Parable of the Vineyard Workers
This is not a well-liked story because it hits at our sense for what is fair and just. Our first impression is that it is not fair. Why? Why Jesus tells this parable?
20:1 “The kingdom of heaven is like…” It is a description of how God’s Kingdom functions. It is about how God treats his people.
20:1-2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.”
This is very similar to some places in China today. The jobless will gather in some places waiting for anyone to hire them for the day. In Jesus’ time, there were places where day labourers gathered to seek work – unusually the unskilled workers. They worked from job to job, many of which lasted no more than a day. Because they had no guarantee of a job, they would gather in the market place even before dawn to be available for hiring.
These workers were promised the pay of a denarius. This was the wage of a Roman soldier for a day. The equivalent today will be a day’s wage for a labourer.
Now, this particular landowner’s property obviously was large, and so he needed more workers.
20:3-5: “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
The phrase “I will pay you whatever is right” in verse 5 shows us that these workers no doubt trusted the owner as a man of his word - while the owner does not promise a particular wage, these workers knew it would be fair. This pattern continued for the hirings at the third hour, sixth hour, and the eleventh hour.
The Jewish workday began at 6:00 AM. This was called the 1st hour. The 3rd hour began at 9:00 AM, the 6th hour began at noon, the 9th hour began at 3:00 PM, and the 11th hour at 5:00 PM.
It is at this point that the parable takes a TWIST.
20:6-7: “About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’”
By the 11th hour - 5:00 PM - the work on most plantations would have been winding down. The labourers who were stilling waiting for work at this time would have lost all hope. Yet on this particular day it was different - because of the generosity of the landowner. It is clear that he is interested not only in his vineyard but also in the unemployed.
Chances is that this last group of the unemployed are the unpromising ones, small built or not physically strong, and therefore potential employers drop them when they picked their workers. Whatever the reasons, we can see that this landowner calls them out of compassion rather than because they will do much for him in the remaining ONE hour of the day.
So we see that there are two groups of workers: those hired early who went to work after negotiating a wage; and those hired later who went to work without a contract, choosing to trust the goodness of the master.
The Owner Pays the Workers
20:8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”
The typical mode of payment back then was “first come first served.” Jesus turns it around to, “last come first served.” I’m sure those who worked all day were beginning to get a bit confused at this point.
20:9-10, “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.”
ALL the workers up to those hired first were paid a denarius. We can imagine how the labourers who worked all day felt as all the workers got paid the same. The natural thought would have been, “If the owner gave them 10 bucks for working one hour, those of us who have worked twelve hours stand to gain 12 times more!”
However, their hopes were dashed. They received the same pay.
The Workers Complain
In verses 11-12, we see that the attitudes of the workers head south.
20:11-12 “When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”
Working in a vineyard was hard work. It involved standing out in the heat of the day for long hours. We can sympathize with these workers. We can understand their complaint. Their joy turned to anger as they realized that they received the same pay as those who had worked for only one hour. As such, they were determined not to leave until they received “satisfaction” from the landowner.
So what’s the problem? They were upset that the landowner had made the other workers equal to them.
The Owner Responds
Verses 13-15 give us the owner’s response.
20:13-15 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
This last sentence of the story is the CLIMAX and the key to interpreting the parable.
In fact, what was under criticism was the landowner’s GENEROSITY.
He told the FIRST GROUP - I gave you what I promised you. I did not cheat you or short-change you. Now - I am just being generous with the rest. But what is that to you?
Actually HOW the landowner pays the labourers, or WHAT he did with his own money was no business of anybody. If the landowner had wanted to give half of his wealth to one of the workers, he would not be unjust and we would admire him for his generosity.
Bro/Sis - #1 THE GENEROUS GOD HAS CHOSEN TO SHOWER HIS FAVOUR UPON YOU - APPRECIATE IT !
2 Cor 6:1 "As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain."
He has chosen to do this on His own accord - out of COMPASSION!
He was not obligated, He was not forced into it. Simply out of love, because He saw YOUR NEED.
The only issue is: DO YOU WANT IT? DO YOU WANT TO RECEIVE IT?
Some don’t. That’s why Jesus has this line -
20:16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
We’ll appreciate this line better if we see what transpired before this story was told.
Before He tells this story, He said in Matt 19:30
“But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”
Chapter 19 tells us of a rich young man who came to Jesus wanting to know about eternal life. Despite the fact that he religious and having keep the law, he “went away sad” when Jesus’ calls him to give up everything and follow Him. Then Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (19:23)
And then referring to His disciples, He said (Matt 19:28-29):
28Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And 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.
The contrasting picture is this – the rich, religious ruler, with wealth, status and piety, does not get into the Kingdom; the disciples - band of followers who are mostly uneducated, poor and unpromising – are promised thrones. It is the picture of “the first shall be last and the last first.”
In the kingdom of God, our perceived position makes no difference because God shows no partiality. In God’s economy, NOTHING ABOUT US counts - Nothing IN us, Nothing we DO - qualifies us to receive such a favour.
