The Parables of Jesus - The Laborers in the Vineyard

Introduction

This parable of Jesus takes us directly into the reality of what the grace of God is and what His Kingdom in heaven is, what He does and accomplishes, in His holy sovereignty and according to His will on earth.

It shows us what He accomplishes when He chooses souls, calls them, sends them into His field, and rewards them according to His generosity, which is first and foremost eternal life.

It also helps us understand how His perfect plan of redemption must be taught and applied in the lives of those who love Him and who love their neighbor in their daily witness, so that we do not put a burden on their lives, but help them understand that it is God who does and accomplishes the work through His children, and that the One who rewards is also the Lord.

We will also see that the condition of our heart will have a direct impact on the way we consider His grace and, consequently, on the gratitude we owe Him.

This parable also speaks about a master who will employ workers and reward them according to His good pleasure and what He desires to do. This will show us that the workers must believe the master and trust in what He has established, especially the wage that was promised to them, and this by faith in him.

There is much here to see and understand. So, let us go through it together, in order to give all the glory to our God, the Master of the vineyard, who reigns in His heavenly Kingdom, who loves us when we trust Him in His calling upon our lives, and who still speaks to us today through His Word. Let us now read this parable, shall we?

Reading — Matthew 20:1–16 (ESV)

Context of the parable

The parable is given by Jesus to His disciples as a response to the passages that come before it. In other words, the explanation of this reward that He gives His disciples is a consequence of what He is going to say beforehand.

In the previous chapter, there is this “rich young man” who asks a very important question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” because he thought that he had to do something toward God, as the Law of Moses says, in order to receive something in return from God (Matthew 19:16). Like a kind of offering coming from him.

But Jesus answered him with something he did not expect: “Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” So the rich young man went away, because his heart was far too attached to his possessions and he could not leave everything for Jesus.

This means that this treasure in heaven, which is eternal life, cannot be acquired or earned by anything that man can do, but rather through faith in Jesus and by following Him, with nothing in the heart taking first place in his life.

And then, in verse 25, it is the disciples’ turn to ask Him a question, after being shocked by what Jesus, their Master, had answered the rich young man. They said, “Who then can be saved?”

This could also mean: “But then, who can really go to heaven? How can we inherit the Kingdom of heaven?” And Jesus answered them: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (v.26). This directly and exclusively points to the hand of God in the salvation of souls, because for man, it is impossible to enter His Kingdom.

Then Peter reacts and asks in his turn, to claim their place in the Kingdom before Jesus, and he says: “See, we have left everything and followed You; what then will we have?” We can see that this question comes from the heart, as if he were saying: “And what about us, after all our sacrifices following you?”

But Jesus answered him with the authority of God Himself that they would sit on the twelve thrones in His glory and judge the twelve tribes of Israel, which means that they would have a place of honor with Him, at His side, in the Kingdom of heaven.

But He also told them, as a teaching, so that they would understand the power of the hand of God through Jesus, and so that when they would teach in their turn, they would pass it on in truth, even to the ends of the earth, that whoever leaves things because of His name—that is, people, possessions, passions, everything that is precious to him in this world—to follow Him and do the work of God in the name of Jesus, for the Kingdom of God, “will inherit eternal life.“

Yes, Jesus asked His disciples to follow Him by faith during the three years of His ministry, in order to teach them. It is not about leaving everything in order to be saved, but rather about following Jesus in order to be saved!

And then Jesus gave them this line before telling His parable, which will come back later and which we will explain, confirming the continuation of His teaching: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Now that this has been brought to light, let us look at the parable itself.

The Master Hires Labourers

— «“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. 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. 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.»  v.1-7

Here, there are several representations. The master of the house represents God, the One who saves and personally chooses workers, that is, believers, according to His sovereignty and His will, whom Jesus Himself calls disciples.

God extends His call to a useful and intentional service in His vineyard, the place where God sends His children to do His redemptive work, that is, for the salvation of souls and the work of the Father that He prepared beforehand for them.

Then comes a recruitment of workers several times throughout the day. The Master calls the first workers early in the morning. The second time is at the third hour, then at the sixth hour, at the ninth hour, and finally at the eleventh hour. We can already notice that the first workers are the only ones with whom the Master makes a clear agreement concerning their work.

We can already see here a distinction between the first workers who were called and those who would be called later. The first can make us think of the people of Israel, to whom God had given His Scriptures, His promises, and the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah. They had therefore received the revelation of God and knew the hope that had been announced to them.

