Matthew 20:1-16
Mat 20:1-16 A Parable of the Kingdom
1, 2. 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. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. The kingdom of heaven is all of grace, and so is the service connected with it. Let this be remembered in the exposition of this parable. The call to work, the ability, and the reward, are all on the principle of grace, and not upon that of merit. This was no common man that is an householder, and his going out to hire labourers into his vineyard was not after the usual manner of men, for they will have a full day's work for a full day's wage. This householder considered the labourers rather than himself. He was up before the dew was gone from the grass, and found labourers, and sent them into his vineyard. It was a choice privilege to be allowed to begin holy service so early in the morning. They agreed with the householder, and went to work on his terms. They might well be content, since they were promised a full day's hire, and were sure to get it: a penny a day represented the usual and accepted wage. The householder and the labourers agreed upon the amount; and this is the point which has to be noted further on. Young believers have a blessed prospect: they may well be happy to do good work, in a good place, for a good Master, and on good terms.
3, 4. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Hating indolence, and grieving that he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, he hired more workers about the third hour. They would make only three-quarters of a day; but it was for their good to cease from loafing at the street-corner. These are like persons whose childhood is past, but who are not yet old. They are favoured to have a good part of their day of life available for hallowed service. To these the good householder said: "Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you." He pointed to those already in the field, and said, "Go ye also; "and he promised them, not a definite sum, as he did those whom he first hired, but he said: "Whatsoever is right I will give you." They went their way to their labour, for they did not wish to remain idlers; and as right-minded men, they could not quarrel with the householder's agreement to give them whatsoever was right. Oh, that those around us, who are in their rising manhood, would at once take up their tools, and begin to serve the great Lord!
5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did like wise. Had it been altogether and alone a business transaction, the householder would have waited to begin a new day, and would not have given a whole day's wage for a fraction of a day's work. The entire matter was alone of grace; and therefore, when half the day was gone, about the sixth hour, he called in labourers. Men of forty and fifty are bidden to enter the vineyard. Yes, and about the ninth hour men were engaged. At sixty, the Lord calls a number by his grace! It is wrong to assert that men are not saved after forty; we know to the contrary, and could mention instances.
God in the greatness of his love calls into his service men from whom the exuberance of useful vigour has departed; he accepts the waning hours of their day. He has work for the weak as well as for the strong. He allows none to labour for him without the reward of grace, even though they have spent their best days in sin. This is no encouragement to procrastination; but it should induce old sinners to seek the Lord at once.
6, 7. 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? 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. The day was nearly over: only a single hour remained; yet about the eleventh hour he went out. The generous householder was willing to take on more workmen, and give them hire, though the sun was going down. He found a group lingering at the loafers' corner—standing idle. He wished to clear the whole town of sluggards, and so he said to them, "Why stand ye here all the day idle? "His question to them may be read by making each word in its turn emphatic, and then it yields a fulness of meaning. Why are ye idle? What is the good of it? Why stand ye here idle where all are busy? Why all the day idle? Will not a shorter space suffice? Why ye idle ? You have need to work, you are able to do it, and you should set about it at once. Why is any one of us remaining idle towards God? Has nothing yet had power to engage us to sacred service? Can we dare to say, "No man hath hired us"? Nearly seventy years of age, and yet unsaved! Let us bestir ourselves. It is time that we went, without delay, to kill the weeds and prune the vines, and do something for our Lord in his vineyard. What but rich grace could lead him to take on the eleven o'clock lingerers? Yet he invites them as earnestly as those who came in the morning, and he will as surely give them their reward.
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.
Days soon end, and to all the labourers even was come. This was pay-time, and the lord of the vineyard did not forget his agreements with the labourers, nor tell them to wait for their wages. Our Lord will rob no man of his reward. The householder in the parable sees to everything personally. His is the hiring, and the order for the paying. Promptly he saith unto his steward, "Call the labourers, and give them their hire." We shall be called each one to receive our reward when our day is over. Happy are we to have been already first called into the vineyard: thus the second call to receive the hire becomes a welcome one. The lord of the vineyard, whoso transactions in hiring had been of no ordinary kind, was equally peculiar in the manner of payment. He chose to arrange it so that those who first came were last served; which is not often the manner of men. It was not a transaction of a mercenary sort, but a display of free favour; and so the great quality of sovereignty comes in as to the very order of payment—" beginning from the last unto the first." The Lord will take care that, in the transactions of his grace, his sovereignty as well as his goodness shall be conspicuous.
