Matthew 20:1-16 - Payday Parable
- Chad Werkhoven
- Apr 21
- 6 min read
You don't want God to treat you fairly.
Matthew 20:1-16 (NIV)
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
Articles 1-14
Article 18: The Proper Attitude Toward Election and Reprobation
To those who complain
about this grace of an undeserved election
and about the severity of a just reprobation,
we reply with the words of the apostle,
“Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” (Rom. 9:20),
and with the words of our Savior, “Have I no right to do what I want with my own?” (Matt. 20:15).
Summary
The opening words of chapter twenty are critical for properly interpreting what follows. So often the conventional wisdom regards parables as 'earthly stories with heavenly meanings,' as if they are cute little vignettes designed to provide a few pointers on godly living. But that's not at all what Jesus intended; Jesus here clearly provides His purpose as He begins with the familiar phrase: The kingdom of heaven is like...
Remember, a better understanding of a parable is that it is a 'shocking story with a spiritual meaning.' And Jesus once again delivered the shock value! It grates against every sensibility that we have to hear that the men who were barely on the job for an hour got the same full day pay as those who bore the burden of the work and the heat of the day.
Jesus' story becomes even more shocking when we take a closer look at the latecomers. The landowner went back to town throughout the day - all the way till 5 PM - and continually found even more guys standing around. Notice he doesn't seem to feel sorry for them or bemoan the state of the economy that left so many men unemployed, because that probably wasn't the case.
Had those guys been out earlier in the day with the others they would have found jobs as well. The late shift workers who'd been lazy all day long were probably lazy during the little bit they worked as well. But yet they all went home with a big, fat denarius in their pockets, just like the hard workers.
Dig Deeper
The first words a child learns are often 'mama' or 'dada.' Soon, other single syllable words begin to form, especially the word 'no!' But it doesn't take long for their first complete sentence to be formed: "that's not fair!!!" (especially for those with siblings). That's how deeply ingrained the concept of fairness and equality is within us.
The idea that people should get exactly what they've earned - not a penny more or less - serves us well economically. But those concepts don't contain themselves to our economics; they bleed over into our theology as well. Thus, a man who's been a Christian his entire life, who's worked hard for the church and whose sacrifices of time and money prevented him from enjoying the ordinary pleasures of life deserves the grace God granted him much more so than the convert who partied most of his life away.
Or so he does in our minds, at least. Until Jesus comes along and shocks us with this parable. DA Carson writes, "The point of the parable is not that all in the kingdom will receive the same reward, but that kingdom rewards depend on God’s sovereign grace." In other words, the fact that any of the men received a denarius at all was based purely on grace.
You're likely one of those life long hard workers in the church. It may even at times seem to you that your labor has made you more deserving of God's favor. But be careful demanding that God treat you 'fairly' - unless all of your efforts reached the level of perfection our holy God requires, you require as much grace as the thief on the cross.
Praise God for His shocking grace to all who believe!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is generous with His grace;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Holy Spirit will free you from envy;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 11
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