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Parable of The Good Employer or Laborers in The Vineyard |
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Matthew 20:1-16
1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny 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 unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Notes on Customs
Vineyard is often used as a metaphor in the Old Testament for Israel, symbolizing Israel as God’s vineyard. Vineyards were carefully protected and well taken care of, especially when the grapes were ripening. They represented years of hard work and their owners took great pride in them. When land was cleared to plant a vineyard the stones removed from the soil were used to build walls on the perimeter of the vineyard. There was usually only one “gate” or entrance built into the walls allowing access to the vineyard. These walls were made high enough to keep out animal predators, such as foxes, and to discourage thieves. A tower was built in the center of the vineyard and a watch kept as the harvest time approached. If an animal or thief got into the vineyard the alarm would be given and the intruder driven out.
It was the custom for unemployed men (we would call them day-laborers) to go to the market place of their community and wait for job offers. It was also where men would gather to barter and hire laborers.
The hours of the day in Matthew are based on the Jewish accounting of time. The day began at sunup, divided into twelve hours and ended at sundown when the night’ twelve hours began. This would comprise one period of twenty-four hours, or one day. Naturally the season of the year affected the length of the hours. Winter, having shorter daylight hours, would make the hours to be shorter than the longer daylight hours of the summer. The daylight hours are the third hour is nine A.M., the sixth hour is noon, the ninth hour is three P.M., and the twelfth hour is six P.M., or sundown.
The penny in the text is the denarius. The denarius is the usual day’s wage for a laborer, and was just barely sufficient to support a family for one day. It was the common daily wage of a Roman soldier.
The law commanded employers to pay his laborers their wages at the end of the day when the day’s work was done (Lev. 19:13, Deu. 24:15). However, the order in which they were paid is an arbitrary decision.
Language Notes
Verse 1. The householder is the master or lord of the house or estate.
Verse 11. "Murmur" The words murmur and grumble are synonyms. Murmur is an onomatopoeia (a word which sounds like the action or the subject.) The word mumble is descriptive of this term. It is to complain, find fault with, criticize, and grumble in low tones without speaking openly and making the complaint clearly known. It was a problem Moses continually faced when dealing with the children of Israel in the wilderness, and a terrible sin, which God hates. Num. 14:26-29.
Verse 13. He answered one of them and calls him friend. The address of “friend” occurs in three places in the New Testament (Matt. 20:13, 22:12, 26:50). In all three places the person addressed is in the wrong. It is used in such a manner that it comes very close to being an Irony – Sarcasm. Bullinger in his figures of speech identifies this usage as a “Raillery,” because it tears away the veil or disguise of the matter and shows it up as it really is. The man was anything but a friend. Sarcasm is meant to cut, wound, taunt or ridicule, which is not the intention here. [1]
Verse 14. Take that thine is and go thy way. This is an imperative command to Take up or Pick up what was his and leave. There is a strong sense of resentment and rejection on the part of the landowner against this affront by these men.
Verse 15. Is thine eye evil? The evil eye is mentioned nine times in both the Old and New Testaments. It denotes one who is envious and malicious. Those who possess an “evil eye” can see nothing good but only wrong. Because of their own wickedness, begrudging, and malevolence they only see with eyes of malice. It has been observed, “No passions are so fully expressed by the eye as these; envy and malice.” Hate can be seen in the eyes.
Points of the Parable
It would not have been expected that the master of the house to go to the marketplace in person, but rather send his steward with the authority to hire laborers. The first group of men hired was offered a fixed contract, to which they agreed, to work for the usual day’s wage of one denarius. The following groups were only offered by the master to be paid what was right and fair, no specific wage was agreed upon.
Much attention has been given to the men standing idle in the market place. The question is, why? Some expositors make it that they were lazy and avoiding work, and others that they were willing but there was no opportunity. Some theological arguments are built on this point, thus it becomes an important point to them.
