Septuagesima (2026)

Matt 20:1-16

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Gospel Lesson for today is a precious parable where Christ speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven and the rich reward that we receive from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This lesson is vitally important as it confronts a desire that every Christian must guard against and watch out for, and especially that can twist the good gift that God gives into a bitter pill that poisons the great blessing that God gives us in Christ. So let us examine this parable to understand it rightly and that we may remember the good and gracious gift that God has given us through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Parable Parts

It is important to identify Jesus.

Generally he is the first one you want to find in any parable, and if you can’t find him, find the father as that helps shape the rest of your understanding for the rest of the parable, and what point is being made here. Jesus is the Master of the House. This parable is also told after he deals with the young man who wants to know what to do to inherit eternal life, and the man goes away sad. Jesus then speaks of the difficulty that comes for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God, and its easier for a camel to go through th eye of a needle, this shocks the disciples, and they want to know who can be saved, and Jesus with man it’s impossible, but with God all things are possible, and Peter says, See we have left everything and followed you. Jesus speaks of the new world, and how the disciples will be seated on thrones judging the 12 tribes of israel, and whoever forsakes family, home, for Jesus’ name sake will be rewarded, and then he says, but many who are first will be last and the last first. That helps unlock the rest of this parable, because we see Jesus,

But what else is there?

Laborers = ___________

These are Christians that have been called to Christ and have forsaken their place in the world to abide with Christ.

Vineyard = ___________

This then is Christ’s Kingdom, it is not like an earthly kingdom, but this speaks of the faith and going about the works of God in our vocations and serving the Lord and not ourselves.

Denarius = ___________

This is the promised reward of a place in Christ’s kingdom and the blessings of God that we hear about throughout Scripture.

Marketplace = ___________

This is the common area to find people, and this represents the world from which Christ calls us that we might no longer work for ourselves, but have a place with Him.

End of the day = ___________

This is when the time of judgment comes, either at Christ’s return or at our death. It’s here that we see a bit of trouble start up and the grumbling begins.

The Grumbling Workers

We understand their complaint.

Can you imagine if this was you and your sibling and your parents promised you ice cream if you got the weeding done, or cleaned up the presents the dogs had left in the yard, and after you had worked for 6 hours in the heat, your brother or sister comes out in the final hour and puts in a little bit of effort and gets the same reward? Oh, that’s unfair! We would be livid, and we would eat our ice cream, but it would taste like ash in our mouths, while our sibling ate happily. But that is what Christ is warning them about!

The kingdom of heaven isn’t about the work.

It isn’t about how long you were out in the field, the vineyard doesn’t belong to you, you don’t know when the Lord will call you into his kingdom, and you don’t know what the conditions will be like that you are facing, but Christ has called us and brought us out of the world. So when he speaks to these men at the end, he points out why are they upset that he was generous? For

Who secured the treasures of heaven?

Who opened the vaults of heaven that riches of mercy, forgiveness, love, and grace might be given to mankind? Who open the way to paradise that Jesus might give to each of us the gift of eternal life? We possess the hope of salvation because it didn’t depend upon our labors,

The Hope of Salvation

It depends on the promise.

Whether we are here during the heat of the day, or the cool of the evening, he promised the same. Which means it wasn’t about the particular labor we were doing or how long we were working, but it depends upon God’s Word and His promise. So when we talk about hope,

When is it too late?

The parable shows us that Christ keeps searching for us to the very last hour. We are reading through Ezekiel, and in 34 we hear about how the Lord will shepherd His people and he goes out to seek the lost and to save them on a day of thick clouds and darkness. Christ goes forth into the world to bring us home.

Why is this important?

There are many who think that there is no hope for them because they haven’t lived a good enough life, and they see that they are in the 11th hour, and death is near, and reason what hope is there for me at this point? Or they reason, I don’t have the skills or the strength, what good would I be in the house of God? Don’t you see the generosity, the care, and the love that Jesus has, that He who has the riches of heaven seeks your good, and does not measure your worth based upon how much good you have done, but what motivates Him is his love for you.

The Marketplace

There are many there.

How does Christ call out to those who are in the marketplace and invites them into His kingdom? Well faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” So we invite those who are not in the vineyard to come for Christ has promised that salvation is also for them.

We ignore quite a few.

This is because of our ideas of what the Church should look like, and who is most likely to convert, and this has been the groundwork laid by those who tried to blend the church with business practices and have treated evangelism and the gospel like a product to be sold. We are calling them to leave behind the world and its ways that lead to death, and instead receive the treasures of heaven. Evangelism and Church growth, I want to be clear

It isn’t just about the youth.

Youth are not the future of the church, Jesus is the future of the church, don’t put children or babies in the place of Christ. The youth need Jesus, but do they need him more than the 60 year old who has fallen away and abandoned the faith? We all need him, and so I will warrant, that you know someone who is not attached to any church. Invite them to receive God’s gifts. Let’s us make sure that we are

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

We must guard against satan.

He would have us prioritize different groups based upon our vision of what we want the Church to be, or what we remember it being like. What the Church looks like, and who are members of it, are those that are in the marketplace, so we should look like our community and that’s good. Satan would have us target one or the other group, but Jesus died for all, and all of us,

We are only here because of Jesus.

Think about that frustration that we experienced as kids about stuff not being fair, go back to cleaning up the garden, yard, doing the dishes, sweeping, homework, etc. As kids, why did we even have home in which to do chores? Where did the clothes come from that we wash, the food that we ate? Did we earn it, no. What about school, we say the government, but really its the taxes of our neighbors who didn’t want us to be dumb, and be able to make a living? It was because others made sacrifices for us because they wanted something better for you.

We as Christians today are blessed compared with the history of the Christian church. How many of us have shed our blood, been spit in the face, watched our churches burned down, or been sent to prison, because we bear the name of Jesus? Even those who experienced those things, what do any of our sufferings, our persecutions, our pains, compare with what Christ endured for us? How can any christian complain about working in Christ’s kingdom? Did we lay the stones to establish the city of God. No that was Jesus, He planted the vineyard, He won all the riches of heaven, and pleaded our case with the father that we might be forgiven, then He invites us to work in it for a few hours, and makes us heirs of eternal life? That’s why when

When sinners repent there is joy.

If a sinner repents, what great joy there is in heaven. For they did not die in their sins, but they have received the gift of eternal life. Yes we call sin, sin, for if we don’t call it what it is, then people will not realize the danger that comes with it, but when a person repents. What joy, for one who was lost has been found, and has received the gift that none of us deserved.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, share the Gospel, not only the message of the Law, but also that sweet invitation that there is a place for you here to receive God’s gifts and His blessings. If they have fallen away, if they found the work unpleasant, or unfair that people were working in different areas remind them of what Christ has promised. It is not earthly treasure, but eternity, and without it we would all perish, but He has opened the vault of heaven to us, and that reason enough to come and receive Jesus’ blessings. In Jesus name. Amen.