But those who will be called afterward, the last, will also enter the Master’s vineyard to work there. However, they will not necessarily have received this same revelation and this same knowledge of the promises.

Yet they will respond to the Master’s call by trusting Him, counting on His goodness and His faithfulness, despite the cost to be paid, for what He will give them at the end of the day as their wages.

We also see that the Master returns several times to look for workers because there is still work to be done in His vineyard.

He does not simply call those who were there from the morning, but He continues to look for workers throughout the day, as a continuation of His call to those who must advance the Gospel of salvation, as an urgency in the times that will come.

For the others, He simply notices that they are standing in the marketplace, or in a place without doing anything, and, out of generosity, He calls them and offers them the opportunity to go and work in His vineyard, while trusting Him, as if He were saying to them: “Come, I will bless you by giving you work in My vineyard, and you will have something to do and receive payment for it.”

Yes, no one had hired them, but the good Master will welcome them into His vineyard, and they will go, by faith, to work for Him, not for the gain, but because they needed it.

We can already understand the love of the Father toward us, and that His call has the direct consequence of serving Him with the responsibility that comes with it, a responsibility that we also have when He chooses us, saves us, and justifies us in Jesus Christ. He rewards us with an invaluable treasure, which is eternal life. Let us look at the rest together.

The Master Pays the Labourers

— « 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.» v.8-10

When evening came, this closed a period, a time that the Master had established. The day is for work and the night for rest, or we could also understand that the time of judgment had come.

Here, the foreman can be interpreted as Jesus Himself, the one and only Mediator between God and men, to whom the keys of the Kingdom have been given. The fact that He calls the workers for their payment marks a stopping point in their mission in the Master’s vineyard, reminding us that we will all receive our reward when our time comes.

It is now the time of reward according to “whatever is reasonable,” as the Master previously told them, that is, the amount He has agreed upon according to His good and just will, but more precisely, also in the order that He has decided and established, starting from the last to the first.

Because the last did not know what to expect. They were ready to receive whatever the Master was going to give them. But what about the first? Those who had agreed on one denarius as their wage for their day of work from early in the morning?

This order brings the reaction of the first workers into focus, as if Jesus were saying to us: “I know the heart of the first, who are interested, and I am going to see their reaction...” This reminds us of the condition of the heart of the rich young man, the Pharisees, and all those who do things out of personal interest.

So, let us look at their reaction to this payment, not according to a human standard, but rather according to a divine standard, the standard of the living God.

The Discontented Labourers Respond

— «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.’» v.11-12

The debate begins between the workers who grumble and the master of the house. Apparently, the first workers were not happy with the payment given to the others. They said that they had suffered through the working conditions, and that those who had worked for only one hour were going to receive the same as them!

In a purely human way of reasoning or logic, we could also have reacted in the same way, couldn’t we? It is true that in the world we live in, we are paid by the hour, and the more we work, the more we earn. But God does not reason like a human being. His thoughts are not our thoughts. God knows all things according to His infinite knowledge and wisdom.

And more than that, the first workers had clearly agreed with the Master on what they were going to receive, right? So why look at what is happening elsewhere, thinking that they had been treated unfairly because of what the others had received, and make the Master appear unjust?

The Lord shows us here that the first workers were shocked that the others had been blessed more, when they should rather have rejoiced in what they had received, and also rejoiced to see the blessings given to others.

For us who are saved and called to serve the Lord, that is, all His legitimate children, what matters is that the Lord sees His workers, the believers, that He watches over their needs, and that His children rejoice in what they have and in what others also receive by the grace of God, at any time.

The murmuring of the workers expresses their dissatisfaction and their feeling of injustice because they had worked longer. In the Bible, murmuring is often associated with a lack of faith or trust in God’s provision, as we see in the complaints of the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16:2–3).

It also reflects the human tendency to compare ourselves with others and to think that we deserve more according to the effort we have made or the amount of time we have worked.

This attitude contrasts with the call to rejoice in the blessings given to others and to trust in God’s equitable justice. For now that we have entered into a newness of life, having a new heavenly identity, this approach is no longer the right one.

Because here, as you have understood, we are not talking about simple workers working in a vineyard, but about people who are saved by the grace and sovereign action of God, for whom salvation is granted, not because they worked to obtain it, nor because they deserved it, but by the grace of the Master, that is, God Himself, in His entirety, in the willing and the doing, and in the reward according to His good pleasure.

