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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." 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." 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. ~ Matthew 20:1-16
Today, we begin our study of Matthew 20 where the Lord Jesus incorporated yet another parable to help His disciples understand His culture better. This is what happens to us while we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we are taught of and we experience for ourselves His definitions of things. Learning His culture is a sanctification thing. You will remember that our justification before God is granted to us through the cross of Christ only. His death on the cross of Calvary garnered for us our salvation. Through our justification we will be admitted into heaven. While our sanctification gets heaven into us now.
The Lord Jesus told this parable in response to Peter's question which was: "We left everything for you. So, what do we get?" In response the Lord Jesus shared this parable illustrating what He had previously said to Peter which was: "The first will be last, and the last will be first." It is with a broken spirit that we came to faith in the Lord Jesus. Our brokenness enabled us to realize that we could do nothing to earn our salvation. Our salvation was given to us as a gift based upon the merit and the work of Christ alone.
In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "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."
More than revealing to the disciples what the kingdom of heaven is like, this parable really gets at the idea of what God is like. This is very important because how we view God has a huge impact on how we relate to Him. Our theology is the most important thing about us because through it we see everything else. C.S Lewis once said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else." This means that what we believe about "injustice" may be a deviation from God's definition of justice.
The atheist has no way to absolutely define a concept like justice. Since, according to atheism, the universe is undesigned and purposeless, all of life is just an accident. And, since everything is just the result of molecular interactions on the previous state, then there is no "should be." When it comes to actions and states of the universe, there only is "what is." According to atheism, injustice has no meaning. Just as death, decay, and disease are matter-of-fact realities of the universe, love and hate are just results of chemical reactions in the human mind.
According to Christianity, God has given us answers as to why there is pain and suffering. Christianity best answers all of life's questions about reality and God. For example, if we view God as strict, temperamental or stingy, then we will probably not have a very close relationship with Him. In fact, we will be hesitant to even approach Him. We will only go to Him when we feel like we have no choice. But if we view God as the Bible defines Him, as loving, kind and generous, then we probably will have a close relationship with Him. And, the closer to Him that we become will render how we live life and how we treat others.
In v.3-7of today's passage we read, "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.'"
The typical workday in those days was from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The landowner, representing God, at different intervals throughout the day hired His needed workers. We can always trust God to do what is right because He is right. People often ask what will happen to children who weren't old enough and informed enough to make a choice about Christ? To that I answer, "Is God good? If He is good and He is, we can trust Him to do the right thing with reference to children at the end of time."
In v.8-16 of today's passage we read, "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.' 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."
At the end of the day the hired hands were paid a denarius which was a days wages for a farm hand. Those who had worked all day were upset because the landowner paid all of the workers the same amount. To them it seemed unfair. But, this is a parable about generosity which chooses to treat everybody the same no matter how much or little work they worked. Generosity is a synonym for grace which makes all believers in Christ equal. We are equal because the perfection of Christ has been applied to our account before God, resulting in God granting us access to Himself. The all-day workers expressed their displeasure because they saw themselves as more deserving than those who had not contributed as much as they.
The word "complained" is written in the imperfect tense, which means they were in a constant state of complaining. They were distracted from gratitude because they thought they knew best. Compared to those who only worked an hour, these workers thought they were worth a lot more. But this is not the way grace works. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less. Like a gift, the only thing we can do with grace is to receive it. In the final analysis, the first in this parable are those who are grateful and the last are those who complain.
The most important point is revealed in Psalm 103:10 which reads, "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities."
The word "many" in today's passage is better translated "everyone." That day the Lord Jesus really said "everyone is called, but some people refuse the invitation and are not chosen." God has chosen to show the believer mercy and grace through His Son's death on the cross. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, His death fulfilled God’s justice as He suffered on our behalf. The Lord Jesus paid the full penalty for our sins on His cross. Perfect justice and never-ending mercy meet together at the cross where God's grace and His justice co-exist even to this moment and on into eternity. This produces gratitude in us and when we lack gratitude, we are in danger of harboring an unbiblical view of God.
