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Posted on: 12th Jan 2014
Matthew 20:1-16 (NKJV)
20 �For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 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.�
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.� 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. 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?� 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.�
Reflections:
Today�s portion doesn�t make a whole lot of economic sense. Why should everyone be paid the same when one worked the whole day and another only worked one hour? It doesn�t seem fair.
But, notice that nobody really got cheated. The ones that started early agreed to work for one denarius. The ones that only worked one hour agreed to receive �whatever is right� in the landowner�s sight. They all received one denarius.
This parable is not about economics, but perhaps it�s about grace. If we recall, grace is unmerited favor; or in other words �unearned� favor; something God bestows upon us that we simply do not deserve.
I was saved when I was a young man and have worked in God�s vineyard for over forty years. How well I did will be decided at the Judgment seat of Christ (1Cor 3:15; 2 Cor 5:10), but regardless my sins have been forgiven and I will receive eternal life with God.
And there are those that have come to Christ in their old age; nearing the end of life, or even moments before death. Their sins have also been forgiven and they too will receive eternal life with God. We both get the same compensation, sins forgiven and eternal life solely by grace.
We mustn�t resent the thought that we have sojourned long, bore the heat of the day, and that others have not had to. We should rather rejoice; for both, theirs and our names, are written in the Lamb�s Book of Life �
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