I.Theme – Grace to all who ask. However, we often covet God’s power to forgive and God’s control over who is forgiven and how.
"Late Arriving Workers" – Jesus Mafa (1973)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Jonah 3:10-4:11
Psalm – Psalm 145:1-8 Page 801, BCP
Epistle –Philippians 1:21-30
Gospel – Matthew 20:1-16
The scriptures focus on God’s gift of grace in the Old Testament and Gospel readings. We should not covet it or second guess and we may wait on the promise. As the Psalm emphasizes, praise God’”wonderous works” and celebrate the mercy, compassion and goodness of God.
There is a sense of unity that should prevail as Paul stresses in the Epistle to the Philippians. They are bound together with Paul in a mutually supportive relationship — they share his conflict and suffering, because their entire struggle is a sharing in the sufferings of Christ. They are to live as free citizens — not of Rome, but of God’s coming rule on earth and stand firm in the face of adversity and to be loving and unselfish in their behavior towards one another.
In the Old Testament reading, Jonah, has run away to avoid delivering the message of forgiveness that God has sent him to proclaim. Jonah complains about God giving grace to those in Ninevah "for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing," and surely this cannot be for them? Jonah regarded God’s "steadfastness" and grace as the unique, covenantal possession of Israel. However, it was not unthinkable that God would "change his mind" with regard to the nations.
Ancient Nineveh was well known for its lawlessness and violence. Nineveh was the capital of Israel’s greatest enemy, Assyria. Assyria would later depose Israel sending them to Babylonia.
Yet Nineveh also represents second chances to hear and obey the Lord. However, Jonah becomes angry, deserts Ninevah . God then caused tree to grow over Jonah but then sent a worm to attack the bush and then sent the heat and wind against Jonah.
In the Gospel’s parable of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a foreman who hired laborers early in the morning, then successively throughout the day at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours. A twelve-hour day of manual labor, with the "burden of the work and the heat of the day" is a long day. That evening the foreman settled accounts, paying those who had worked a meager one hour the same as those who had worked twelve hours.
The repeated visits to the marketplace by the landowner to look for laborers is a warning to anticipate some other unexpected behavior from him. He is looking for the many to bring into the kingdom. In the Gospel, grace comes to those who work many or few hours. God’s grace is open to all.
For Jesus the parable teaches that the gift of eternal life is not the reward of human merit, but a free gift of divine grace. The sacrifices of the followers of Jesus will be honored by God, but the reward will so far outstrip the sacrifice that it can only be called sheer grace, something God gives us or brings about in our lives that we cannot earn or bring about on our own steam.
In an article in the The Chautauqan Daily, lecturer Amy-Jill Levine writes:
"Many of the people in Jesus’ audience would have been day laborers and identified with the people in the story.
"Equal wages for workers, no matter what time of day they were hired, was not an unfamiliar aspect to Jewish law.
"The shock of the parable so far is not that everybody was paid equally; it’s how they were paid and the expectation that the first hired would actually receive more,” Levine said.
“The problem is not about economics; it’s about social relations,” Levine said. “They’re thinking in terms of limited good. … They’re thinking in terms of what they think is fair, but the landowner is thinking in terms of what he thinks is just.”
"..perhaps the parable helps us redefine our sense of what good life, abundant living, means. We might have thought that the most important thing in life is to be fair, which means to be impartial. But perhaps the more important criterion is to be generous.”
The parable is part of the great reversal – first will be last and the last will be first.
Those who begrudge the landowners generosity were those who felt that they had earned what they received, rather than see their work and wages as gifts. The wages at stake (even at the moment of Jesus’ first telling of the parable) are not actual daily wages for vineyard-laborers, but forgiveness, life, and salvation for believers.
The scandal of this parable is that we are all equal recipients of God’s gifts. The scandal of our faith is that we are often covetous and jealous when God’s gifts of forgiveness and life are given to other in equal measure.
The reversal saying is also a word of challenge to the disciples in their attitudes toward women and children, and other "unimportant" people with whom Jesus chooses to mingle and eat, whom he heals and restores. The disciples could be among the last.
