Parables - The Laborers in the Vineyard

Parable of the Day Laborers

' “For the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing in the marketplace, idle. And to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did the same. And about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing around. And he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle the whole day?’

“‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.

“He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard, too.’

“Now when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’ And those who had come about the eleventh hour each received a denarius. And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; yet they too received a denarius.

“But when they received it, they began to grumble against the master of the house, saying, ‘These last guys did one hour, and you’ve made them equal to us, who bore the burden and scorching heat of the day!’

“But answering, he said to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? Take what is yours and go. But I want to give this last guy the same as you. Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’

“So the last will be first, and the first last.” '

Matthew 20:1-16

[This is the 14th lesson in this series]

We have talked about how Jesus turned the world upside down and this parable is one of those stories He told people that made them challenge their way of thinking and doing things.

God's Kingdom

Jesus of Nazareth spoke about the kingdom of heaven and taught about what it is like.

Some paid attention to His teachings and followed Him.

Some of those who followed Him, left when it got too hard to continue doing so.

Others laughed at Him and the rest condemned Him.

These still happen today.

The Firsts

Jesus first gave His teaching and parables like this one to Jews and most rejected Him. They were first.

The followers of Jesus went out into the world and then taught Gentiles (non-Jews) and His teaching spread from aamong them. Still many of them rejected Christ and His teachings.

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

The Apostle Paul as he was leaving Europe and going back to Jerusalem, reminded the first believers in the City of Ephesus about this:

"Look after yourselves and everyone the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be like shepherds to God’s church. It is the flock that he bought with the blood of his own Son. I know that after I am gone, others will come like fierce wolves to attack you. Some of your own people will tell lies to win over the Lord’s followers."

After Paul left, He was imprisoned and continued writing to the first Gentile churches -- instructing them on what to do. He encouraged them, warned them and gave them fresh revelations from the Holy Spirit.

But even at that time, teachers have already started teaching contrary to the Holy Spirt's teaching. And these went on long after Paul and the other first disciples of Jesus have all been put to death (or passed on).

The church became the dominant religion of the known world. But after hundreds of years, a split happened in the church when a few believers broke off. They have studied the teachings of Christ and realized so many things they have been taught and were doing, were not in the gospels and the other books of the Christian Scriptures.

Those who broke away started their own churches and passed on what they have learned from studying Scriptures and by listening to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, like how the first disciples were instructed to do it.

As they grew in numbers, they went into far away places and the last places to be reached by the gospel. There they planted churches in places that were previously unreached or have heard of the gospel but have not understood it.

Full Circle

From those faraway places, missionaries and preachers were raised. Today they are going back to the places where the gospel were first taught, coming full circle and making the last first (and the first last).

Such is the kingdom of heaven. When it gets a hold of you and you hold on to it tight, it compels you to continue the work of Christ, to bring the gospel into all the world (even back to where it all started to spread). So that the last will be among the first, and last among the first.

[And then the end will come]

"We must do the work of the One who sent Me, so long as it is day! Night is coming when no one can work."

-Jesus of Nazareth

John 9:4