The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 20 Part 4 The Parable Of The Laborers And The Vineyard: The Workers Compensation

What have we learned about God in this parable?

We learned that the householder and his activities are a picture of Christ and display the heart of God toward all mankind.

The vineyard represents the kingdom of God and the laborers represent sinners who repented and are born again into God's family.

A householder has absolute authority to govern all things related to the family and the estate which is entrusted to his care.

Jesus has absolute authority over to govern all creation because the Father entrusts it to His care.

A householder rises up early each morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

Christ rises early each morning like the Old Testament prophets, seeking to bring lost sheep into the kingdom of God.

A householder "hires" workers which is an ongoing action with no end date, based upon his past action of being appointed the householder.

Jesus "calls" sinners to repentant faith in Him based upon His past redemptive work of suffering, death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

Gospel preaching has no end date.

Today, we will look at compensation offered to each worker hired by the householder and where he went to hire them.

The householder went to find the workers and reached an agreement upon their wages.

Matthew 20:1-4  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4  And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

Where did the householder go to find workers?

He went to the "marketplace" which pictures the place where people meet, conduct business, settle disputes or stand idle like a sluggard (See Matthew 20:3).

Many people hired or called by the householder, were indifferent or lazy, standing around in the marketplace, accomplishing nothing good. 

The word "idle" refers to shirking from the duty of work, shunning the labour which one ought to perform.

An idle person pictures a sinner drifting aimlessly through life, indifferent to spiritual realities, uncaring about eternity.

Christ, the Heavenly Householder, goes into the  marketplace, actively calling and hiring workers for His kingdom, through gospel preaching.

At the point we hear the gospel proclaimed, we are put to the test before God. 

We can receive it, repent and be saved, or we can reject it and walk away unchanged.

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God and the gospel calls us to faith in Christ.

We must make a choice to believe it or remain in unbelief.  

Joshua challenged the Hebrew people that he led, to "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve... as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (See Joshua 24;15).

The gospel must be proclaimed where people are, at home, in the market, in school, or work.

Proverbs 1:20-22  Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: 21  She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 22  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 

Wisdom is often personified in scripture because the Hebrew word is a feminine noun and this is why it says of wisdom "She uttereth her voice in the streets."

The picture of wisdom crying in the streets correlates with the householder seeking to hire workers.

This connects with Jesus calling sinners to repentant faith in Him, in the places where people intersect with each other.

Thus, the marketplace itself is where people gather for a variety of reasons, both good and bad, and the householder sought out those who were idle.

This reminds us that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners (See 1 Timothy 1:15).

Idle hands are the Devil's workshop and his playground.

Proverbs 16:27-30  An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire. 28  A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends. 29  A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. 30  He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass. 

There is an old proverb that connects well with idle people in the marketplace.

"Idle hands are the Devil's workshop."

King Solomon tells us about the bad fruits of laziness. 

An ungodly man digs up evil, and his lips say words that cut and hurt people.

James tells us that our tongue is on fire, full of iniquity, absorbed with worldliness and set on a path to hell (See James 3:5-8).

Those who are idle are often malicious gossips, busybodies who spread rumors. 

King Solomon called a lazy person a "sluggard" because they are unproductive and irresponsible (See Proverbs 6:6; 6:9; 10:26; 13:4; 20:4; 26:16).

Their thoughts are full of evil schemes that control their words and action (See Matthew 15:17-20).

God created us to work and we find satisfaction in doing work, especially being involved in Christ's kingdom work, as this parable teaches.

The parable shows that Christ is earnestly seeking to save the lost, who stand idle without concern for their eternal future.

He is calling them to repent and be saved, hiring them to work in His kingdom.

The marketplace represents world and the places were sinners congregate together.

Matthew 20:1-4  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4  And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

The gospel call is given to those who stand idle in the market-place. 

The market-place is a place of concourse, where Wisdom cries and a place of sport, where children are playing (See Matthew 11:16).

Christ and His gospel calls us from lusting after foolish things to a sober, life changing pursuit of God and holiness.

The householder and the worker agreed on wages, picturing Christ calling sinners to repent.

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

The householder and the workers he wanted to hire, agreed to the wages they would be paid.

This connects with Isaiah where Jehovah calls to His sinning people to come and reason with Him, that He might show them their error and lead them to repentance and restoration with Him.

This is the offer of salvation from God given to all people.

