The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

Opening Prayer

“Life’s not fair.”

Have you ever thought that? Thought to yourself that life’s not fair?

Have you ever said that out loud? Perhaps to a friend? At a time when you were in misery?

Have you ever cried it to God? Muttered the words to the One who gave you life, “Life’s not fair”?

Typically when we say, “Life’s not fair,” it flows from a comparison. Why do they have what I don’t? Why didn’t that person get pulled over? Why didn’t I win the lottery instead of that person? Look at their lifestyle, and I’m the one who gets sick?

Our continued study of radical stories—parables taught by Jesus—speaks to the heart of the one’s who believe life’s not fair.

In order to properly dive in to our parable for our study this morning, we need to have some context.

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In Matthew chapter 19, little children are being brought to Jesus to be blessed by Him, but the disciples rebuked the people bringing children to Jesus. The disciples are acting in a manner that the children are just a nuisance. Why should Jesus waste His time on these little children? There is so much for Him to do…so much for Him to say and teach the disciples. But Jesus lets the children come to Him, and He says, “Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)

Jesus tells the disciples those who come to Him like children, with nothing to offer but their love and devotion, are the ones to whom the kingdom belongs.

Our context continues.

Immediately following Jesus’ interactions with the children being brought to Him, Matthew 19 continues with Jesus being approached by a rich man. The rich man asks Jesus, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus tells the rich man to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and come follow Him. The rich man leaves disheartened.

Another teachable moment for the disciples. Jesus tells the disciples how difficult it is for a rich person to enter heaven, that it is harder than a camel going through the eye of a needle.

These two accounts offer a clear contrast. Children, who have nothing to offer but childlike faith, are close to the kingdom, while rich people who have much to offer but are reluctant to part with it, are far.

So then Peter replies in Matthew 19:26, “See, we have left everything and followed You. What then will we have?”

Uh oh. Did you hear what Peter said? Are you hearing what he’s implying? The door to comparison has been cracked open. The “life’s not fair” accusation can come at any moment…

Matthew 19:28-30 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Peter says, “Jesus, we’ve given up everything to be Your follower, just as you challenged this young rich man to do. What do we get in return?”

Jesus’ reply to Peter and the rest of the disciples is, “You will receive so much more than what you have given up, and you will inherit eternal life. There is nothing that you have lost or sacrificed in the here and now on Earth that will not be made up a hundredfold for all eternity.”

And then Jesus says, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Then Jesus immediately tells the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. His audience is Peter and the disciples. He is going to teach them about the Kingdom of Heaven—the Kingdom of God. And in doing so, this parable is purposely molded so as to reflect what occurs in God’s rule of grace.

Let’s dive into this parable together and turn your Bibles to the beginning of Matthew chapter 20.

Matthew 20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.”

The master of the house is God.

The laborers refer to the work done by the means of men—the Christians who are called and appointed to this work.

The vineyard refers to the visible church—the kingdom of God in the here and now on Earth. This is where the work of God’s grace appears.

Matthew 20:2-5 “After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.”

A denarius was a monetary sum that was the equivalent of a day’s wage for a laborer.

It is argued that the laborer was the lowest rung of the social ladder. Sometimes even lower than slaves or servants when speaking about safety and security. You see, a slave or servant in the context of Jesus’ time had a place. They had food and shelter. They were a part of their owner’s household. Arguably, you were better off to be an indebted slave than a day laborer for the day laborer was on his own with no place in the household.

So, when the owner goes out into the marketplace and sees other day laborers standing idle and offers them work in his vineyard, he is basically saying, “Come work for me. Come be a part of my household.” What we see here is the owner—God—doing an act of grace.

Matthew 20:6-7 “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’”

The Jewish day is from 6 AM to 6 PM, and the night is from 6 PM to 6 AM. Earlier in this parable, we read that the landowner began hiring day laborers early in the morning, and then he hired some more at the third hour, which would be 9 AM, and some more at the sixth hour, which would be 12 Noon, and some more at the ninth hour, which would be 3 PM.

But here in this passage, the landowner hires more day laborers to “come work with me, come be a part of my household” at the eleventh hour, which would be 5 PM—just one hour before the end of the day.