The work to be done in his vineyard must have been extensive because of the continual return to the market place to hire workers. The fact that master even went with one hour of daylight left suggests that he hired all the men present who were willing to go and work.
In the story the order in which the laborers were paid is essential to the parable. If the first had been paid first they might have either left without knowing what the last had received or their complaint would have been directed towards the other laborers and not to the good man of the house. Their objection then would not have been that they had not received enough but that the others had received too much.
The subject of much controversy about this parable arises when expositors change “wages” to “reward” and then making “reward” becomes “grace.” Why is it that the distinction between grace and wages cannot be maintained is a mystery. It is foolish to combine the two and make them the same or equal. Once these expositors make the switch to reward they generate a conflict between earned merit and grace. They play on this conflict between work and grace and try to assert that this is the message Christ is presenting in the parable. This misses the point of the parable altogether. There is no conflict of works and grace present; each of the men received their wages, which they merited and earned, howbeit at different pay scales. Grace is a gift totally unmerited, undeserved and unearned.
The complaint of the first workers hired seems to be legitimate. For, as they argued, they did indeed bear the heat of the day and the hard labor for the full day. They protested against a supposed injustice of the master making the eleventh hour laborers equal to them in pay when they were not equal in work. They expected more than due them and fairness seems to be on their side. But, they received, justly and fairly, exactly what they had agreed on. The master did them no wrong. The injustice was in their envy.
The master deals with these men and their complaint firmly, fairly and with finality. He does not argue with them nor justify his actions. He reminds them that they received what they contracted for, and tells them to pick up their wages and leave, for he has done them no wrong. He sternly tells them that what he does with his own is his business and He is free to do whatever he chooses. They have no right to complain or challenge his actions. He unleashes a rebuke against them in his question; “Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” At this point we have the focus of the parable, “I am good.”
The householder was good by his pity and generosity towards those who arrived late in the day. He paid them all the amount sufficient to support their families. We see in him a man who is compassionate and sympathetic for the poor and their families. This would have been especially true for those who only worked one hour if they had a family with children. Their families would not have had a full day’s ration the next day except for his compassion.
Given Interpretations
Some believe the purpose of this parable is in response to the question Peter asked, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” (Matt. 19:27) Thus this parable was intended to instruct the apostles not to be presumptuous and to teach them that regardless of service or sacrifice all Christians will be rewarded equally.
Another common interpretation has the last group, or groups of workers, to be Gentiles and the others to be Jews. Thus this accounts for the bitterness of the first workers being made equal to the eleventh hour workers. Further, Jesus used this story to show the equality of Gentile Christians to Jewish Christians. But, would those disciples present, hearing Jesus speaking the parable have understood this meaning? They would not, at least not at this time. For all indications are at that time they did not know of the coming New Covenant or of the engrafting of the Gentiles into it. This knowledge came much later. For at the moment of Christ’s ascension to heaven they asked if at that time would He restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6), still not realizing the extent of the church age and the inclusion of the Gentiles. Also, the story of Peter’s reluctance to go to the Gentiles shows his ignorance of God’s acceptance of the Gentiles in this age and His receiving them into His New Covenant (Acts 10).
The most common view is that the laborers and the various hours in which they were hired represent those coming to Christ in salvation at various ages of life. That, as soon as the master, God, had called them they responded. This supposition presents a multitude of problems.
1. First, the allegory is built on the theory that the laborers were willing to work and as soon as the offer came they responded. This is not consistent with a majority of life situations. Those saved later in life have usually spent their lives persistently refusing the gospel and God’s salvation for years. Those saved in later life show that they had an unwillingness to respond to God’s offer, preferring to remain idle until the late stages of life. Most regret this decision to put off salvation.
2. Some who hold to this allegory have it that the denarius, the wage paid, is salvation. This makes salvation to be product of labor; that salvation is the payment for wages earned for working in God’s vineyard.
