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RR Matt 20:1-16  Insert  NKJV

"Fair Wages"

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On the surface, this is perhaps one of the clearest parables
that Jesus told.  At least for those who look forward to the
Second Coming of Jesus.

But let's go back and get the context of this parable. 

There had been a discussion of forgiveness and marriage in the
previous verses.  Then the little children come to Jesus and the
disciples try to turn them away. At that time he said those
words: "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid
them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

After that Matthew records that they went on their way to
another place.  A wealthy young man approaches Jesus and asks:
"Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life?"

We know this man as the rich young ruler.

After Jesus describes the difficulty of going to heaven if you
are rich, the disciples exclaimed "Who then can be saved?"

And Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is
impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Chapter 19 of Matthew ends with these verses:  

27  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all
and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?"

28  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the
regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His
glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29  "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's
sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

30  "But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Actually Jesus begins the parable with this saying, and closes
it with the same saying.

So we see this parable dealing with three basic things.  Who
will be in the kingdom of Heaven?  What will be their reward? 
How will the rewards be distributed?

We see these issues at play in the church.  We have discussions
about who is fit to be in the church.  How long they should be
in before they are kosher for certain offices.  Who gets the
choice positions of Elder, etc.  

However, the issues of the kingdom of Heaven are much more
important than our strivings and jealousies in the church.

In short, the parable can be summed up in a few words.  A man
needs help in his vineyard, and goes to the market several times
during the day to find laborers.  He promises to pay the
laborers a fair wage.  At the end of the day he pays them all
the same, leading to jealousy among those who worked the longest.

I believe that we can find several applications to the
principles that we find in the parable.

First, when we look at the plan of salvation, a person who is
justified is justified whether he accepted the Lord a long time
ago, or whether he accepted him 5 minutes ago.  Salvation is the
same for everyone no matter how long he has expereinced that
salvation.  This is true because it is based on the timeless and
infinate sacrifice of God himself, and is in no way dependant
upon a human being.

If I accepted salvation 30 years ago, and you accepted it today,
we have exactly the same salvation, because it is based upon the
same Savior's sacrifice, never on anything that we do other than
accept.

Of course, as we look at the parable in the light of the Second
Coming, it is even clearer:

The minister who has given all of his life to the ministry will
not go to any greater heaven than the great sinner who repented
5 minutes before the close of probaiton.  There is one heaven,
one salvation, one savior, one mansion.  The interesting twist
is the question, "Why were you standing around idle?

I know we have done this somewhat backwards.  I want to turn our
attention to some of the specifics of the parable.

Matthew 20:1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who
went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 

The workday for laborers started at 6 in the morning, and went
until 6 in the evening, probably allowing time for a break
around lunch time.

2 "Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a
day, he sent them into his vineyard. 

The stated wages were the common wages for the common laborer. 
It was about enough to provide for a days worth of food.

3 "And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing
idle in the marketplace, 

4 "and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and
whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. 

5 "Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did
likewise. 

6 "And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others
standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing
here idle all day?' 

7 "They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them,
'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will
receive.' 

The laborers that were hired at 9AM, 12 Noon, 3 PM  and 5 PM,
are not promised a certain amount of money, only that they will
be paid appropriately. The landowner does ask those who are
standing around why they are not working.  Their response is
that no one has hired them.

8 "So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to
his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages,
beginning with the last to the first.' 

9 "And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour,
they each received a denarius. 

10 "But when the first came, they supposed that they would
receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. 

11 "And when they had received it, they complained against the
landowner, 

12 "saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you
made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of
the day.'

You will probably agree that from the human standpoint, it does
not seem fundimentaly fair that a person working 12 hours should
get the same salary as one who works for one hour.  

The labor unions would have a field day with that one.  And I am
sure that some lawyers would, too.

13 "But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing
you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 

14 'Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this
last man the same as to you. 

Interestingly enough, the first worker was the only one who
agreed to a certain amount of money.  All of the others had
faith that the landowner would be fair in his treatment of them.
 Then the Jesus has the landowner closing the argument with:

15 'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own
things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?' 

In today's world, it is unlawful in many cases for people to do
what they wish with their resources.  It is against the law in
some cases for a professional to give a discount to someone just
because that is what he wants to do.

But God is sovergn, like the landowner.  He will do what he
thinks is right for each and every individual.  And should we be
jealous because God wants to bless everyone?

Jesus closes the parable with a summation.  I do not believe
that these are words that Jesus is putting in the mouth of the
landowner.  I believe that it is his summary of what he has just
told.  And as mentioned before, this is the thought with which
he prefaced the parable. 

16 "So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are
called, but few chosen."