The disciples, hearing this strange saying about reversal of status probably identified with the last who would become first. But Jesus was using the saying to caution them that, in a spiritual sense, they are in danger of becoming the first who would be last. Jesus’ followers are to beware of spiritual arrogance that makes them the self-appointed elite of others of lower degree.
II. Summary
Old Testament – Jonah 3:10-4:11
Prior to this story – The Lord orders Jonah to faraway Nineveh to tell the sinful people that their days are numbered. Jonah plays the truant, fleeing in the opposite direction and boarding a ship in Tarshish. From Joppa he goes to Tarshish, an ancient seaport probably on the western coast of Spain, the end of the then-known earth. The city represents the furthermost distance imaginable and demonstrates just how far Jonah is willing to go to avoid God’s wishes. Just after it embarks, God assails the vessel with a great storm and Jonah is swallowed by a whale. . Inside the fish, Jonah prays and apparently receives divine forgiveness for his disobedience, for he is delivered safely back onto dry land and commissioned again.
This time Jonah submits to God’s command and travels to Nineveh. Ancient Nineveh was well known for its lawlessness and violence. The text tells us that its pagan sinfulness was legendary, as was its cruelty: “It was the people which scorched its enemies alive to decorate its walls and pyramids with their skins. Yet Nineveh also represents second chances to hear and obey the Lord. In Nineveh, Jonah issues a single proclamation that the city "shall be overthrown" Forgiveness is implied if not specifically mentioned. The people believe the prophet’s prediction of doom, and they repent.
Nineveh, we read in the text, despite its wickedness, cruelty and enemy status, was a city “important to God” (3:3), a city for which he had great compassion (3:10), a city that attracted His tender concern (4:11). Just as God did not desert Jonah to his own disobedience, He did not desert a pagan enemy city like Nineveh.
Still, Jonah complained openly about God’s lavish love toward a sworn enemy. His disobedience to God’s initial call was one thing, perhaps understandable due to the magnitude and improbability of the task, but there is something very dark in his second failure: why do we sometimes prefer misfortune for others, divine judgment, rather than God’s shalom?
When the Lord relents and does not execute the intended penalty, a pouting prophet begs God to let him die. Jonah leaves the city and watches at a distance, shaded by a booth and a cooling bush. God commands a worm to attack Jonah’s leafy bush, and the cranky prophet seems to care more for his own comfort than for the city’s inhabitants. God speaks to Jonah about universal compassion, but whether the prophet comprehends God’s absolution is unresolved.
God remains an inscrutable force: in other stories, God angers quickly and punishes swiftly; but when Jonah sulks, complains, and asks for death rather than watch the deliverance of his enemies, God rhetorically declares at 4:11: "And should not I care about Nineveh…!" The book then abruptly concludes without a reply from the prophet. God has the last word. Why? Because the Lord, not Jonah, is the hero and main character in the story. The tale exemplifies forgiveness and subtly encourages human beings to emulate divine behavior
2. While examples of forgiveness are found throughout the Bible, nowhere is forgiveness formally defined. Three episodes in the diminutive book of Jonah pertain: God’s salvation of the rebellious prophet, mercy to the wayward Ninevites, and discussion with Jonah concerning universal clemency
In the book of Jonah, God’s loving-kindness is established as universal. What remains to be demonstrated is whether Jonah, himself recently delivered, accepts God’s merciful plan for the whole world as symbolized by the Ninevites. In the final chapter, God’s conduct is presented as a model for human beings, encouraging the same flexibility as the deity
The Book of Jonah shows that God chooses to pardon even the most sinful among us, though ordinary people might not.