3. But, for those who do not equate the denarius with salvation, they make it to be a common reward for all of God’s children. (Suddenly a shift from “wages” - what is earned - to “reward,” a gift by grace, is made.) This is saying that there is only one reward given in heaven. This is equal pay/reward for unequal service. Thus God takes no notice of the breadth of service and sacrifice rendered unto him by an individual, and there is no such concept of “greater” rewards.
4. The parable has two groups of laborers, those who earned a full wag and those who did not. If the allegory is true, then it decrees that those saved early in life have worked to the full measure of labor and thus have earned the maximum reward. Is there such a thing as a perfect saint?
5. It asserts that all who are saved will labor for God. This also does not fit reality.
6. If all the points of the allegory are to be pressed, and there is no justifiable reason given why they should not be, then the most mature saints in the church will stand in the presence of God at the Judgment and murmur against Him. The strong language in verse 14 shows the master’s (to them who is God) rejection and condemning the first workers when he states, “pick up your wages and leave.” Further, He accuses them of evil envy and malice towards Him for injustice (vrs. 15).
These interpretations all focus on the laborers; their idleness, the hours they work and their wages. To say that the point of the parable is reward for service to God is misdirecting. Our attention is not to be drawn to the men, but rather to the Goodman of the house! Here are four critical points to review.
1. The men worked, they earned their wages. They had the legal right to demand and to expect to be paid. They were contracted to do work for payment, even the later workers had an agreement for the Goodman to pay them what he deemed to be fair.
2. Wages were due to them. They deserved their hire. If the Goodman did not pay them he would be guilty of cheating them. It would be criminal to not give them what is rightfully theirs.
3. Grace is given freely and without obligation. Grace is a gift of God to those who do not deserve nor have earned or merited it. Grace is not a payment of any kind.
4. Rewards are a product of grace. They are given in recognition and appreciation for service, but not in payment for service. They may be deserved but not earned in the sense of contractual agreement. Rewards are over and above earnings.
Those who were first hired, but paid last, were expecting to receive a bonus, reward, for their labor. They did not get it. The ones hired later did receive proportionately more than those before them, but this was not a bonus or reward. Making them all equal with the first hired was a grace. It was a gift to them only in that portion above that which should have been their earnings. So they received a combination of wages earned and grace not earned.
Certainly God’s sovereignty of grace is always present. It is folly to say what God can or cannot do beyond the limits, which He has set for Himself. The object of the parable is not about His sovereignty or His grace to men. God’s sovereignty and grace is exactly what enables His goodness. They are the keys to His goodness. The parable should be viewed with a focus on the actions of the goodman, it is not about the laborers or reward. It is not about our wages for our service to Him. Or about what we can or will receive from God. It is not about us, but Him.
The Interpretation
The whole story is directed to its conclusion. Jesus is presenting a quality of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not that men come to God at different times of life. It is not that some will be paid according to a contract of wages and others rewarded by God’s grace. It is not about what will occur at the end of this age and the time of dispensing rewards. It is about God’s goodness, His kindness, His pity, His generosity, and His compassion towards men at all times. God is sovereign and He is justified to bestow His blessing on anyone at any time He chooses. This is a cause of rejoicing.
The Application
No one is ever justified in criticizing God for the blessings He gives to those who seem to be undeserving. Alas, there are some who murmur because they think He has made the unfaithful equal to them. In fact none have any idea of how God is dealing with them. He is not unjust! This is envy. They ask why is He blessing them while we have to struggle? They may even ask why bother to sacrifice, serve and obey Him if this is how He treats us. This is a selfish, unloving, and covetous old compliant.
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Mal. 3:13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
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14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
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15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
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16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
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17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
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18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. |
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[1] Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in The Bible, pages 807, 937. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, March, 1974.
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Next: Introduction to the 3 Parables of Lost Things |
This page last updated September 14, 2004 at 10:51am
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