Matthew 20:8-12 “And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’”

This is where our story—our parable—takes a twist. It’s what is weird or exaggerated or the anomaly of the culture of its time. As we have been learning all along these past few weeks, parables didn’t just have a moral to the story—they are not merely fables but rather they had a spiritual truth that Jesus was teaching. Parables applied a cultural context so that the listeners would have meaning, but often revealed a twist—a weirdness, an exaggeration, or an anomaly that conveyed a spiritual truth. That is why these parables are radical stories—radically teaching us about a spiritual truth.

The oddity of this parable in light of the cultural context is how the landowner continued to go out and find laborers throughout the day and at the end of the workday, he tells his manager to pay the wages out to the workers beginning with those that he hired last—in the eleventh hour. Just as Jesus said at the end of chapter 19, “So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Each worker, whether starting at the beginning of the day or being hired one hour before the end of the workday received the same payment.

And the comparison begins. The grumbling let loose. The “life’s not fair” complaint that “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”

Life’s not fair!—they must have been thinking if not outright saying it.

Life’s not fair!

Here we are—on this Father’s Day—and how fitting we are talking about a parable with an emphasis on work!

Too often our men find their identity in their work, and in what they earn for their work. Like it or not, agree or disagree, it is a too often reality of our cultural context. The world in which we live emphasizes work, pay, and getting what you deserve.

While on the surface, it appears that this parable is about work. It is not. It is not a tale of morality. It is not about a call to socialism or a call to equity and equality in work wages. No, it is not about work. It is about what it means to be in the vineyard. It is about what it means to experience the unfair generosity of God.

Matthew 20:13-16 “But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.””

Here it is—the parable unfolded for us.

God is the owner of the vineyard and those of us who have been saved, who have come to faith in Jesus, are like the workers. Some become believers early in life, some later in life, some even at the proverbial eleventh hour on their deathbed. But each one receives eternal life. Simply put, it doesn’t matter when in life you come to faith in Jesus, each one who does receives eternal life.

Such a simple lesson! So, why doesn’t Jesus just come out say it?

Well, throughout Scripture, God has used imagery and stories and illustrations and parables to convey His truth.

Think about how God worked through the prophet Nathan to confront David about his adultery with Bathsheba. Nathan tells him a story and David gets so upset and Nathan says to David, “You are that man!” You can read all about that in the 12th chapter of 2 Samuel.

Or when the story of the Exodus is told and retold to remind God’s people about His deliverance of His people from the bondage of sin.

Or when Jesus makes reference to His death and resurrection by using the story of Jonah being swallowed up in a great fish for three days.

There is something about a good story. It appeals to our senses, and it can even penetrate our soul.

That’s why these parables of Jesus are radical stories! Teachings about a spiritual truth that have an eternal impact upon us.

And what about this parable’s spiritual truth that penetrates our souls? Well, yes, it is true—life is not fair. Life is not fair because the generosity of God is not fair.

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There are so many levels at which we could talk about the unfairness of God’s generosity.

It was evident in the beginning of our study together this morning. In Matthew chapter 19, Jesus welcomes the little children…he lifts them up even though they were a cultural nuisance with nothing to offer to better society. Jesus welcomes those who have nothing.

For the rich young man who walked away sad because he had so much and didn’t want to part with it, Jesus gave it all—not just His material possessions but rather He gave His life. He gave it all—an innocent Man condemned to death, forsaken so that we would never be forsaken, all because the generosity of God’s grace is unfair.

The generosity of God’s grace is unfair because if we were to truly get what we deserve, we would not receive any of God’s grace.

Our wage would not even be a denarius. The wage that we deserve is not a little amount—no, it is a devastating amount. Paul tells it as it is in his letter to the Romans: “For the wages of sin is death...”

And so Jesus taught Peter and the disciples that their work is important because they have been called to work in His vineyard—in His kingdom—but their work is not about self-promotion or what they’ve earned or how they’ll be glorified—rather Jesus taught them and reminds us this morning that He calls us—He invites us—to be a part of His kingdom…His vineyard…His household.

The point of this parable is not about the work of the laborer, but rather the work of the landowner—going out and bringing in people to his vineyard and his work of paying them—compensation of salvation.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Praise God that life is not fair, for God’s grace and generosity to us sinners is wonderfully unfair! Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank You for Your unfair generosity when we deserve death and damnation, but because of Your lavish love for us and Your unfair generosity, we are blessed with salvation. We thank You Lord for calling us into Your vineyard and into Your kingdom and into Your household. We pray this in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.