What Jonah fails to perceive is that forgiveness is love as it is practiced among people who realize that no one behaves perfectly. It is an internal process as much as an external one. In our hearts, we stop holding on to the hurt. If forgiveness does not occur, the wrongdoer will continue to win the power struggle, causing the Jonah within us to remain wounded and unemancipated. For those who suffer, forgiving has advantages. Laying down the burden of wrath can be a relief contributing to emotional well-being
3. The question is why mercy for Nineveh should seem an evil to Jonah. One possibility is that Jonah regarded God’s "steadfastness," or "lovingkindness" as the unique, covenantal possession of Israel. However, it was not unthinkable that God would "change his mind" with regard to the nations. Nineveh was the capital of Israel’s greatest enemy, Assyria. Nineveh’s deliverance in Jonah’s lifetime means that it will "live to fight another day," so to speak. And fight it will: in 722 the northern kingdom will be utterly destroyed by the Assyrians, and for much of the next century Judah and Jerusalem will be firmly under the thumb of Assyria as its vassal. Jonah wanted no part in God’s plan; he fought it with all his power.
4. Running throughout this episode is the question of Jonah’s anger. When Nineveh was spared, God had asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry?" Now, when the gourd dries up, God asks the same question: "Is it right for you to be angry about the gourd?" When God remarks that Jonah has done nothing to cultivate or nourish the gourd, it is tempting to hear God telling Jonah he can get rid of his anger by realizing that the gourd (i.e., Nineveh) is not his concern. But this is a story about how God, Israel, and the nations hang together, so perhaps there is another solution to his anger. That solution comes when Jonah can see Nineveh as God sees it
By presenting Nineveh as a gourd and not a cosmic tree, the author presents an alternative understanding of Nineveh: it is God who plants it, God who allows it to become great, and, eventually, God who brings it down. The gourd is, in effect, God’s counter-complaint to Jonah. "The grass withers, the flower fades" (Isaiah 40:7); so also do apparently enduring kingdoms like Assyria. Knowing as God does what will eventually happen to Nineveh, why would Jonah begrudge God’s pity?
The gourd also grounds the meaning of God’s justice and mercy in God’s identity as Creator. Where Jonah’s declaration of God’s mercy in 4:2 is very closely connected to Israel’s covenantal traditions, the parable of the gourd emphasizes what Jonah also knows, that the God of Israel is also Lord of the Earth and Sea. God’s mercy and justice are therefore rooted not only in God’s commitment to the covenant, but also in the Creator’s commitment to creation
Psalm – Psalm 145:1-8 Page 801, BCP
This Psalm is a hymn summarizing the characteristics of God. It is in acrostic form, making it easy to memorize: each verse in Hebrew begins with a successive letter of the alphabet. Vv. 1-3 are the psalmist’s personal expression of praise. In v. 4, he expands to speaking of descendants, of passing on knowledge and experience of God. God is known for his “wondrous works” (v. 5) and speak of your “wonderous works” that is part of “your greatness.” Verse (7-8) emphasize the mercy, compassion and goodness of God
Epistle – Philippians 1:21-30
Philippi was a small town founded by Augustus following the defeat there of Casius and Brutus by Mark Antony. After Mark Antony’s defeat by Octavian (Augustus) at Actium, Augustus established a colony of Roman military, Antonian partisans, and Jews at this location. Paul preached there on his second missionary journey, ca. 50 CE, and established his first European mission there. This mission recognized the value of Paul’s work and often sent him offerings so that he could continue his work. One of the purposes of this book is to thank the people of Philippi for their gifts.
Paul writes his Letter to the Philippians from prison, either on his way to Rome or in Rome, at a time when he has a very keen and personal sense of how the Gospel can stir up opposition. From the verses immediately before this passage, it seems that Paul faces two distinct groups of opponents: those who wish to silence him and stop the preaching of Jesus in the Empire, and those who preach Jesus as Paul does, but do it out of “selfish ambition” rather than the sincere hope for the salvation and liberation of those who hear. But Paul is able to see opportunity : being imprisoned in imperial quarters has given him the opportunity to preach about Jesus to the imperial guard, and his boldness in doing so has in fact encouraged other Christians in the community to speak of their faith; as for the ambitious preachers, their personal motives are of little concern to Paul, so long as the Good News is spoken loud and long and often
1. Setting
Paul wants to inform his readers of his condition. He writes from prison, not knowing whether he will be released and able to visit his beloved congregation again. One would expect him to feel helpless, caged, at the mercy of a capricious and corrupt empire, yet he writes with an extraordinary sense of freedom. The first paragraph of our reading is the closing thought of that information. where he expands his own physical condition into a theological understanding of his spiritual condition
He rejoices that, through the Philippians’ prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, even his present situation will "turn out for my deliverance."
