The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

What follows is a lightly edited written account of a sermon recorded and broadcast on September 2, 2020.

This morning, we are renewing our message and discussion series on the parables of Jesus. These parables are simple, illustrative stories and were used by Jesus to teach spiritual and moral lessons. They were used to tell his disciples, his followers, what the kingdom of heaven is like. 

I love that Jesus taught parables. I’m a visual learner. I interpret things visually and when I hear or read the stories of the parables, related in the gospels, I can see what’s happening. It’s just like reading a great book or watching a movie for me. This morning we’re going to talk about the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. 

Matthew 20: 1-16

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon [some translations say in the 11th hour] he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for Jesus and the lessons that he taught us in these parables. Help us to understand your word and your truth. 

The owner of the vineyard offered a denarius a day. It’s a day’s wage. It’s enough to feed a family for that day. He offered that to the first of the laborers. The owner of the vineyard in this parable is God. The day’s wage is citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. 

At first, it may seem like God says to those who would be citizens in his kingdom, toil work in this way, work in my vineyard, do my will and you will be rewarded. But listen carefully here. It is not the work that earns your place in the kingdom, it is your faith in the promise of God. The work is merely evidence of that faith. 

Ephesians 2: 8-9

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Then as God goes about throughout the day to find additional laborers, he finds them and finds them willing. God promises to pay whatever is right. Right is different than fair. Right, in this instance, is according to God’s terms.

In making the last round for laborers as the day was nearing completion, God finds others standing, and I’m going to paraphrase here. He says, “hey, why are you just standing around?” It’s then that they confess their willingness to be used. They say, “because no one has hired us.” God loves a willing heart — one willing to trust him, willing to follow him. 

The willing are invited into the work. These late arrivals are the ones who have just heard about the vineyard in need of laborers — the kingdom of heaven. These late arrivals are those who may have been isolated in life, perhaps older than those hired first, perhaps younger. They simply had not been invited. Have you been invited? 

If not, this is your invitation. Are you willing?

This collection of the willing, they all labor for various lengths of times, but all labor from that point of hire. They are all paid the same. 

There is a great upset. As those hired first who worked first and longest discover that their payment is no greater than those who were hired last and worked the shortest amount of time. Their payment is the same. Why is that? Jesus tells us in this parable that the payment is his to give and his alone. Do we begrudge his generosity? Are we envious because he is generous? 

Another way to translate that phrase from the original Greek writing is: is your “eye” bad because I am good. God’s generosity is referred to in the Bible as grace. Grace is unmerited, undeserved favor. God’s grace saves through faith. It’s God’s grace — it’s his to give as he sees fit. If it depended on our concept of fairness, on our concept of right, we’d be a lot like those hired first demanding more than what we were promised. 

There’s a concept of ‘just desserts’ that comes to mind. It’s the thought that says we will get ours someday. We deserve that thing. Maybe that thing that we think we deserve is a material possession — a sports car, a big house, a lottery jackpot. Maybe the thing we think we deserve is less tangible in nature — good health, a romantic relationship, power or fame. The bad news is that the thing we deserve for the sins committed in our life is death. 

Romans 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That gift is grace. That gift is our denarius. I’m not just speaking from academic knowledge about the scriptures or anything like that. This is my experience. A few years back, I had a job in which I saw others gain recognition, praise and professional advancement. I saw that happening for others and I saw nothing happening for me. I became bitter and jealous. I couldn’t understand why others moved forward while I seemed to be standing still. I prayed relentlessly — often for a way forward. But that bitterness created a distraction. More than just a distraction, it nearly consumed me. It kept me away from the work that God had given me to do. It kept me from doing my best.

Of course, at that time I couldn’t see my own failings. Though I could see the flaws in others clearly enough. I was so focused on the speck in someone else’s eye that I didn’t notice the two by four in my own eye. Others notice my failings; though most never said anything to me directly. 

It wasn’t until I reached a personal breaking point that I saw what had happened. And I made the decision to focus on the work that God had given me to do. After I sincerely and diligently devoted myself to that work that God placed before me, I felt more connected and in line with God’s purpose for my life. Then new opportunities to serve were presented to me. It reminds me now looking back, of Luke 16: 10 —“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.”

That brings us to the next point in this parable. There’s a concept of what I’m going to call, “What about-isms.” What about him? What about her? It’s the excuse that the driver gives the police officer after being pulled over for speeding on a highway. What about all those other drivers speeding? But it’s not about others. This is an arrangement between you and God. The gift of God and the invitation to participate in the kingdom is for you as an individual. It’s not based on the efforts of others. And this is good news. This means that no matter where you are in life, it’s not too late. You didn’t miss your chance. You can receive this offer right now.

Those who were hired first and worked the longest at the end of this parable make a complaint that has an old familiar ring to it. “You have made them equal to us” — that ‘what about him’ turns into a, ‘what about me?’ 

That is the tactic of the serpent that was used to tempt Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. “You will be like God knowing good and evil.” What about me? This is what caused the fall of Satan. 

Isaiah 14: 13-14 describes that fall and says:

13 You said in your heart,

    “I will ascend to the heavens;

I will raise my throne

    above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,

    on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

    I will make myself like the Most High.”

These, what about-isms and things-we-think-we-deserve, run contrary to God’s plan for us as individuals and as His Church. In 1 Corinthians 3: 1-9, the apostle Paul addresses the church at Corinth about the jealousy and division among those in the church. Some at that time were saying that they followed Paul, others were saying that they followed Apollos. Paul tells them both that Paul and Apollos worked and that it is God who gives the increase. God makes things grow. 

1 Corinthians 3:9 

9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

That is something which I think is overlooked in this parable. We can get so consumed with what we think we personally deserve and what we think we deserve as we compare ourselves to those around us, that we forget that it’s always God that gives. 

God gives grace. 

God gives the increase. 

God causes vines to flourish. 

God turns water into wine. 

God gives us new life. 

God saves us from the ending that we deserve. 

We’ve gone back a few times to God’s grace — his unmerited favor. We can access that grace through faith. If you’ve never before known God in this way, I invite you to take a moment right now to believe God. Believe that in spite of what you’ve done or how you feel about yourself, that he gave his only son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for us to take upon himself what we deserve. 

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend, and Jesus did that for you. God calls you to be his friend — his co-labor — if only you place your faith in him. You didn’t miss your opportunity because you have one right now. It’s not too late. Just like the laborer who was approached in the 11th hour, Jesus is calling to you right now. Will you join him? 

Practical Application After the Message:

I’m going to give you some questions to consider in your time of discussion — in your house church or wherever your circumstances are this morning:

1. What is your main takeaway from this parable? 

2. With which of the laborers do you relate the most? 

3. Describe a time when you felt tempted to compare yourself to someone else. If you’re not with others, at least prayerfully consider it.

4. Lastly, how will you labor in the vineyard?