This article is a Bible study on Matthew 20:1-16.

Source: The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth, 2010. 3 pages.

The Laborers in the Vineyard

Read Matthew 20:1-16

The Picture🔗

In many ways, the picture Jesus painted in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard would have been very realistic to His audience. Their work day was counted from sunrise to sun­set, about twelve hours. It was common for any who did not have steady employment to gather in the market place where employers would come and select workers for the day. Today, we would call this a job fair, though back then it was far more primitive. At the end of the day, the employer would pay out the wage in accordance with the biblical requirement (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14-15). The coin Jesus referred to was the denarius (the Greek word translated “penny” in our passage) and was a typical wage for a day’s work. It wasn’t a great wage; it would help you meet some basic needs, but it didn’t really help you advance beyond that.

Though the picture would have been familiar for the orig­inal audience, one element would have been surprising – even jarring. Each laborer received an equal amount, indepen­dent of whether they had worked twelve hours or one. The householder’s generosity would have been startling to Jesus’ audience. That is also how Jesus designed the parable.

The Problem🔗

What problem was Jesus addressing in this parable? The con­text of this parable helps us considerably. Prior to this, the Lord Jesus had three interactions that showed man’s misunderstand­ing of the gospel. First, the disciples tried to turn away the children, whom the Lord would bless (19:13-15). Secondly, the rich man wished to inherit eternal life, but not in the way Christ taught (19:16-22). Thirdly, Jesus’ disciples were look­ing for rewards for their sacrifices (19:23-30). In each of these cases, the fundamental problem was that people think they deserve what God determines cannot be deserved.

Jesus confirmed that this is the basic point of the parable by stating explicitly: “Many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first” (v. 30). This statement means that there are people who think they deserve to be treated as “first”; yet, precisely because they think they have something com­ing to them, they will end up last. Jesus spoke similar words again in Matthew 20:16: “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” Sandwiched between these very similar statements, we find our parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Thus we can conclude from the context this parable was targeting the spirit of people, whether professing Christians or not, who somehow think they deserve something.

The Perception🔗

It is not difficult to relate to the perception of the workers who had worked the full day. As they watched those who only worked an hour receive the same pay as they themselves, they are pained with a sense of injustice. They had been working and toiling in the sweat of their faces. They say it themselves: “We have borne the burden and heat of the day” (v. 12).

The householder cuts right to the source of the problem with the first group of workers. The way they interpreted his actions suggested their hearts were not in the right place. The householder asked one of them: “Is thine eye evil because I am good?” (v. 15). “Don’t you see that you are looking at this wrong? You are misreading my generosity to others as unfair­ness to you.” That’s what the householder means by their eye being “evil.”

These laborers felt unjustly treated but without proper cause. Far from being unfair, the householder had fulfilled his agreement with them. Essentially, they were bitter because he had been generous. This jealousy showed that they were in it more for the rewards than for the relationship.

The Pride🔗

The perception of the first group of laborers grew from the soil of pride. Pride loves to earn a good standing with God. It thinks it can dictate how God should respond. The house­holder pinpointed this pride when he asked: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” (v. 15). The first laborers judged the householder and how he used his own goods. This is pride without any bounds whatsoever. They acted as if they had the right to look at the householder’s accounting sheet and tell him what he should have done or not done.

How true it is that pride blinds us to itself! The professing church has many who think that what they have done for God and His kingdom entitles them to greater benefits, honors, and accolades. In essence, they are lording it over God and seeking to take Him off the throne.

Many imagine that Jesus should be happy with them and their efforts. Theologically speaking, we could say they are still operating under the framework of the covenant of works, thinking that even in religion, they act in order to attain; they do in order to deserve; they go in order to get.

The Posture🔗

The parable is teaching us two postures that work in God’s kingdom of grace:

  1. Thankful Joy🔗

If the laborers who had started at 6:00 AM would have had the same generosity and kind spirit of their householder, they would have cheered when other laborers were brought in to help. They should have rejoiced at the kindness and grace of the householder that fellow day laborers had been invited into the vineyard instead of standing idle and careless in the market square. They should have been glad that these day laborers had come into relationship with this benevo­lent householder. They should have been happy that these others did not need to sleep hungry under the frown of a tightfisted heaven, but instead had a meal in their stomach and shelter.

  1. Gospel Trust🔗

Notice how the second, third, and fourth groups simply worked out of trust in the promise of the householder. He had said: “Whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive” (v. 7). When it came down to it, they were living more for the householder and his promise than the wage itself. They were trusting his character and word. The fourth and final group could have, humanly speaking, had little expectation of much of a wage at all. At 5:00 PM, they might pretty much have given up hope of having so much as a meal and shelter; their thankfulness to the householder would have been greater than those who were marketing their skill at the beginning of the day and trusting their toil through the long, wearying day.

The Practice🔗

Jesus was teaching His disciples and us that we ought to be so enflamed with gospel love and trust that our lives are different. If only the disciples had welcomed the children to be blessed by Jesus instead of sending them away as undeserving, suppos­edly unlike themselves. If only the rich young ruler had sold all that he had, just as Jesus had left all that He had in heaven. If only he had exchanged his futile self-righteousness for all that Christ would have given him through a relationship of trust with Him. If only the disciples, instead of worrying about what reward they might receive for all their sacrifices here on earth, had basked in the presence of their Lord and Master now, and left the present and the future to Him. If only the laborers who were called first would have been as thankful and trusting as the eleventh-hour laborers, and as good-hearted as the householder himself.

Jesus went on to speak of how He would soon go to the cross (vv. 20-28). It is especially on the cross that God in Christ shows how good and gracious a householder He is. He gives freely out of the bounty of His merits. Whether we are converted early in life or at the eleventh hour; whether or not we live our life in the heat of persecution or not; let us always trust and rejoice in the fact that – thanks be to God – He does what pleases Him. If we know this, we will be forever a debtor to God’s marvelous grace.

Questions:🔗

  1. Many try to spiritualize the different hours and groups and items mentioned in this parable. They say that the first group were the Jews or that the denarius is eternal life, etc. Show how you get into trouble if you start spiritualizing all the details (e.g., do we really work for a reward; were these first laborers truly saved, etc.). Review the major point of the parable.
     
  2. How do you harmonize the message of the parable of the Ten Virgins, where the wise virgins had extra oil, with this parable, where it seems that idleness and carelessness for so long does not matter?
     
  3. In what (subtle) ways do we show the attitude of the laborers who were first hired, in our relationships, in the church, etc.?
     
  4. What do you make of the fact that the householder goes back time and again to take idle people into his service?
     
  5. Reflect on Jesus’ question: “Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” (v. 15). Think of biblical or contemporary examples of how God’s revelation of grace frequently brings out the evil judgments of man.
     
  6. Compare and contrast the rich young man (19:16-22) with the two blind men (vv. 29-33). Who ends up following Christ? How do they relate to the parable of the eleventh-hour laborers?

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