In v. 12 he says that he wants the Christians at Philippi “to know … that what has happened to … [him] has actually helped to spread the gospel”. The good news has become known to his jailers; they now know that his “imprisonment is for Christ” (v. 13, and not for a crime) and thereby, in his absence, most of his fellow Christians have gained the confidence to “speak the word with greater boldness and without fear” (v. 14). Realizing that he may be facing death, he ponders what this may mean.
For him, Christ gives meaning to existence (“living is Christ”, v. 21), and physical death brings greater oneness with Christ (“gain”); living means preaching Christ, a “fruitful labour” (v. 22), while dying is being with him in glory. He would like to “depart”, (v. 23), tomove on, but to continue his earthly life is needed more – for the benefit of those he has, and will, bring to Christ. And because of the greater need (v. 25), his life, he thinks, will continue in “progress and joy” with the church at Philippi, so that he may share with them when he next visits them (v. 26).
In that danger he knows death means he goes to be with Christ, even if that may be in a state of rest until Christ returns according to his usual pattern of imagining the future. He sees himself more likely not to face death and in that he thinks less of his personal survival and more of what it can mean for others, including the people at Philippi.
This is all part of relationship-building with them. Paul is sensitive about the relationship and wants them to know he cares about them. It was a standard part of letters to assure the recipient of your concern and love for them. Relationships matter. It was also a standard part of ancient letters to speak about the hope of coming to make a visit. Paul follows this pattern. But Paul is not indulging in mere formalities.
2 Guidance/Instruction
What follows this is a series of “Instructions for the Community”, the first of which is a commentary on “steadfastness. In it Paul speaks of one’s civil duties as being akin to one’s duties in the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, your values as a citizen are an example of what you must do to honor Christ. He uses himself as an example of steadfastness when he recalls his own steadfastness in spite of his current suffering
->First, Paul encourages them to live their life "in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." Together, in their public life, they are to live as free citizens — not of Rome, but of God’s coming rule on earth (3:20). Remember, Paul is writing this from jail. As Paul’s followers, the Philippians might anticipate a similar end for themselves.
->Secondly, Paul also encourages the Philippians to a public life that will witness to their paradoxical freedom in the gospel. Such a life is marked above all by unity: "standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and . . . in no way intimidated by your opponents."
This is a striking vision of the church’s role in public life. First, it takes its cues from an accused prisoner awaiting possible execution. Second, it exhibits unity. When we consider the portrayals of churches in relationship to contemporary politics, unity is not the descriptor that comes to mind. Mutual recrimination, angry and destructive actions, and hate-mongering rather than confident joy, are more the order of the day. This is hardly a winsome witness to the faith of the gospel. Small, beleaguered, perhaps ostracized or harassed, the Philippians are told simply to hold fast their hope in Christ, without being intimidated by those who oppose them, and implicitly without reacting in fear or hatred.
Paul is concerned about unity. For him part of conducting oneself in a worthy manner as a Christian is to seek to maintain unity. This does not mean unity at all costs. Paul is very clear elsewhere and in this letter that unity has its basis in Christ and in understanding Christ as a manifestation of God’s goodness and generosity which is radically inclusive in its scope and does not discriminate against people on the basis of such things as circumcision.
->Thirdly, the Philippians’ refusal to be intimidated by their opponents is a sign of both destruction and salvation. Paul might also be saying that the opponents think the Philippians are heading for destruction, because of the suffering they are experiencing — but the Philippians know better.
