Septuagesima (2023)

Matthew 20:1-16

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Jesus uses a parable to reveal the heart of the Kingdom of God, and it teaches about the gift of God that He bestows upon all whom he calls to serve in his vineyard. He uses this illustration and one that to our view is unfair that he might encourage all to hear the voice of their good shepherd and find a home with Him, and in this parable there is warning against those who trust in their own greatness and works and comfort for those who fall into despair.

The Who and the What

The Master represents God or Christ

It is important to always find who God is in these parables, and who Christ is, and here he is represented by the owner of all things.

The Vineyard is the church.

Jesus had in other parables used a vineyard to depict Jerusalem, which was God’s Holy City, but had fallen into sin quite often.

The Laborers are people.

You will notice that they are invited to the vineyard, they are chosen by the master to serve, not the other way around.

The Denarius is salvation.

Now in any parable there are moments of dissimilarity, and we know from other Scripture passages that we do not work for our salvation. Rather this belongs to God to give to whom he chooses.

The Marketplace is the world.

It represents all of those who are out in the world and are not with God, but God calls them into his kingdom.

The Twist/Surprise

Those who worked only an hour got full pay!

This is a sweet deal! Imagine going in for only one hour a day and getting full wages, we would be ecstatic and overjoyed. Especially if there had been no one else to take us to work until the end of the day.

The Laborers who started early are upset!

We can also understand their frustration, for we would assume like they did that if those who worked only 1 hour got a full day’s wage, then those who worked 12 hours, should be eligible for 12 days wages!

The Master points out that He is doing what he promised.

He did not deceive them, but called them to labor in the field since the beginning of the day, and gave to them exactly as he promised. This surprise is meant to teach us about the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom does not depend on work, but God’s grace.

There are those who are called early to the faith and those who are called late. The one who does the calling is most important. That we are called by God to faith in His Son.

What matters is God’s promise to you.

He has given you the gift of Eternal life, it is a wage that you didn’t earn, nor deserve, but one that was won for you by His Son Jesus Christ. For Jesus is the one who bore the heat of the day, and even the fires of hell itself for you.

Consider in the parable who owns the vineyard and the denarius?

They both belong to God, but He has called you into His house and promised to give you this coin, that secures for your eternal life. As the owner of the vineyard, he didn’t have to call you, or give you anything, but He did for He saw at the end of the day, that is when the end of the all things that there were those who had not been called, but He went looking for them.

How Does This Apply?

At the time, the Pharisees were upset that Jesus ate with sinners.

They couldn’t believe that Jesus was sitting there with awful sinners compared with the pharisees who had struggled and worked hard to follow the Law of God fully. They believed that Jesus should be eating with them who had worked hard instead of these people who had done little.

In the early Church, there was tension between the Jews and the Gentiles.

The Jews had followed many ceremonial laws that Jesus had abolished through His Sacrifice, and there were questions about how much the Gentiles should follow this, and there were some who were very upset and demanded that the Gentiles followed all the rules, and bear the same hardships they did to receive the gift of eternal life.

Today, a lifelong Christian may be upset, that a sinner repents in their final hour and is saved.

Indeed there can be frustration and bitterness that takes root in the hearts of Christians today who see a sinner who is called to God in the last hour of their life, while they have had to fight against their flesh and its desires for years.

The Heart Of This Parable

Jesus says, the last will be first, and the first last.

By first Jesus means those that the world holds in high regard, as the best, the hardest working, in short those who are deserving of honor and glory. WHereas the last, those who are the lowest of society the downtrodden, the unworthy, the shameful, that is to say, sinners. Will receive this reward.

Don’t assume your works make you more worthy than the worst sinner.

This is how the world often works, but we should not attempt to elevate ourselves in God’s eyes as though we are something for we have suffered certain afflictions, been Christians longer, etc. For if we try to hold these things up as though we are someone great and worthy of heaven, God will compare us with His own holiness and the work of His Son, and we will look like fools.

Also may no sinner despair that they cannot be saved.

The comforting teaching found in this parable is that those who were called late still received this gift of eternal life. If a person is called by Christ even at the last hour of their life, like the thief on the cross, though they can do nothing, they cannot fix the wrongs they have done, they cannot help their neighbor, be of good cheer, for you cannot fall so far that Christ cannot save you.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, may this parable be impressed upon your minds, that we do not rely on our works, our trials, or our merits to get us into heaven, but to remember that we are called by the Gospel, and enlightened and sanctified you by His gifts, made you holy and kept you in the one true faith. Whenever a sinner is brought to repentance and faith in christ, do not let the devil plant seeds of bitterness in our hearts, but rather rejoice for our brother, our sister, who was lost has been found, and will not perish. For that is the exact same thing that Jesus did for us. In Jesus name. Amen.