Matthew 20:1

MATT. 20

THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD; THE THIRD PROPHETIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PASSION; THE REQUEST OF ZEBEDEE'S SONS; TWO BLIND MEN AT JERICHO

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was an householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. (Matthew 20:1)

ANALOGIES IN THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD

The householder is God.

The chief steward is Jesus Christ to whom the Father hath committed judgment.

The vineyard is the church.

The laborers who are hired to work in the vineyard are Christians.

The penny payment stands for the eternal reward in heaven.

The evening is the end of life, and, in a sense, the judgment.

The ones first hired represent the legalists and their "contract" with God.

The ones hired last, without any agreement, are those who rely on God's grace.

The generosity of the householder represents the goodness of God.

The complainers represent the self-righteousness of those who consider themselves worth more than others.

The time sequence in hiring represents acceptance of the gospel call at early and later times in the life cycle of Christians.

The work represents service Christians are expected to give God in his church.

Only the parable of the unjust steward has elicited more numerous and diverse explanations by commentators than has this one. It will be seen from the above that here indeed is another one; but, among so many and various opinions, ONE MORE could not possibly do any harm!

Many difficulties are seen no matter how the parable is explained; and yet a number of the analogies are so plain and unmistakable as to make a very vivid impression on the mind.

On this first verse, let it be noted that God expects workers, not shirkers, in his kingdom. He hired laborers, not drones. The initiative, as always, rests with God and not with man. From that remote day when God went seeking Adam in Paradise, the Father still seeks people to worship and love him in order to redeem them (John 4:23). It is obvious also that God expects man to work in His farm, or vineyard; that is, in HIS church! The laborers were hired into His vineyard. They were not told to go to work in the vineyard of their choice! Complexities in the religious conditions of the post-Reformation era, in which we live, do not relieve worshipers of the solemn obligation to make certain that they truly work in the Lord's field, and not in another's. The place to serve God is in the true church established by Jesus Christ. No one can suppose that the householder (God) in this parable would have rewarded the workers for labor in any field but His own.

The most difficult part of this parable is the time sequence, which is met in the first line of it, continues all the way through it, is the point of contention at the end of it, and which is obviously one of the very significant things in it. Many commentators refuse to hazard an opinion as to what the "early morning" means; and some, of course, would remand it to secondary status in the parable, viewing it as incidental or inert matter. Those who have offered an explanation have made it the early part of man's physical life, the morning of human history, the patriarchal dispensation, the Abrahamic portion of Jewish history, the personal ministry of Christ, and just about everything else. Following the view that the "evening" represents the end of life, this writer would refer the time sequence events to various ages of converts; thus, a young person accepts the call early in the morning, others later; and old persons, nearly at the end of life, are said to come in at the eleventh hour.