They know they are headed for salvation, and that even their suffering is a sign of God’s choice of them and their service of Christ. Once again, they are bound together with Paul in a mutually supportive relationship — they share his conflict and suffering, because their entire struggle is a sharing in the sufferings of Christ (3:10).
This one-mindedness is evidence that they are contributing to the downfall of their persecutors on the Day of Judgement, and the assurance of their own salvation – and God gives this
->Finally, the basis of Paul’s and the Philippians’ confidence is simply this: "this is God’s doing." It may look like Paul’s jailers are in charge. It may look like the Philippians’ "opponents," whoever they are, are in charge.
Then v. 29: God has given the Philippians the opportunity to suffer for Christ’s sake as well as believing in him: they share the same “struggle” (v. 30) or contest (as in a wrestling match) as Paul endures and expects.
Gospel – Matthew 20:1-16
This parable continues Jesus’ teaching about discipleship and entering the kingdom (see 19:13-30; 20:20-28) that surrounds his third prediction of his passion and death (20:17-19) and just precedes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (21:1-11).
In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a foreman who hired laborers early in the morning, then successively throughout the day at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours. A twelve-hour day of manual labor, with the "burden of the work and the heat of the day" (20:12), is a long day. That evening the foreman settled accounts, paying those who had worked a meager one hour the same as those who had worked twelve hours
For Matthew the vineyard is the Christian community.
“First being Last” and the “Last being First." That marks the parable as a teaching of the Great Reversal, a common theme in Jesus’ message, warning that the distribution of power, prestige, and position in this current world order is not to be equated with the divine aim for the Reign of God. The disciples are warned they must not claim a special honor because they were the first Christians
1. Parable is about purpose and gift of grace
We must resist the temptation to extract universal principles of behavior from Jesus’ parables, forgetting the specific concern to which they are directed in the narrative. Jesus is never asked a question like, "How should I run my vineyard?" or "What kind of wage should I expect as a vineyard worker?" In fact, Jesus is never asked a question at all. He has been teaching about the kingdom of heaven for quite some time. And in describing the kingdom to his disciples, he must use human categories and analogies. It’s "like" this; and it’s "like" that.
The landowner appears to be unfair, but note that the passage begins “… the kingdom of heaven is like …” and that the wages stand for God’s grace. God chooses to give (v. 14) the same to all: the landowner pays “whatever is right” (v. 4) – there is no hierarchy in heaven. God is generous to all who believe
In fact, if the parable is about Jesus’ kingdom, then it is really not at all about "reimbursement" or "fair wages"—the principles we normally associate with hired labor. It is rather about a gracious and undeserving gift. It is about what Jesus brings to the world and how he transforms it.
Centering on our work creates a hierarchy of believers — some better than others and people with that belief, will be unable to see the goodness of God because they are blinded by a sense of their own goodness. Centering on God’s gracious will creates a unity of believers — all receive the same benefits and with that, the ability to see the Light with their eyes.
God’s grace is there for those who had been righteous all their lives but also for those who had messed up their lives – equally. There is no distinction made in this respect between the prodigal son and the one who stayed with dad all his life and worked on the farm.
Robert Smith (Matthew, Augsburg Commentary) has this wonderful summary: "It is simply a fact that people regularly understand and appreciate God’s strange calculus of grace as applied to themselves but fear and resent seeing it applied to others."
For Jesus the parable teaches that the gift of eternal life is not the reward of human merit, but a free gift of divine grace. The sacrifices of the followers of Jesus will be honored by God, but the reward will so far outstrip the sacrifice that it can only be called sheer grace, something God gives us or brings about in our lives that we cannot earn or bring about on our own steam.
Though some followers of Jesus then and now may feel their long, costly services qualifies them for a higher rate of pay in the kingdom, all must humbly acknowledge that we are like the 11th hour workers. None of us deserves the glorious future God has prepared for us.
2. This parable is about the 9th (and 10th) commandment.
We covet what God chooses to give to others. A parable is essentially an elaborate allegory. We are invited to see ourselves in the story, and then apply it to ourselves. The wages at stake (even at the moment of Jesus’ first telling of the parable) are not actual daily wages for vineyard-laborers, but forgiveness, life, and salvation for believers. We need not literally be laborers in a vineyard, as we are all of us co-workers in the kingdom (1 Corinthians 3:9).
