The Parable of the Laborers in the Vinyard – Matthew 20:1-16
Here is an audio link for today’s parable.
Today’s parable comes when the shadow of the cross is looming. Calvary is near.
But the parable also follows Matthew 19’s account of the Rich Young Ruler. Jesus had just offered the riches of Heaven to a young wealthy and powerful man. With sorrow, the young man turned Jesus down.
“If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard that, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.
Matthew 19:21-22
Jesus wasn’t telling the young man that he had to earn salvation by giving away his wealth. Rather, the Savior was asking for his heart. Jesus hoped the man would see that everything this world offered him would pale in comparison.
Then Peter asks the Savior a question.
Then Peter responded to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us?”
Matthew 19:27
Jesus answered with directness. “Eternal life with God.” (Matthew 19:28-30)
What more could anyone want?
And that brings us to the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.
The vineyard owner is a reflection of God’s mercy and grace for everyone who will be saved. The amount of His grace is not contingent upon what we can do to earn it.
God’s grace is based upon His sovereign will and kindness. This is also a reminder that God’s grace is available to everyone.
Wouldn’t you love to have heard Jesus teach this parable?
Let’s listen in as He reminds the disciples that the last will be first.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the workers on one denarius, he sent them into his vineyard for the day.
When he went out about nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went.
About noon and about three, he went out again and did the same thing. Then about five he went and found others standing around and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’ “
‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.”‘ You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them.
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.’
“When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius. So, when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each.
When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: ‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day’s work and the burning heat.’
“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous? “So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Matthew 20:1-16
It is important to understand that Jesus was not comparing the last workers in the parable with people who make death bed confessions and are born again.
Jesus was talking about late bloomers. He was talking about people who come to Him late and life.
They came when it was His will. They came because they responded to the call of the Holy Spirit.
So, if you are fifty, sixty, or even one hundred years old, live for Jesus!
Every breath He gives should be to glorify His great name, love and grace.
Regardless of how long you’ve been saved, God’s gracious Gift is the same for all who believe.
If the workers who had labored all day long had been rewarded for the amount of work that they performed, then the false preachers who teach the prosperity gospel would be justified in their message.
They are not justified. Many may simply be misguided. But many are lost, and they are leading others to follow them.
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
Ephesians 2:8
Don’t forget to read what came before, during and after this parable.
The end of Matthew 20 reveals something about two of the disciples and their mother. They seem to have missed the whole point of today’s parable.
Share the Good News in your world!
Isaiah 52:7
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
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