Author: Gary Witcher

Parables Eight

Matthew chapter 20 begins with a parable about a landowner and some laborers he hires to work in his vineyard.
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard," the first verses explain. "And when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard."
Landowners often went into the town square to find helpers on a daily basis, and the wage for one day's work was one denarius.
"And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place," verses 3,4 continue, "and to those he said, 'You too go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'   And so they went."
People in those days started counting time at 6 o’clock in the morning, so the third hour was 9:00 a.m.
The landowner returns to hire more workers at the sixth, ninth and eleventh hours.
When the workday is over, the landowner tells the foreman to pay the workers, starting with those who were hired last.  The foreman calls these laborers and pays them a denarius.  When it is time for those who were hired first to receive their wages, they assume they will be paid more since they have worked all day.  When they are given one denarius, they begin to grumble and complain.
"Friend, I am doing you no wrong;” the master replies in verses 13-15.  "Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
"Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?  Or is your eye envious because I am generous?"
"Thus the last shall be first," Jesus notes in verse 16,  "and the first last."
What does this parable mean?  Remember that many of these stories are designed to explain about the kingdom, the church.  Notice from verse one that this is the purpose of this parable.  They are often directed to the Jews, who need to learn that things are going to change for them.
The landowner is the Lord.  The first workers to be hired are the Jews, followed by people from other nations.  When payday comes, the Jews expect special treatment because of their longer history as the  "children of God."
This attitude causes a lot of problems in the early church.  In fact, large parts of books such as Romans, Galatians and Hebrews are intended to deal with this very situation.
"For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly;” Paul writes in Romans 2:28-29, "neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God."
As we learn from Ephesians 3:4-7, it has been God's plan from the beginning to include the Gentiles among His people.
"And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ," this passage explains, "which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; {to be specific}, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power."
This is good news for us, since most or all of us are Gentiles.  But what other applications can we make of this parable?
First of all, we learn something about the nature of God.  Like the landowner, He continues to search throughout the day for anyone who is willing to serve Him.  We notice also the great generosity of God, who is willing to pay us not according to what we earn, but rather according to His grace.
In looking at this parable we learn some things, too, about ourselves.
Which workers agree to a set salary? Only the first ones agree on their pay.  The others who come later agree to accept whatever the master is willing to give.  Which workers complain about what they receive? The only ones to argue are the ones who have agreed on their salary.   Have they been cheated, or have they received a fair payment for the work they have done?
In the morning did they consider one denarius to be a fair wage?  Are they motivated, then, by fairness or by greed?
How do we treat others around us? Are we really able to share their joy when something good happens to them, or are we jealous to the point that we feel the good fortune should have come to us and not to them?
And what about our dealings with God?  Are we glad to accept the generous offer that He makes to us, or do we want to change the rules as the day goes by?
How many of these workers deserve the job?  Do they go to the landowner, or does the landowner go to them?  How many of us deserve what God gives us?  Have we worked our way up to Him, or has He brought Himself down to us?
God has one set of rules.  He has one kind of field to work in and the pay is the same for all.

"But what do you think?" Jesus asks the chief priests and leaders of the Jews in Matthew 21:28-31.  "A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.'
"And he answered and said, 'I will, sir'; and he did not go.
"And he came to the second and said the same thing.  But he answered and said, 'I will not'; yet he afterward regretted it and went.
"Which of the two did the will of his father?"
"The latter," the Jewish leaders reply in verse 31.
"Truly I say to you that the tax-gatherers and harlots will get into the kingdom of God before you," Jesus explains in this verse and the next one.
"For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax-gatherers and harlots did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him."
Obviously, the first application of this parable is to the Jews of Jesus' day.   The father is God, and the first son represents the Israelites.  They have accepted the position of God's children, but when it comes time to obey Him they refuse.  The Gentiles, on the other hand, have not been claiming to follow God.  But when the time comes to obey God through faith in Jesus, they are ready and willing.
Have things really changed much in the past 2000 years?  Are there any people today who tell God, "Yes, I will obey You," and then go and do whatever they want to?
Of course, the ideal situation is when someone says, "Yes" to God and then does what is right.  But of the two possibilities presented in the parable, which represents a faithful son?  God chooses the one who does His will over the one who says "Yes" with his mouth but  "No” with his actions.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven;" Jesus stresses in Matthew 7:21-23, "but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
"And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" the Master exclaims in Luke 6:46-49. "Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard, and has not acted {accordingly,} is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great." 
"But prove yourselves doers of the word," James 1:22-25 cautions, "and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for {once} he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the {law} of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does."
God gives us the freedom to make our own decisions.  We are free to accept Him, and we are free to reject Him.  But one of these choices will bind us to our sin and to an eternity away from God.   Only the other choice will set us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."