The problem is that they get the same as us; and they don’t deserve it, do they?
As a direct result of this, we covet God’s power to forgive and God’s control over who is forgiven and how.
3. The Great Reversal
Their complaints of the early workers are three:
(a) "They assumed they would receive more"
The desire for more is usually considered greed, which undoubtedly led them to desire more than they had been promised, but I don’t think their real complaint was as much about the money as the other two listed below.
(b) "You have made them equal to us."
They assumed a hierarchy based on time worked, which should have been indicated by a difference in wages paid. They make a distinction between "us" and "them" and that "we" are better than "they." "We" deserve more than "they." Such a distinction is usually unhealthy for congregations and the world wide Christian community.
(c) "[we] have born the burden of the day and the heat"
They do not see their invitation to work (and wages earned) as a sign of grace, but as a burden to be borne. When living the Christian life is seen as a burden, some faulty "seeing" is at work.
In the parable, the landowner has only one wage to hand out, which of course would not be true of any actual earthly landowner; The contrast between the present process and the future fulfillment opens up a sense of the larger possibilities for which persons of faith can strive. God is leading to the breaking down of barriers of all sorts, striving toward the time when “you have made them equal to us” is the hallmark of all faithful human society. It is here that Matthew drives us to understand the equality present in God’s grace.
The owner claims the right to pay the workers not on the basis of their merits but on the basis of his own compassion. Those who worship a God of compassion should imitate his generosity, not begrudge it.
The scandal of this parable is that we are all equal recipients of God’s gifts. The scandal of our faith is that we are often covetous and jealous when God’s gifts of forgiveness and life are given to other in equal measure.
Similarly, those who begrudge the landowners generosity were those who felt that they had earned what they received, rather than see their work and wages as gifts.
The whole problem at the end of the parable is the landowner’s fault — not because he paid them all the same, but because he paid the last first.
If he had paid a denarius to the first ones hired first, they would have gone home and not seen the last one’s hired getting paid the same amount. The payment order allowed the first hired — the long term workers (or church members?) to witness the last one’s getting paid, which resulted in the first hires to think that they would get more (v. 0).
4. Include Outsiders
One commentary on this passage suggested that the generosity of the owner is not the equal wages, but the invitation extended to all to come and work (Patte, The Gospel According to Matthew, p. 275). Their work is beneficial both to the worker and to the landowner. Patte writes:
In brief, the householder needs workers in his vineyard; the workers meet his need. People who are idle need work; the householder meets their need. The hiring process is beneficial to both the householder and the workers in the same way that seeking the kingdom is both being a blessing for others and for God and being blessed.
The repeated visits to the marketplace by the landowner to look for laborers is a warning to anticipate some other unexpected behavior from him. He is looking for the many to bring into the kingdom
As with all kingdom parables, the central truth of this parable concerns the immediacy of the kingdom of God. The parable proclaims the gospel, it reminds us that the time of reckoning is at hand. Know this for sure, the kingdom of God is at hand, so repent and believe.
Focus on those hired last. There are those in our midst who assume that nobody would pick them. They live their lives waiting for someone to notice them and their needs. Maybe the landowner didn’t see them during his numerous trips to the marketplace because they were "invisible." Who are the "invisible" people in our churches? In our communities? How do we extend God’s invitation to come and work and be rewarded to them? How do we "see" them as one of "us," rather than one of "them"?
The landowner who sweeps up idle (and therefore lost) people and gives them a purpose. Indeed, given that this is a parable about Jesus’ kingdom, what we’re talking about here is the purpose we’ve been looking for, or avoiding, all along: God’s purpose for us.
Out of pity for the unemployed and their families, the employer generously gives a full day’s wages to everyone. That is what God is doing in Jesus’ ministry—giving the tax collectors and prostitutes an equal share with the righteous in his kingdom.