9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. Our Lord's pay is not a hire of deservings, but a gift of bounty. He paid on the scale of grace, and not at the rate of merit. He commenced in superb style, and to those who began to work at the eleventh hour, he gave every man a penny: here was a full day's pay for one hour's work. Herein was displayed the boundless bounty of the lord of the vineyard. That some, who have served the Lord but a very brief time, have equalled and even excelled those who have been for many years believers, is clear, for many short but blessed lives attest it. Converted late in life, they have been singularly diligent, specially consecrated, and memorably holy, and thus they have obtained the full result of grace at a speedy rate. God will place in heavenly glory those who turn to Christ even at the last. Did not our Lord say even to the dying thief, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise "? To what better place could any venerable saint have been taken? Oh, the riches of the grace of God!
10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Possibly the first felt their vanity wounded by being paid after the others. They used their waiting time in considering their own superiority to the late-comers. Filled with legal principles, they kicked at the sovereignty of grace, and virtually in this matter rebelled against justice also. Those who are not friends to any one attribute of God are not in love with the others. Sooner or later, those who rage at sovereignty resist justice also. They had what was promised them: what more would they have? A fair wage was given: they received every man a penny. What more could they expect? But they supposed—there was the difficulty: they had a theory to support, a supposition to justify; and so they were aggrieved because their supposition did not develop into a fact. God will not be bound by our supposings; and we do but deceive ourselves if we think he will.
11, 12. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 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. As soon as the penny was in their hand, a murmur was in their mouth. It was a fair wage, and what they agreed to take; but yet, when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house. His only supposable fault was that, as a good man, he was too good to the short-timers. The Lord does often greatly bless men whose working lives are short, and even those who are saved late in life. He does not measure up work as we do, by the rod, or by the hour. He has his own gracious ways of estimating service, and the reckonings of grace are not like those of law. At the sight of great grace envious hearts grow sour. The murmurers said, not that the generous Lord had lowered them, but that he had advanced others who had wrought but one hour. Their complaint was, "Thou hast made them equal unto us." In this he had used his own money as he pleased, even as God dispenses grace as he wills. He is never unjust to any; but in gifts of bounty he will not be bound by our ideas of equity. Had they been of the right sort, they would have rejoiced that they had been able to give to him a fair day's work, since they had borne the burden and heat of the day. At any rate, it is a great privilege to be serving the Lord throughout a long life, and those who have enjoyed this high favour are deeply indebted to the grace of God. Blessed be our heavenly Father, some of us have been his servants from our youth, and have endured no little labour for his name's sake; but in this we rejoice greatly, and magnify his love.
13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
He did not fall into a dispute with the whole company; but he answered one of them, which was quite enough. They had been individually hired, and individually he argues with them. It is a calm and reasonable reply: "Friend, I do thee no wrong." If the Lord rewards us graciously for what we do, we are not wronged because another who has done less has a like recompense. The quiet personal question is one to which there is no answer: "Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? "Yet the legal spirit will come in even concerning work which is all of grace. Even among the Father's true sons, the elder brother gets touched with this alien spirit. None of us are quite free from it: it seems bred in the bone of our proud nature, yet nothing is more unlovely or unreasonable.
14, 15. Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful fur me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? The good man stands to his determination of bounty. He will not be driven from liberality by envious tongues. What he gives is his own, and he maintains his right to do as he pleases with it. This is a fine illustration of the sovereignty of divine grace. Each man shall have all he can claim. "Take that thine is; "and having it, let him rest content: "Go thy way." The Lord will not be ruled by our regulations, but declares, "I will give unto this last, even as unto thee." It is condescending on his part,to say a word in defence of his most fit and fair position: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own?" If mercy be the Lord's own, he may give it as he pleases; and if the reward of service be wholly of grace, the Lord may render it according to his own pleasure. Be ye sure that he will do so. In words of thunder ho says, both under the law and under the gospel, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." That was a home question for each of the grumblers to answer,—"Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" Does it make you jealous to see others enjoy my bounty? Because I am good to these who deserved so little, does this deprive you of the good which I have granted to you?
Let us never envy late converts their joy or their usefulness; but applaud the sovereignty which blesses them so largely. We share the mercy with them; let us give them an equal portion of our joy.
16. So the last shall be first, and the first last; fur many be called, but few chosen.
Here our Lord repeats his famous saying, which we noted in Mat 19:30, and lets us know that precedence in the kingdom of heaven is according to the order of grace. The King will rule in his own courts; and who shall question his will? As he is King, it is his right to rule. Loyal subjects are ever ready to support their sovereign. Our King reigns by right divine, and cannot do wrong. It was said of David, "Whatsoever the king did pleased all the people." Let this be true of David's Son and his people. Jesus tells us that, while many men are called to service, few reach the standard of choice men. Some of the last shall be first, for abounding grace is seen in their brief hour of work; but some of the first shall be last, for they are not always diligent throughout their longer day, and so fall back in the race, or their legal notions put them far behind those who were called later in life, but who are better instructed in the principles of divine grace.