On top of this, those whom the Lord calls, He sends into His service, and they owe Him all their gratitude, because they owe Him everything, just as we all do here today.

And we need to understand that it is our God, through His providence, who keeps us and preserves us in His love, who knows what we need, and who rewards according to His good pleasure.

— The Bible tells us in Psalm 62:11–12: “Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.”

This teaches us to be content with what we have and, even more, to glorify Him at every moment for having saved us and given us eternal life. This is the greatest reward that a human being can have, by the grace of God.

Now let us see what the Master will answer the workers who are dissatisfied with what they have received.

The Master Answers the Discontented Labourers

— «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.”» v.13-16

What the Master answers one of them means: “Have I been unjust or wrong toward you?” Because, as we have seen, the Master calls him “my friend” to show him that He loves him and that there is no injustice here, because both parties had agreed on the price for the day of work.

However, the Master will now speak to him in another way and consider him as someone who opposes His generosity, even telling him: “Take your money and go,” paying him, yes, but without any expression of gratitude for his service. Does this mean that He will not call him again? We do not know.

However, this last statement puts the Master back in His position of authority: “I want to give to this last one as much as I give to you,” He who is the Master, who went out to look for them, who gave them work, and who will pay them according to His will.

Three things are said to him by the Master, not to justify Himself, but to explain who He is:

• He wants to give to the last as He gives to the first: this means that God wants to give His grace to men not according to what they desire or do, but according to His will, the needs He sees, and the time He has fixed from all eternity. And no matter how long the workers have worked, or how much time passes, because time is only a reality we experience on earth; God is outside of time. As the Bible tells us, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8)

• He can do with His own what He wants: that is again saying that God grants the gift of His grace to whom He wants and as He wills, without asking anyone’s permission or even negotiating anything.

• He sees the condition of the hearts of men: God sees the lack of gratitude in men, especially when the workers are working in the vineyard, which is to say, spreading the good news of salvation in the world. They do not see His love because they compare themselves with others, rather than receiving this blessing and being thankful to the Master.

And then: “So the last will be first, and the first last.” The Lord Jesus prepares His disciples for the time of grace and, through this last verse, reminds us of what Matthew 19:30 also tells us, thus making a connection between the two chapters.

This last verse therefore closes and answers the passage concerning the divine reward of salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of heaven. First, the question asked by the rich young man, and then the question of the disciples concerning the salvation of those who follow Jesus, the Master, and work for Him.

• The last, that is, the Jews and those from the nations who will understand, through the sovereign action of God and through His Holy Spirit, the Law and the Prophets, and who will respond to God by faith, like the disciples when they came when the Master called them, coming without murmuring; these are the ones who are pleasing to Him.

• The first are those who know the Scriptures, but who consider themselves righteous according to the works of the Law, through self-sufficiency, rules, and religiosity. They will receive their wages; they will also be blessed, but it will be more difficult for them to enter the Kingdom of God because of their lack of trust, love, and gratitude toward the Master, that is, God.

Conclusion

So, to conclude this parable, we see several things that we can put into practice in our lives today. When we are called, saved, and justified in Jesus Christ, set apart by the divine work of the Holy Spirit who lives in us for the work that God prepared beforehand for us, we are privileged.

If we go back to what Jesus tells us, from the rich man to the workers in the vineyard, this is what God tells us in His Word:

• It is not the amount of what we do that will make us enter the Kingdom of heaven, but rather the condition of our heart as we follow Jesus, not by sight, but by faith and by the sovereign grace of God.

• Those who follow Him will receive their reward, that is, eternal life, not as the result of something we would have negotiated with God, because we cannot negotiate with Him, but rather as the gift of His holy will and His grace.

• The amount of the things we do in service should not be compared, because before God, we are all equal when we belong to Him.

• Let us give all glory to God for His grace, for His generosity, and for His divine providence toward us, His children whom He purchased for Himself through the precious blood of His only Son, at all times and in every circumstance, without comparing ourselves with our brothers and sisters concerning the gifts that God gives us.

• Finally, this eternal life, once given by God in Jesus Christ, must be proclaimed and lived out as good disciples of Christ. We must serve Him with wisdom and love, so that we may give all the glory to God for His blessings, and thus proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.