Matthew 19:21–30 (AV): Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, “Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
Matthew 20:1 (NKJV): For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 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. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 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. 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. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 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. But he answered one of them, and said "Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’
So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”
- Matthew 19:21-20:16 (KJV)
-------- THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD -------
Context is so important to this parable , that we have this week, taken the highly unusual step of reproducing it almost entirely, along with the parable.
Let us point out a couple of features about the context.
1. A rich young ruler talks to Jesus about being perfect, but then walks away when Christ asks him to follow Him - the value of his possessions seems to outweigh the value of following Christ. Yashua calls attention to it- being earthly and materially rich is a terrible disadvantage to valuing the things and the kingdom of heaven. He says it TWICE! Rich people put all their time, energy and trust in STUFF. Valuing people and relationships comes hard to them...and having stuff blinds them to how spiritually poor they really are. A beggar with compassion is richer than Croesus in kingdom perspective!
2. Peter ( bless Him ) then asks the logical question. WIIFM? What’s in it for me? The ruler left before hearing what heavenly treasure giving up all his possessions would buy him, but I’VE already given up everything. What do - I - get for my pains? The answer probably went way beyond what he could ever expect! (Yes, we know Peter said “we” - but come on, we all know what motivated the ask!)
3. Three cryptic utterances that mark the beginning and the end of the parable. “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.” It would seem that the parable is designed to illuminate these statements.
4. The parable itself, which depicts a type of wage- thinking COMPLETELY ALIEN to any human concepts of fairness, yet - shows God as being both a generous AND precise covenant keeper!
Taken together, the context then leads us to conclude that this parable is about the REWARD/WAGES of the kingdom!
So..... what do you think Yashua is saying? What delightful fragrance is corked in this bottle? It’s a kingdom parable.... God’s perspective.... close your eyes and think ...
KEY MESSAGE: WAGES/REWARDS given are in proportion to the Person of the giver, and not the quantity of the work! - Kingdom Principle!!
This seems completely crazy to us. Yet, here is a key to fruitfulness that has been buried so long, we are amazed at the craft of the enemy for concealing it.
On another occasion (Luke 21:1-4) Yashua calls out a widows 2 pennies as being superior to a vast donation made by another person. You can readily imagine a scene in heaven where the self-righteous rich man is OUTRAGED that a poor widow’s giving could eclipse his own when it comes to reward time!
And that’s the key!
Man thinks that God has greater rewards in store for those with great ministries, accomplishments and talents. Compared to them our own achievements seem to count for nothing! -Yet- a cup of cold water given in His name is as worthy of honor as the exploits of a prophetic hero. “He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. “-Mt 10:41-42. You can TOTALLY be making BILLIONS in Heavenly rewards by just being a better you !!!!
Naturally, the enemy doesn’t want you glorifying God with YOUR conduct, so he encourages you to leave that responsibility to “holy” people. After all, you can’t really make a difference in the world by yourself, can you? YES, YOU CAN! Every day, somewhere, sometime -there is an opportunity to glorify Him - and change your world!
His Vineyard is a project of our God. There is a harvest time when He looks for fruit. Till then, every day, there is work to be done. Some laborers are -chosen- at the very beginning of their lives, and there is a -contract- made with them. Others, seemingly (as in the parable) the idlers, and the unemployed are called to go work, but only -promised- -equitable- treatment. At the end of our “day” - some may have been serving (like the patriarchs, disciples) all their lives, others may have just blazed for a moment (Stephen, Isaac, Abel) still others may be like the thief on the cross, who made just one intelligent request in his whole life!
As end of day wages - All are admitted to the joy of eternal life and fellowship with Him.
Now to the first and last, called and chosen.
The activities in the parable follow a timeline - first, next, and so on... and when the master is paying out, he EXPLICITLY instructs that the last get paid first - thus ensuring(!) there will be increasing unrest as the payout reaches the end of the line! That’s the first and the last reversal echoed for us in the parable itself. There is a subtle difference between the ones called – the very first group were looking for employment bright and early in the morning, and they found it. The rest, were called from those that happened to be hanging around the marketplace, because they had nothing to DO! No man would employ them. Opposite ends of the spectrum here as well. Lastly, we have the ‘perceived’ disparity in payout - yet the payout is both fair AND generous, particularly to those who weren’t expecting much!
What true difference was there in the wages paid? --- NONE! --- Everybody got exactly the same pay!
An Infinite God does not think as finite man thinks! The eternal joy and delight of our Father! - there is NOTHING you can add to the infinitely good to make it better, so partaking of that should be reward enough for both chosen/contracted and called workers! Not just His Favor, but dominion over His Creation! Can you conceive of anything greater than that… that’s a denarius(days wage) to Him!
Very important take-away here : The reward is as far beyond our expectations as Christ’s Word to His Disciples about their role in the kingdom would have been to them. Yet, as one members of Christ’s Body – ALL of us have entered into His infinite privileges. The reward completely DWARFS our pitiful efforts to be worthy of it! True service is not about WIIF M, but WIIF HIM!
And… Even though what He has given is immense, He loves to add more to it! We are told that the disciples are further honored and represented as being a layer of precious stone 5600 miles (1400 x 1400 square) around His city! The tribes of Israel by being named on 200 feet high gates of made out of a single pearl, Jerusalem to be the Heavenly Capital, and the promises of a Millennium under their Messiah! Those are contracts! Yet we as the Church, get to enjoy of all that too!
In God’s economy, there is only one First, and we are all equal by virtue of being, in, Him. Differences disappear! There is no First and Last, because all balances out in His infinite goodness!
What about called and chosen? …. Just look at what the apostles got, I want that for myself…! Yes we all do, but just read on….
Being called can sometimes (in a very selfish sense) be better than being chosen. Being Gods chosen ensures that your life will be .... interesting!... because He is going to use you in a way that gives Him glory... you might be a paraplegic like Joni Erickson-Tada, harried like David or Moses, or - nailed to a cross. The disciples were individually “chosen” after much prayer and reflection but all Christians are “called”. Being called means we are foreknown, predestinated to be conformed to the Image of His Son, justified and glorified. Romans 8:29,30 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. “
Neither called or chosen has anything to complain about, for all receive the same fantastic reward for work well done!” The called and chosen BOTH glorify God through what HE chooses to work through them!
And that’s the fundamental realization. It is HE who calls and puts to work the willing, idle though they may be. It is His work, done His way, per His plan for His Glory! We all get to add our voices to that … and the reward is a gift in itself! Hallelujah!
There’s going to be a lot of surprise winners at the Heavenly Oscars. Putting aside those in the Hall of Fame already, we are going to be both shamed and delighted, when we see the rewards our God has for those who served Him with ALL that they had, little though it might have been. Don’t let it get you down, for you can be right up there with them! All it takes is for you to hand over the reins of your life to His guidance by trusting and obeying the Man who shows us the Mind of God through these little parables.
Yes, you give up everything to follow Him – but look! Here is Treasure.. “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Revelation 3:21)
Lord Help us and thank you – for we are not worthy!!!