All true disciples are equal in God’s eyes, however and whenever they come to faith. What matters is God’s call to us, and our response
In Jesus’ day, opportunity and privilege were far from equal; he goes against contemporary thinking and action: we are all dependent on God’s mercy.
Within the narrative, Jesus seems to be defending his inclusion of those traditionally deemed unworthy of the kingdom (e.g., tax collectors and sinners). Outside the narrative, Matthew may also be defending the recent influx of Gentile converts into a predominantly Jewish Christianity. Even though these people had come late in life to their service of God, they would be accepted into the kingdom In both cases, the point is that fewer hours clocked serving the Lord does not lessen one’s status as a laborer, either now or in eternity.
5. Do not specifically go after rewards. Rewards are not denied, but they are not the purpose of toil for Christ and his kingdom. They always come as a surprise. What Matthew means—or makes Jesus mean—is that those who forsake all and follow Jesus, and who are therefore the first, may turn out to be the last.
About whom is Jesus speaking here? He is partly talking about the rich young man and those like him. They are first and, if they don’t change their way of life, will be last. The saying is also addressed to the disciples, as both a word of comfort and a word of challenge. It is a word of comfort as they compare themselves to the rich young man. Jesus is saying to his disciples: "That young man is enjoying his earthly luxuries. You have a promise for a future realm."
The reversal saying (19:30) is also a word of challenge to the disciples in their attitudes toward women and children, and other "unimportant" people with whom Jesus chooses to mingle and eat, whom he heals and restores.
The disciples, hearing this strange saying about reversal of status probably identified with the last who would become first. But Jesus was using the saying to caution them that, in a spiritual sense, they are in danger of becoming the first who would be last. Jesus’ followers are to beware of spiritual arrogance that makes them the self-appointed elite of others of lower degree.
On two recent occasions in Matthew the disciples have tried to keep people from bothering Jesus. These people were the Canaanite woman and a group of children (15:23, 19:13). Following the parable of the workers in the vineyard is a passage that highlights the disciples’ continuing struggle with spiritual elitism.
Whether rich or poor, whether new or longtime disciples, whether adults or children, whether men or women, we are to take Jesus’ words from the Beatitudes to heart: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:4).
The parable challenges Jesus’ disciples in their spiritual arrogance. It challenges Matthew’s Jewish Christians who oppose the entry of Gentiles into the blessings of the kingdom. It challenges us today in our churches as we begrudge the joy of the gospel to those whom we deem less industrious, less committed, less worthy of it than we are.
The character(s) with whom we identify when we read a story tells us a great deal about ourselves and our self-conceptions. ? Only when we shed our spiritual arrogance can we experience the good news of this quirky parable, rather than being offended by its economics.
6. Landowner behavior describes the Kingdom of heaven
In the gospel parable the landowner’s behavior is remarkable in two ways: his care for idle workers not able to put their skills and energy to good use, and his manner of paying wages.
His behavior describes aptly the kingdom of heaven: God calls each of us to use whatever our gifts are to advance the growth of the kingdom; God “pays” us not in dollars and cents but with the free gift of salvation that is immeasurable, unlimited, endless, and overflowing.
In God’s kingdom there is no cause for idleness and no limit on “wages.”
We must limit our generosity to others because our resources are limited; for example, we have only so many dollars and so much time to contribute to those in need God unlimited in giving us life and salvation
7. Different standards
This parable can find us doing or thinking what we think is "right" (by our standards) — yet be coming up short according to God’s. It upsets our world of assumptions
The employer kept the contract he had made with the first hired but also gave the last hired what they needed to live. The last hired received their denarius, their living. Viewed from this perspective the practice comes close to what for us is a norm: unemployment benefit, making sure people have enough to live on. A different standard is applied: need, not earning rights.
III. Articles for this week in WorkingPreacher:
Old Testament – Jonah 3:10-4:11
Psalm – Psalm 145:1-8
Epistle – Philippians 1:21-30
Gospel – Matthew 20:1-16