Matthew 20:1-16

Scripture Reading: Romans 3:21-26

Introduction

I’m Going to Tell You Something You Don’t Know About Yourself

And When I Tell You this Fact that I Know About You…

You’re Going to Disagree with Me

But What I’m About to Tell You About You is True…

Whether You Agree or Not

And Whether You Like it or Not

What I Know About You is:

You Don’t Like Generosity/Grace

Let Me Be More Specific:

You Like Generosity/Grace When They’re Directed Toward You…

But You Don’t Like the General Concept of Generosity/Grace

I Know this is True About You…

Because it’s True About Me

And in Our Text, Jesus is Going to Prove it to Be True

Matthew 20:1-16

Last Week, Peter Asked Jesus:

“Since We’ve Done What the Rich, Young Ruler was Unwilling to Do…”

“What will Be Our Reward?”

Jesus Told the Apostles that They’ll Receive Authority Over the Kingdom

And All Who Make Sacrifices to Follow Jesus…

Will Receive 100 Times as Much as They Gave Up in this Present Age…

And Eternal Life in the Age to Come

You May have Noticed Last Week…

That I Left Out a Verse

We Didn’t Read Verse 30

I Did that Intentionally

What Jesus Says to the Disciples in Verse 30…

Leads Directly into a Parable in Chapter 20

Everything We’ve Looked at the Past Several Weeks is All Connected:

The Lowly Children Coming to Jesus

The Rich, Young Ruler Coming to Jesus

And the Disciples Questioning Jesus about Their Reward

Each of These Passages have Been Teaching Us a Very Important Truth

Kingdom Values are Different than Worldly Values

Under God’s Reign, the Roles are Reversed

Matthew 19:30 (NASB95)

30 “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Those Considered 1st/Greatest/Important in Kingdoms of the World…

Are Considered Last/Least/Insignificant in the Kingdom of God

And Those Considered Last/Least/Insignificant in the Kingdoms of the World…

Are Considered 1st/Greatest/Important in the Kingdom of God

Within the Context of Jesus’ Conversation with the Apostles…

I Believe He’s Comforting Them

They’ve Given Up Everything to Follow Him

They Became Last in Order to Join the Messiah

So When the Kingdom Comes in its Fullness (His Reign is Complete)…

They will Be First

Let’s Get into the Parable that Further Explains this Kingdom Reversal

Matthew 20:1 (NASB95)

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is Like”:

“This is How God Rules”

God’s Rule is Like a Landowner Hiring Laborers for His Vineyard

The Landowner is Looking to Hire “Day Laborers”

These are Workers Who are Only Hired and Payed for a Day

They would Usually Gather in the Marketplace…

And Hope Someone would Come Along to Hire Them

They were Typically Uneducated/Unskilled

They were Near the Bottom of the Socioeconomic Ladder

Even Slaves had it Better than Day Laborers…

Because They had Masters to Work for Everyday…

Which Meant They had a Provider Everyday

They Didn’t have to Worry Each Day How They’d Feed Their Families

But that was the Difficult Reality of Many Day Laborers

Day Laborers were Often Mistreated and Underpaid

The Law of Moses Commanded Against Mistreating Them:

Deuteronomy 24:14–15 (NASB95)

14 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns. 15 “You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; so that he will not cry against you to the Lord and it become sin in you.

The Landowner Goes to the Marketplace Early in the Morning

The Workday Typically Began at 6:00 a.m. or Sunrise…

And Ended at 6:00 p.m. or Sunset

Matthew 20:2 (NASB95)

2 “When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

A Denarius was the Standard Pay for a Day’s Worth of Work

That’s What He Offered Them, and They Agreed to it

Matthew 20:3–5 (NASB95)

3 “And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; 4 and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. 5 “Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.

3 Hours Later (at 9:00 a.m.), He Went to the Marketplace for More Workers

And Again at Noon and Then Again at 3:00 p.m.

He Told These Later Workers…

That He’d Pay Them Whatever is Right

He Promised a Fair Wage for Their Work

They Probably Assumed They would Get a Fraction of a Denarius…

Since They weren’t Going to Be Working a Full Day

Matthew 20:6 (NASB95)

6 “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’

He Went to the Marketplace One Final Time at 5:00 p.m.

That Means the Workday is 1 Hour Away From Being Over

He Sees Some More People Standing Around and Asks Them a Question:

“Why have You Been Standing Here Idle All Day Long?”

There’s a Couple Ways to Read this Question

Don’t Read it as:

“Why have You Lazy Bums Been Standing Around All Day?”

We’re Not Meant to View These Men Negatively

They’re in the Marketplace

They’re Looking for Work

They Need Work to Provide for Their Families

They Tell the Landowner Why They’ve Been Standing Idle All Day

Matthew 20:7 (NASB95)

7 “They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

Why had They Been Standing Idle in the Marketplace All Day?

Because No One had Hired Them

Why had No One Hired Them?

We aren’t Told, But I Think the Point We’re Meant to Take is:

No One Wanted Them

But Even Though There’s Only an Hour Left in the Workday…

This Landowner Hires Them Anyway

They can Only Expect a Very Small Fraction of a Denarius at this Point…

But a Little Money is Better Than No Money

Matthew 20:8–12 (NASB95)

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ 9 “When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. 10 “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

The Workday is Over and it’s Time to Pay the Workers

The Later Groups of Workers were, No Doubt…

Expecting to Receive a Small Amount of Pay

But to Their Very Pleasant Surprise…

They were Paid for a Whole Day’s Work

Put Yourself in the Place of the First Workers Who Worked All 12 Hours

You’ve Finished a Long, Hard Day’s Work

And Coworkers Who Only Worked a Fraction of What You Did…

Get Paid as if They Worked the Entire Day

You’d Expect to Get More than Them, Right?

