Matthew 20:1-16
To illustrate the boundless nature of God’s grace, Jesus told a parable about the manager of an estate who hired men to labor in a vineyard. Some were hired early in the morning, with the promise of the accepted wage for the day. They wanted a contract and “agreed” (Matthew 20:2) to work for a standard coin. Others were hired at different intervals throughout the day. The last was hired “at the eleventh hour” (verse 6). That was 5 PM. They had no contract and were willing to accept whatever the owner thought was right (verse 7).
The word “penny” (verse 2/KJV) can be misleading to us, because it seems entirely too small for a day’s pay. The coin was a “denarius,” which was the typical pay for one day’s work by a common laborer. Also, the term “standing idle” (verses 3, 6) sometimes means “lazy,” but here it means “unemployed.” The men were there because “no man has hired us” (verse 7).
We must keep in mind the common practice of the day. These men were standing in the marketplace, where they came early in the morning. They carried their tools and waited until someone came and hired them. These were not street corner idlers. These men were waiting and looking for work. The fact that some of them stood there until 5 o’clock in the evening is proof of how desperately they wanted to work.
The custom, in keeping with the Law in Leviticus 19:13, was to pay laborers at the end of each day. And the point of this parable is that at the end of the day (about 6 PM), the manager began to pay those who had worked that day. He began by paying first, those who were hired last (verse 8b). Normally, those who worked longest in the fields would be paid first.
The owner also told the steward to pay everyone a denarius. Normally, an owner would pay people based on how long they worked. In the parable, however, the workers all received the same pay–and when everybody was paid, those who had labored from early in the morning, complained.
Those who worked the longest, said it was unfair to give the same amount to those who had labored only one hour, as was paid to those who labored all day. The complainers, in the words of the Living Bible paraphrase said, “Those fellows worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them as much as those of us who worked all day in the scorching heat” (verse 12). (Obviously, those workers who started late in the day, could not do the amount of work done by those who had started earlier–but their labors would benefit the landowner all the same, because he wanted to harvest as much as possible while there was still time.)
The manager explained to the complainers that he was paying them in accord with what they had agreed upon, and thus they should be satisfied. He had a right to do with his money what he deemed best. He said, “Don’t I have a right to do what I want with my money?” (verse 15). After all, he had kept the promise he had made to each employee. Those employed early in the day agreed to work for a “denarius.”
The parable is a picture of God who is the estate owner. Believers are those who work for Him. The lesson could apply to people saved at different stages in life–youth, middle life, and later years. Our Lord’s pay is not based on what we deserve; it is a gift of His bountiful favor. This is a parable about God’s grace. Our Lord is generous and gracious, and He has given all of us better than we deserve. And as the giver of eternal life, He has the right to give it in whatever proportions, and at whatever times, He pleases. God has the right to determine the conditions of salvation, and to determine the kinds of rewards that He gives.
The thief, for example, who repented only during his dying moments on the cross (Luke 23:40-43) will be in Heaven, as well as those persons who served the Lord faithfully for many years.
Should we resent God’s grace, which was extended to the thief in his dying moments?
Should we be jealous of what God has given to another person?
Shall we be envious, because He may not require as much of some as He does of others?
It is only God’s grace, His tremendous favor, that has saved us–and, after all, if He chooses to save others who served Him for less time, and perhaps with less dedication–that is up to Him. God is sovereign, and He will mete out rewards according to what He knows is best. So why should we be envious of the blessings others may receive? The one major point of this parable then, is that God’s loving grace accepts the lowest member of society, on an equal footing with the elite.
The word “grace” speaks of the sheer undeserved, unmerited, unearned, incredible kindness of God extended to those who admit that they can’t save themselves. If we see the magnitude of our sins, and the wonder of God’s forgiveness–and remember how the God of all grace reached down from heaven, and opened our eyes to see the truth of salvation, and graciously provided forgiveness each of us can echo the words of the hymn which says, “I know not why God’s wondrous grace, to me, He hath made known; nor why, unworthy, Christ in love, redeemed me for His own.” Yet so it is!
–Harold S. Martin
