times, we look down on people who are believers still struggling with sin and still recipients of God’s grace. The reality is, there will be people in heaven we don’t think deserve to be there. Why? Because God’s forgiveness is lavish on us and others. Like the owner of the Vineyard, God is generous with His grace to a point of being scandalous.
Second, it is easy to take grace for granted. If we want a fair wage from God, it is certainly not going to be heaven that we deserve?
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
God’s grace is a favor. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and there is nothing you can do to make God love you less. That’s the perfection of God’s love.
Last, Grace keeps us from being condemned by others and ourselves. How many of you have ever struggled with the feeling of worth or competence. The workers hired at 5:00 pm were usually the bottom of the barrel; like being the last picked for the kickball team. They watched and watched as others were hired and probably lost hope. But God has a passion for the forgotten. Remember the thief on the cross?
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39–43)
This week I want to challenge you to 4 things:
1. Stop Comparing: Reflect on how you’ve compared your journey with others. Repent of any jealousy or entitlement.
2. Extend Grace to Others: This week, show undeserved kindness to someone—a coworker, a neighbor, or even a stranger.
3. Celebrate the Blessings Others Receive: Instead of resenting God’s generosity to others, rejoice in it; especially those who deserve it the least
Maybe you are relating to the workers being offered a job at the end of the day. I want to invite you to discover the scandalous grace that God is offering to you right now.