What we have is His FAVOUR freely given – by a very generous God.
#2 GOD’S FAVOUR UPON YOU IS A FREE GIFT - RECEIVE IT!
We did not receive WHAT WE DESERVE but what we DON’T DESERVE. This favour is called GRACE – and it’s a GIFT – a gift that costs everything to the Giver and nothing to the receiver. “Are you envious because I am generous?” the Lord says. “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?”
You can’t earn it! This landowner was actually accused of being OVERLY GRACIOUS.
The group of labourers says in 20:12 “…and you have made them equal to us.”
In order words, they are not equal with us – they should be given LESS. We deserve but they don’t. It comes out of a selfish desire, a self-centeredness - being envious at the blessings others received. HAVE YOU EVER HAD THAT FEELING?
The fact is, WE DESERVE NOTHING, BUT WE GOT EVERYTHING. We are unemployed, but he showed us compassion and gave us a chance! What bargain are we demanding? If God chooses to bless someone else, what right do we have, what justice are we demanding? Can God bless someone richly? We deserve nothing in the first place!
Don’t be performance-based Christians. Thinking that we deserve it – that God should bless me more because of the no. of hours I’ve put in the church serving Him, my offering to the church, my long prayers. Don’t acts like the elder son in the story of the Prodigal Son – thinking that he deserves it and the younger brother don’t.
Performance-based Christians cannot rejoice with those who come late into the Kingdom. They’re resentful. They have a complaining spirit, a judgemental spirit.
There is nothing you can do to make God love you more.
There is nothing you can do to make God love you less.
Like a gift, the only thing we can do with grace…is to receive it.
God dispenses gifts and not wages. Ps 103:10 “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” Our wages is death. If we want to be compensated for our life’s work, then Romans 6:23 spells out how we will be paid: “For the wages of sin is death…” But, if we want to receive what God wants to freely give us, then the last part of this verse offers us something far better then just compensation: “but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Let’s be forever grateful for what God has already done, and is still doing. And bask in His love for you! Just enjoy!
3. GOD’S GRACE AFFIRMS YOUR WORTH - LIVE IT !
Have you ever felt incompetent? Ever wished for a greater gift or a more important ministry? Have you ever felt inferior to others in the church and thus less important?
Think for a minute about those who were not hired until 5.00PM. They watched and waited while the other workers were hired. They knew that they would probably not get paid that day and that they probably wouldn’t be able to buy any food for dinner that night. All day long they were passed over like a little boy chosen last for kick ball.
Usually the best and strongest were the first to be picked. These workers were the leftovers, the least skilled. Who in their right mind would pick them?
And then the landowner appears – we see His compassion for the forgotten, downcast.
Even though you may not be good, he wants you!
These workers really represent each of us. When you think about it, what do we have to offer Him? Does He need our intellect? Our strength? Our money? Our good deeds? No! Honestly, I don’t think He needs anything from me.
Our confidence and joy in this life is based - not on what we have or do not have; or on what we do, or don’t do - rather our confidence is on WHO we have! We have a Saviour who saved us and a Father who loves us. On the last day, when we stand before Him, there won’t be any distinctions between preachers and taxi drivers, missionaries and a caretaker. No one is worthier than another to receive salvation because we’re all unworthy. Not worthless, but unworthy.
Don’t make the same mistake these workers made – don’t put yourself above other people. Don’t elevate yourself to a different class; as if God should bless you more for all that you’re done for Him; that you’re more worthy a servant of God than someone else.
I want you to notice a tragic chain of events that took place in the hearts of these workers. They started by comparing themselves with others. This then led to coveting, which led to complaining, which led ultimately to criticizing. Do you struggle with comparing, coveting, complaining and criticizing? If so, stop comparing yourself with others. Nothing will happen if these workers did not know of any other who comes after them; nothing to compare about.
Rom 12:3 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
We want grace for ourselves – grace applied to us always seems good and nice and right, but grace given to others, very often, disturbs us. We feel it’s unfair. Learn to be gracious with others. We’re all recipients of God’s grace.
Brian Bill (Pastor, contributor of sermon The Scandal of Grace, Matt 20:1-16):
When we get to heaven, there will be no contest to see who was the most deserving of God’s grace because no one deserves it. There will only be one contest in heaven. When we look back and see what we were before, when we see the pit from which He rescued us, when we recall how unworthy we were and how God reached out and brought us into His family, and when we see Jesus standing there - the only contest will be to see which of us will sing the loudest, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”
James 4:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
The more you feel your need for grace, the better candidate you are to receive it.
You will not be turned away, and it’s never too late.
This Week - for some of us we need to
# 1 - APPRECIATE God’s Grace! Enjoy. Give thanks.
You’re highly favoured, greatly loved.
# 2 – RECEIVE God’s Grace! You cannot earn it.
2 Cor 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Ask for mercy and grace.
# 3 – LIVE God’s Grace!
Treat others with grace - pray for others to be blessed with more of God’s grace - don’t be envious if others are better off. DO SOMEONE A FAVOUR THIS WEEK!
