Going On To Jerusalem

Going On to Jerusalem

Matthew 20:1, NIV

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

Setting the Scene

Matthew 20 opens without a transition from the previous chapter, when Jesus was responding to Peter’s question about who can get into the Kingdom of God. The use of “for” (gar in Greek) indicates an ongoing thought. Chapter 19 ends with Jesus’ statement, “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matthew 19:30, NIV). He repeats the statement, almost verbatim, after the parable about the vineyard workers: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16, NIV).

In this parable, Jesus’ subject is the “kingdom of heaven,” and the word like sets up the comparison. The Kingdom is represented by the landowner; believers are compared with workers hired at various times during the day; the vineyard is the world; the harvest is the work God wants done between belief and eventual reward; and the wages represent what believers receive “at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne” (Matthew 19:28, NIV). The foreman plays a representative role as the deliverer of the wages according to the landowner’s instructions.

As the story unfolds, group after group of workers is hired for the harvest although the available time for work continually becomes shorter. The time frame of the parable has the action occurring during a single day, but the day can as easily represent a lifetime or an age. Peter had just inquired about the Kingdom reward of the disciples who have given up “everything” (Matthew 19:27, NIV) to follow Jesus. They were among the first and they gave up a lot. Jesus indicated that the disciples will have responsibilities in the Kingdom but that everyone who has left behind anything will eventually receive a hundredfold reward as well as eternal life. In other words, all the believers will receive much more than they deserve, apart from how they, in their human understanding, might be measuring or valuing sacrifices made for the Kingdom.

Jesus’ parable expands on his teaching that “many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matthew 19:30, NIV). The first hired in the parable are the last paid. The landowner/employer had agreed to pay a specified amount to the first group hired but hired the rest without wage negotiations. In the economy of the parable, the first workers received every cent they were promised. The potential fairness argument arises from the fact that the landowner paid everyone the same amount, which made the early workers assume they should receive more.

What God has given us in Christ is far beyond anything we have done to deserve it. This parable challenges how ready we are to see others be given that same priceless privilege entirely apart from anything they have done to deserve it. If we desire more, have we really understood how privileged we are to receive anything at all?

Getting Personal

As you serve the Lord, when do you find yourself slipping into a feeling of smug satisfaction, as if you are really earning your place in the Kingdom after all?

What really was the price paid for your gift of eternal life?

In what ways would you characterize your life right now as an example of work in the vineyard?

While Jesus’ illustration made use of the work patterns in the ancient world, he was, in reality, describing God’s grace. Any interpretation of this parable that leads to the idea of earning something regarding eternal life woefully misses the point. Eternal life is the more-than-adequate and undeserved gift apart from the time and effort one has devoted to the Kingdom in this life.

Talking to God

Ask the Lord to help you get rid of the persistent human tendency to take some credit for what he has graciously done for you. Ask him to help you be diligent out of gratitude and desire to please him because you love him.