But When it’s Finally Your Turn to Get Paid…

You Get a Single Denarius, Just Like Everyone Else

How Does that Make You Feel?

You’d Respond the Same Way They Did, Wouldn’t You?

You’d Grumble and Complain…

If Not to the Boss, to Your Spouse When You Got Home

And I Bet You’d Speak These 3 Words:

“That’s…Not…Fair”

The 1st Workers’ Complaint was that the Landowner was Unfair

They Worked All Day in the Burning Sun…

And These Last Workers Only Worked an Hour in the Cool Evening

It’s Not Fair that “You’ve Made Them Equal to Us”

They Didn’t Say, “You’ve Made Us Equal to Them”

But, “You’ve Made Them Equal to Us”

They weren’t Primarily Upset with What the Landowner Paid Them

They were Upset Because Those They Deemed Less Deserving…

Received the Same Amount

Matthew 20:13–16 (NASB95)

13 “But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 ‘Take what is yours and go, but 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 what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

The Landowner Respond to Their Complaint in Several Ways:

“I’ve Not Treated You Unfairly”

“You Agreed to the Price You were Given”

“I’m Allowed to Use My Money How I Want”

“And What I Want…”

“Is to Give Everyone the Same”

“You’re Upset, Not Because I’m Unfair…”

“But Because I’m Generous”

Wow! How in the World Do You Respond to that?

You Cross Your Arms and Throw a Pity Party for Yourself…

And Then You Go Home

I Imagine that’s What They Did…

Because that’s What We’d Do, isn’t it?

Are You Starting to See that What I Told You About Yourself is True?

You Don’t Like Generosity/Grace

We’ve Got Little Alarms in Our Heads that Go Off…

Whenever We Witness/Experience Something We Feel is Unfair/Unjust

We Don’t Like Injustice

We Like Fairness

And Let’s Be Honest…

Generosity/Grace is Not Just/Fair

But We’d Be the Biggest Fools on Earth…

If We Demanded that God Be Fair Toward Us…

Instead of Gracious/Generous

If God Gave Us What is Fair/We Deserve…

We’d Be Doomed

Application

This Parable Teaches Us 2 Very Important Things:

The Reckless Generosity/Grace of God

The Landowner in this Parable is Recklessly Generous

He Goes Searching for More Workers…

Even When There’s Only an Hour Left in the Workday

Then He Pays Everyone for a Full-Day’s Work…

Even Those Who’ve Only Worked an Hour

Those of You Who are Business-Minded would Say:

“That’s a Terrible Way to Run a Business!”

“It’s Absolutely Reckless”

And so is the Grace/Generosity of God

He Goes Searching for People to Enter His Kingdom…

Not for His Benefit, But for Their’s

He Rewards Them with Eternal Life as Heirs of All that is His…

Not Because They’ve Earned it Through Effort…

But Because He Wants to Give it

God is Reckless with His Generosity/Grace

We are Sinners, Yet We are Innocent

God is Just/Fair, Yet We are Justified

We as His Children Deserve Punishment, Yet He’s Going to Reward Us

And it’s All Due to His Reckless Generosity/Grace/Love

There’s a Song by Cory Asbury Called “Reckless Love”

I Love the Words to the Chorus:

The overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God It chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

The First Important Thing We Learn From this Parable…

Is that God is Recklessly Generous/Gracious

Seek to Be Last

The 1st Workers Hired Represent Those Who…

Consider Themselves to be of Greater Importance

They Believe Their Skills/Abilities/Contribution…

Makes Them Worthy of a Reward

The Last Workers Hired Represent Those Who…

Recognize Their Lack of Importance

They Know Their Skills/Abilities/Contribution…

Will Never Make Them Worthy of Reward

In the Kingdom, the 1st will Be Last and the Last will Be First

Knowing that the Roles are Reversed in the Kingdom…

Should Transform the Way We Live/Serve in the Kingdom

The Leaders in the Kingdom are the Servants

The Spotlight Shines Upon Those in the Background

Don’t Seek to Be the Main Event…

Seek to Be the One Who Sweeps/Mops the Floors After the Event

Those are the Greatest/Most Important in the Kingdom

Those are the Ones Whom God Exalts

The Greatest/First in Jesus’ Kingdom are the Lowly Undesirables

The Ones Washing the Feet, Not the Ones Seeking Honor/Glory

Too Often, We Put Levels/Ranks on Certain Works/Abilities/Gifts

But All Workers in Jesus’ Kingdom will Be Rewarded the Same

But the Humble/Lowly/Last will Be Given More Honor

They’ll Be First

So, Seek to Be Last

Seek to Be Unimportant

Use Whatever Gifts God has Given You…

And Serve Others with Humility

You’ll Be Greatly Rewarded

The Reward of Eternal Life in the Kingdom of God…

Is Not Based Upon Worthiness

It’s Not About What/How Much You’ve Done

It’s Not About Being Deserving

It’s About Relying Upon His Reckless Grace/Generosity…

And Serving Him in Humility and Gratitude