Home
The Workers in the Vineyard
Matthew 20.1-16
Good News Translation (GNT)
*************************
1 "The Kingdom of heaven is like this.
Once there was a man who went out early in
the morning to hire some men to work in his
vineyard.
2 He agreed to pay them the regular wage,
a silver coin a day, and sent them to work
in his vineyard.
3 He went out again to the marketplace at
nine o'clock and saw some men standing
there doing nothing,
4 so he told them, 'You also go and work in
the vineyard, and I will pay you a fair wage.'
5 So they went. Then at twelve o'clock and
again at three o'clock he did the same thing.
6 It was nearly five o'clock when he went to
the marketplace and saw some other men
still standing there. 'Why are you wasting the
whole day here doing nothing?' he asked
them.
7 'No one hired us,' they answered. 'Well, then,
you go and work in the vineyard,' he told them.
8 "When evening came, the owner told his
foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their
wages, starting with those who were hired last
and ending with those who were hired first.'
9 The men who had begun to work at
five o'clock were paid a silver coin each.
;10 So when the men who were the first to be
hired came to be paid, they thought they
would get more; but they too were given
a silver coin each.
;11 They took their money and started grumbling
against the employer.
;12 'These men who were hired last worked only
one hour,' they said, 'while we put up with a
whole day's work in the hot sun - yet you
paid them the same as you paid us!'
;13 'Listen, friend,' the owner answered
one of them, 'I have not cheated you. After all,
you agreed to do a day's work for one silver
coin.
;14 Now take your pay and go home. I want to
give this man who was hired last as much as
I gave you.
;15 Don't I have the right to do as I wish with
my own money? Or are you jealous because
I am generous?'"
;16 And Jesus concluded, "So those who are last
will be first, and those who are first will be
last."
*************************
Compiled from from the 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by the Scripture Union and from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)
The Workers in the Vineyard
Matthew 20.1-16
This parable further answers Peter's question
on behalf of the twelve,
'We have left everything to follow you!
What then will there be for us?'
Jesus assures them that they will receive eternal life
and a significant place in his kingdom,
along with everyone who has left all
for his name's sake.
There is no place for the Jew to object to
the inclusion of Gentiles within the people of God.
The vineyard was an Old Testament picture of God
choosing Israel and giving her a land.
The mention of the vineyard would have drawn the listeners in.
In Jesus' time,
farm workers worked twelve hours a day,
from 6am. to 6pm, for a denarius
(a silver coin).
That was a fair wage,
and the workers were happy.
At the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hour
the landowner found other workers.
He sent them into his vineyard saying,
"I will pay you whatever is right.
We must understand two things in this parable.
First, the denarius represents salvation.
All receive the same salvation equally,
no matter how long they have served God -
no matter how long they have been Christians.
The criminal on the cross beside Jesus believed
only in the last minutes of his life,
but he received the same salvation
as any other believer in the Christ.
The second thing we must understand
is that God is fair.
He agreed to pay those who worked twelve hours,
and He kept His agreement,
but He was generous with those who worked less.
To be generous is never unfair.
God can be generous with whom He chooses.
Someone gets a promotion or a higher salary,
and what do we do? We grumble.
We grumble because we are envious.
We claim to grumble because of "injustice,"
but we are mistaken.
It is because of envy.
It is because we covet
our neighbour's good fortune.
Let us never grumble against God.
When we grumble against our human masters,
we grumble against God,
because God put those human masters over us.
If a human master is truly unjust,
we can cry out to God.
God agrees to give us eternal life,
and we agree to serve Him.
Therefore, if along the way our work becomes hard
or our situation becomes difficult,
we have nothing to complain about.
God will keep His end of the bargain;
we must keep ours.
Sometimes those who believe in the Christ,
late in life, are given more grace than those
who have been Christians most of their lives.
Those who rely on the grace of God
will be first;
those who rely on their own works
will be last.
Those who are grateful will be first;
those who grumble and are envious will be last.
Eternal life is not like a real wage,
because eternal life is always a gift.
We never earn our eternal life.
Other versions are available here
Return to the Home Page
Contact the Benefice Office
Sunday School Rooms, Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE, Northampton, NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 830373
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr@gmail.com
Mon., Tues., Wed., Thur.
9:00am to 11:30am
For Baptism bookings (Christenings)
to arrange an appointment please contact
the Benefice Office.
For Wedding bookings:
please contact the Benefice Office to arrange
an appointment.
Who Made This?
Seeing as you asked, if you can give helpful
advice or report factual corrections and
'deliberate mistakes',email:-
regparker3@gmail.com
|