Sunday, September 15, 2024 AM
THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS:
The Parable of the Vineyard Laborers (That’s Not Fair)
Mike Teel, Pastor
FOCAL PASSAGE:
1 “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 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.” —Matthew 20:1-16
OF THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS
1. WHAT THE PARABLES
–As we continue our study of Jesus’ parables remember the word parable means to place something alongside something else.
–It’s a contrast and comparison. They are earthly stories with heavenly points.
2. KEEPING THE PARABLE IN
–In order to understand our parable of the vineyard (Matthew 20) today, we need to keep it in the context of Matthew 19.
A. THE RICH YOUNG
–In Matthew 19, Jesus encounters what we have come to call “The Rich Young Ruler.” (Matthew 19:16-26)
–He was a wealthy young man who asked Jesus
–He was seeking; he was curious; and he was confused.
–Jesus wasn’t teaching that having wealth was bad – it was a case where the young man didn’t own his stuff, his stuff owned him.
–His wealth was idolatry and Jesus revealed it.
B. RESPONSE TO THE
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” —Matthew 19:23-24
THE PARABLE
1. THE
OF THE PARABLE
1 “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. —Matthew 20:1-2
–Thirty times in Matthew, the phrase “the Kingdom of heaven” is found.
–We are introduced to the characters in the story.
–God is the landowner.
–Jesus is the foreman.
–We are the workers (both Jews and Gentiles)
–And the vineyard is the world in which we can serve.
2. THE
OF THE PARABLE
–The landowner obviously had a large vineyard of grapes that needed to be harvested quickly.
–He went out at the start of the workday, 6:00 AM, to the market to hire day laborers to work in his vineyard.
–They agreed (contractually) to work for a denarius, a day’s wages.
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 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.’ —Matthew 20:3-7
–Notice none of the hired helpers after the initial ones had a contract, they just trusted the landowner. Maybe he had a reputation for being fair.
–At the end of the day the landowner tells the foreman to pay the laborers beginning with the last ones hired.
–Notice the 11th hour guys got $100.
–The pot has been stirred “That’s not fair”
–The foreman handed each man exactly the same amount – $100.
3. THE
OF THE PARABLE
A. THE
OF GOD
–At this they began to grumble and, if it had existed back then, they would have called their union representative!
–But he answered them in Matthew 20:14-15:
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?’ —Matthew 20:14-15
–The landowner isn’t mad. In fact, he calls them friends.
–But he does ask three very important questions:
—Did you not agree to work for $100?
—Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?
—Are you envious because I am generous?
B. THE
ISSUE REVEALED
–Now understand the people listening to this parable would have understood immediately that the 11th hour workers were the gentiles, the tax collectors, the prostitutes.
–But Jesus is now opening that relationship with the gentiles, and they were screaming in their hearts – “That’s not fair!”
–This was the same “heart issue” that Peter exhibited in his question, “What’s in it for us?”
–Basically, the workers were saying to the landowner – give us what we deserve!
LIVE IT OUT
Questions for us to consider:
Cannot God offer to anyone He desires the gift of eternal life?
Cannot God determine the conditions to get into heaven since it belongs to Him?
Are you so envious of God you want to do it on your own terms?
We all come God’s way “GRACE” or we don’t come at all!!!