Though our sins are a scarlet stain we can't remove, He will wash them away, such that they are white as snow. 

God will fully forgive us and pardon us from our sins.

This correlates with the householder reaching an agreement with an individual worker for his wages.

It pictures the Spirit of Christ reasoning with a sinner who hears the call of the gospel of Christ.

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come and confront each sinner with our sins. 

He will show us the righteousness of God that demands we receive the wages for our sin.

John 3:14-15  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 

Then, the Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus Christ and His cross, showing the sinner how his sins can be washed away, so that he can be born again (See John 16:4-15).

This is what a sinner must do, look to Jesus and His cross and live, just as the Hebrews had to do in the Old Testament (See Numbers 21:1-9).

We know that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through repentant faith in Jesus Christ (See Romans 6:23).

The unescapable wages of sin are death and were set by God in the beginning.

Genesis 2:16-17  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

Before Adam and Eve sinned, God established the wages for sinning against Him.

They were given a choice to obey God by not eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God told them with plain words that "If you eat the forbidden fruit, you will surely die."

Ezekiel 18:4  Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. 

Through Ezekiel and other prophets, God said very clearly that all souls belong to Him.

He is Creator and Sustainer of all life, the giver of our soul.

All those who sin will die and human history is full of graveyards loudly attesting to the truth of God's Word.

Romans 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Paul tells us that sin entered the world through one man, Adam.

Therefore, all people will die because all are born sinners and are condemned to receive its wages of death.

Romans 5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 

Yet, Jesus Christ came as the second Adam, to do what the first Adam failed to do.

He came to perfectly obey God and do His Father's will in all things.

He came to perfectly fulfill every command of God's law, for us, so that all who repent and trust Him, shall receive eternal life.

After the workers accept employment terms, they are sent to work in the vineyard.

Matthew 20:1-2  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

The church is God's vineyard. 

It is His planting, and He waters and fertilizes it. He puts fences around it to keep the world at bay and He will come looking for a harvest because the fruits of it are for His honour and praise. 

We are all called upon to be workers in His vineyard. 

The work of faith is vineyard work, pruning branches, applying fertilizer, working the soil so water and nutrients can be absorbed, pulling up weeds and erecting a protective fence. 

We each have our own vineyard to keep, our own soul that belongs to God. 

We must guard it keep prepared for Christ's coming. 

Remember the GIGO principle: garbage in, garbage out.

We must put scripture into our minds so that God's Word dictates what we think and talk about and what we do.

In this work we must not be slothful or loiterers, but be busy working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (See Philippians 2:12).

A idle man may very well go to Hell but he those who would go to heaven, will be busy with Christ's kingdom work.

John 15:1-5  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 

Jesus spoke of His disciples as those who are branches growing of the the main vine, which is Christ.

God will go through His vineyard to prune branches so that they can bring forth more fruit.

He will use a testing and trials to help us see the vain things we may be pursuing so that we turn from them to follow hard after Christ.

A branch (individual Christians) must abide in Christ through hearing the Word, reading the Word, praying, meeting with the people of God, and worshiping Him.

We cannot bring forth any fruit if we are not daily abiding in Christ, our Vine.

Branches that fail to produce any fruit will be cut off and burned. 

This connects with the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares and the Parable of the Net and the Fish.

We learned that the householder went to where the people gathered to call them to work in his vineyard.

Christ and His apostles went to where people were in order to preach the gospel to them.

Those who stand around idle in the marketplace represent sinners living for self in a depraved world.

The householder calling them represents Christ calling sinners to repent and follow Him.

The householder reached and agreement with individual workers.

This pictures the ministry of the Holy Spirit with the gospel, seeking to lead a sinner to repentant faith in Christ.

They reached agreement over the wages, and sin's wages bring certain death.

The gospel shows that Christ died for us so that we do not have to die and suffer in Hell for eternity.

Thus, we see the gift of God is eternal life.

Last, the workers are sent into the vineyard to work.

At the individual level, this reminds us that we are branches that grow from Christ, the Vine.

We must remain connected to Him to receive power and endurance to serve Him as we ought.

We can rejoice in the agreement we have with God as He reasons with us about sin, death, hell, Christ, the cross and heaven.

His wage for those who repent is eternal life!

May these truths inspire us to work hard in the Lord's vineyard.

May we seek to be those who talk about the gospel of Christ.

May we ask for God's help to live according to His Word.

Bob