The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Part 2: The Surprise of Grace

In the previous post, we introduced the story of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). To summarize, Jesus tells the story of a vineyard owner who hires a group of men at 6 am one morning to work a 12-hour day in his vineyard, agreeing to pay them each one denarius, the normal amount for one day’s work.

The owner then hires other groups of workers at 9 am, noon, 3 pm, and 5 pm, simply telling them that he will pay “whatever is right.” They naturally assume that since one denarius is standard payment for a day’s work, they’ll get a proportional payment based on their hours. The last group hired wouldn’t get very much since they only worked an hour, but it’s certainly better than nothing!

The day ends at 6 pm, and the owner lines up the workers to pay them, but he tells his foreman to start with the last group hired. This last group, the ones who only worked one hour, get a full denarius, a full day’s pay for one hour of work! The other groups naturally expect to get more, since they worked longer hours. When it comes to the first group, the guys who worked the entire 12-hour day, they’re expecting a whopping payment. But they only get one denarius, the exact amount the landowner promised when they were hired.

This makes them angry, so they say to the landowner, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat” (Matthew 20:12)

And if I’m being honest with myself, I agree with them. If I worked twelve hours in scorching heat and got paid one denarius, and someone else hee-hawed around all day and only worked the last hour, and he got paid the same as me, I’d be angry. It isn’t fair. And one thing we humans want out of life is for things to be fair.

But one thing we should know about this world is that life isn’t fair.

Jesus says the landowner replied to these men this way:

“Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” (Matthew 20:13-15)

And here’s where we begin to see what Jesus was teaching his disciples through this story. Remember the background: Jesus had just told the Rich Young Ruler to sell everything he had and then follow Jesus, but the young man walked away instead. Then Peter asked, “Hey, we’ve done that. We’ve given up everything to follow you, so what do we get?” Part of Jesus’ reply to Peter was, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (19:30). Then Jesus started telling the story of the vineyard, and here are the lessons he was teaching.

1. God is sovereign.

In this story, the landowner represents God, so it’s God speaking when he says, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” God is sovereign over all his creation. It’s his right to give whatever he wants to whomever he wants. We are in no position to complain to God about what he does with his creation.

Don’t be jealous of what God gives someone. God knows what he’s doing and has the right to do it. Is he not allowed to do what he chooses with what belongs to him? Or do you begrudge his generosity, especially when someone else gets something you want and feel should be yours?

Choose to focus on what God has given you, and be thankful for what you have.

2. God is generous.

The landowner asked, “Do you begrudge my generosity?” We worship a God who loves to give. God has given us so much, including an eternal relationship with him. He’s promised to give us all that we need and far more than we deserve.

And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8, CSB)

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

Our Lord is an amazing giver.

3. So, serve him out of gratitude.

When we read the parable in context, we can see that Jesus was saying to Peter, “How do you know you will get anything?” We should never serve Christ because we think we’ll get something out of it. All that we do in his name should be done only out of love and gratitude. We don’t strive for goodness to get something from God; we do it because we’re thankful for what we’ve already received. He’s promised to give us everything we need to do what he’s called us to, and so much more. Our entire lives should be a thank-you note to God for all he gives us out of his generous heart. Serve him out of gratitude, and remember, it’s only by the grace of God that we have anything at all.

4. God is gracious.

God is a God of grace, and grace is forgiveness that’s undeserved and unlimited. By its very definition, grace is unfair. Fairness has nothing to do with grace. If God only gave us what is fair, we’d all spend eternity without him. Christianity is about how we separated ourselves from God and couldn’t do anything to get back to him. But it’s also about how God loves us so much that he provided a way for us to return to him.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

We were lost and helpless, and we only know God now because in his sovereignty, he decided to show us grace.

5. Don’t begrudge the grace he shows to others.

Somewhere deep down inside some of us, we don’t like it when a person spends their entire life doing evil and hurting people, and just before they die, they accept Christ. From somewhere deep within us, we think, “That isn’t fair!” We struggle every day to do what’s right and obey Christ; we’ve missed out on so much fun that others are having; we’ve sacrificed over and over out of gratitude, and then someone who is pure evil gets to heaven just like me. In other words, we’re saying to God, “You have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”

How in the world can Ted Bundy (if he received Christ just before his death, as some claim) be in the same heaven as Mother Teresa or Billy Graham? That truly isn’t fair.

It isn’t fair. It’s grace.

The truth is, no one deserves heaven. Just one little sin separates us from a perfectly pure God. Some of you think that compared to certain other people, you’re a really good person. But “other people” isn’t our standard. The standard is perfection, and none of us measures up to that. We’re all saved by grace. Not one of us deserves salvation.

When a wicked person accepts Christ and we sense a hint of unfairness because we’d really rather see them suffer, we must understand that we were once just as lost as they were. And now they are just as saved as we are. It isn’t about fairness; it’s about grace.

Jesus shared with us a powerful story, but I pray we won’t simply think of it as a good, and maybe a little strange, story. Read through the parable again. Ponder the lessons Jesus is teaching you. Ask God to help you apply the lessons to your life each day. And never forget to thank God for his amazing grace.