Parable of Workers in the Vineyard

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard…Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 20:1-2; 14-16. NKJV) [Read Matthew 20:1-16]

The parable under consideration today is hard for us to understand because we believe in the principle of “a day’s wage for a day’s work.” And in this parable, Jesus tells that the landowner hired workers first thing in the morning, at the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hours. Surprisingly, when payment came for the work at the close of the day, regardless of what hour they were hired or the amount of work time clocked, each was paid the same amount. Unfair? How can we justify the implications of this work-to-pay scale? Well, we can’t, because we are stymied by our understanding of fairness and punching a time clock. But we forget that this parable is preceded by the words, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” This is a teaching on God’s grace and God’s kingdom. God’s grace, although we accept it and are most grateful for it, is hard for us to understand. It’s somewhat like this parable of the landowner and the hired hands put to work at various times during the day. All of them come out with the same amount of pay. He pours out his grace on the most undeserving, just as is indicated by the workers who went to the vineyard late. The landowner had the resources to give to all the same amount of pay and he had the sovereign right to do so. Max Lucado in his book And the Angels Were Silent puts this parable in the setting of migrant workers waiting and hoping for their daily assignment of work. At 6:00 a. m. the employer picks his first crew. At 9:00, 3:00 and 5:00 he is back, each time picking more. Those who were most surprised, according to Lucado, were those who were still in the employment line-up at 5:00 p. m. All day they had been passed by. They are dependent upon some merciful boss giving them the dregs of work. After all, most have left the employment yard before 5:00 p. m. Just as these workers were dependent upon and surprised by the employer’s taking them and then paying them full wage, so salvation for any depends on God’s love, mercy and grace. No one deserves His salvation—not those who are saved early and those who are saved late.

Think on this parable in this way, and remember its teaching about the kingdom of God and its composition—of all kinds of people, coming aboard at all hours of the day. “Why did he pick me? He wanted to. After all, he made me. He brought me home. He owns me. He tapped me on the shoulder and invited me into His kingdom. No matter how long I had waited and how much time I had wasted that could have been spent with Him, He still took me in. It was through His providence, mercy, grace and love that He gave me a place in His vineyard. God’s grace is not bestowed on a merit system basis but is given from His heart of love and freely. No one deserves or earns a greater part of the kingdom than another person.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, Septeamber 7, 2010