The last worker was the first in the hourly rate that he
received.  The first worker was the last in the hourly rate of
pay, if that is how we want to look at it.

But a loving God cannot do it any other way.

Why?

Because God gives everyone the totality of what He is able to
give us.

If we look at this parable as being about the Jews and the
Gentiles, the Jews had been called to the vineyard so to speak,
first.  For over a thousand years they had the Holy Scriptures
and often the direct guidance of God through His prophets to
encourage them in the work of the vineyard.  And remember, from
the parable of the two sons, we are given the vineyard of our
souls, our church, and the wider community around us as
responsibilities.

The truth of God's free grace had been almost lost sight of by
the Jews. The rabbis taught that God's favor must be earned. The
reward of the righteous they hoped to gain by their own works.
Thus their worship was prompted by a grasping, mercenary spirit.
From this spirit even the disciples of Christ were not wholly
free, and the Saviour sought every opportunity of showing them
their error. Just before He gave the parable of the laborers, an
event occurred that opened the way for Him to present the right
principles. {COL 390.1}



Jesus' ministry was the beginning of the end of Jewish
domination of the vineyard.  The message was soon to be taken up
by the new church which would be largely gentile.  There was no
place for jealousy, only rejoicing in the growth of the church.

Today, the riches of Divine grace are loudly murmured at, among
proud Pharisees and nominal Christians. We are much too quick to
think that we have too little, and others too much of the tokens
of God's favor; and that we do too much, and others too little
in the work of God. But if God gives grace to others, shouldn't
we rejoice?  Why should kindness to someone seem to be injustice
to us? 

 Now as to the labor:

The Church is a vineyard, because it is a place of labour, where
no man should be idle. Each of us is engaged to labour in this
vineyard-to work out our salvation through Him hand in hand with
the Holy Spirit. 

One writer likened life to a day, where childhood, or the first
use of reason, is the day-break or first hour, Mt 20:1, in which
we receive the first CALL.

The promise of the kingdom of glory is given to all those who
are workers together with him, Mt 20:2.

The second call is in the time of youth, which is most commonly
idle, or only employed in dissipation and worldly cares, Mt 20:3.

The third call is at the age of manhood.

The fourth, in the decline of life, Mt 20:5.

The fifth, when sickness and the infirmities of life press upon
us. How many are there in the world who are just ready to leave
it, before they properly consider for what end they were brought
into it! Still idle, still unemployed in the things which
concern their souls; though eternal life is offered to them, and
hell moving from beneath to meet them! Mt 20:6.

Nowhere is the Christian called to idleness.

But our reward is not based on anything other than our
faithfulness.  Whether that faithfulness is for a decade, or a
day.  

Again from Christ Object Lessons: 

So God desires us to trust in Him who justifieth the ungodly.
His reward is given not according to our merit but according to
His own purpose, "which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Eph. 3:11. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us." Titus 3:5. And for
those who trust in Him He will do "exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think." Eph. 3:20. {COL 397.2} 

......The sinner who, knowing his unworthiness, has entered the
Master's vineyard at the eleventh hour feels that His time of
service seems so short, he feels that he is undeserving of
reward; but he is filled with joy that God has accepted him at
all. He works with a humble, trusting spirit, thankful for the
privilege of being a co-worker with Christ. This spirit God
delights to honor. {COL 397.3} 

The parable is summed up:

The Jews had been first called into the Lord's vineyard, and
because of this they were proud and self-righteous. Their long
years of service they regarded as entitling them to receive a
larger reward than others. Nothing was more exasperating to them
than an intimation that the Gentiles were to be admitted to
equal privileges with themselves in the things of God. {COL
400.2} 

Christ warned the disciples who had been first called to follow
Him, lest the same evil should be cherished among them. He saw
that the weakness, the curse of the church, would be a spirit of
self-righteousness. Men would think they could do something
toward earning a place in the kingdom of heaven. They would
imagine that when they had made certain advancement, the Lord
would come in to help them. Thus there would be an abundance of
self and little of Jesus. Many who had made a little advancement
would be puffed up and think themselves superior to others. They
would be eager for flattery, jealous if not thought most
important. Against this danger Christ seeks to guard His
disciples. {COL 400.3}



What were the dangers that Jesus wanted to protect us from?

1.	Self-righteousness

2.	A feeling that we can do anything to earn 				heaven.

3.	We make some advencement then the Lord 				comes to help.

4.	Feelings of superiority

5.	Searching for flattery

6.	Jealousy 



So this simple seeming parable deals with the deadly devices
with which Satan desires to destroy the destiny of the righteous.

We are given a warning.

Are we going to heed it?