Thank God, He Is Not Only Fair, But Just :: Matthew 20:1-16
In this way the last will be first and the first last (v 16).
[Introduction]
So, it’s not fair.
That’s what Jesus just told us, right? The last will be first, and the first last.
After being among the first to bear the burden of work ... after sweating for twelve hours through the heat of the day ... after getting paid the same as the guy who showed up just before quitting time ... not only do the last go first ... (Don’t you hate those who cut in line without asking?) ... but everyone receives the same wage.
And that’s not fair, is it?
See, we say, I’ve worked longer and harder ... I have sweat equity in this place.
Didn’t you see all the good work I have done here? I deserve more! I deserve better!
It’s not fair that the newest members of the congregation, and the sporadic, will receive the same inheritance as those who have come every Sunday for decades. It’s not fair, we say, that those who do NOT enumerate ... Every. Single. Sin. Every single time they sin. ... that they will be treated the same as those who give a fuller confession. It’s not fair, we say, that I appear to be humbler and more contrite than someone else. They should get on their knees and beg before absolution is declared!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, just because you think that you haven’t actually murdered someone, or haven’t actually committed adultery, or haven’t actually taken a five-fingered discount, or haven’t actually lied in court, or haven’t actually dishonored your father or mother, or that you honestly think you have ALWAYS loved your neighbor as yourself ... that doesn’t mean you will receive a greater reward. We are not saved based on what we consider to be fair.
4. This discussion of fairness is what prompted Jesus to deliver what we call the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
Christ had just had a conversation with a rich young man, who didn’t think it was fair that his good nature didn’t merit GREAT reward. When that man heard that he needed to give up everything and ACTUALLY follow Jesus, he went away ... head held low, saying ... It’s not fair.
This then prompted Jesus to tell his disciples, It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. To which the disciples wondered aloud, Who then can be saved? ... Or as some people might say, how is that fair?
So Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God, everything is possible.
Then Peter replied, Behold! We have left everything and followed you. What then will we have? So Jesus said to them, Amen I say to you that, you who have followed me in the new birth, when the Son of Man sits upon the throne of his glory, you also will sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left home or brother or sister or father or mother or wife or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first (Mt 19:16-30).
3. Jesus then immediately followed with the parable about how fair the Lord really is.
For the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a housemaster ... which today we understand to be those who are responsible for the care, supervision, and welfare of those in their charge ... who went out [at dawn] to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the workers [to pay them] a denarius [for] the day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour ... that’s 9 am ... he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is just, I’ll give you.’ So they went. Again, going out about the sixth and the ninth hour ... noon and 3 pm ... he did likewise. Then about the eleventh [hour] ... 5 pm ... he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard, too.’
Did you notice that the only people actually hired, who actually agreed to work in the vineyard for a denarius, was the first group? Everyone else was simply found and sent.
When evening came, the Lord of the Vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give to them the wage, beginning from the last until the first.’ And when those [called] about the eleventh hour came, each received a denarius. And when those [hired] first came, they thought they would receive much, yet each of them also received a denarius. And when they received [it], they grumbled against the housemaster, saying, ‘These, the last, did only one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the heat.’
In other words, that’s not fair.
But in reply, he said to one of them, ‘Hey Buddy, I [am not acting unjustly] to you. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take yours and go. But I desire to give to [this last man] as also to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I desire with what is mine? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ In this way the last will be first, and the first last.’
2. One of the main points of this parable is: Our understanding of what’s fair is backward.
That’s right ... Salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone IS NOT fair. The Lord of the Vineyard doesn’t wait for us to make a decision to confess our sins so we can enter the vineyard, which is paradise. The Lord doesn’t wait for us to repent. The Lord doesn’t wait for us to stop being useless ... idle ... telling ourselves, well no one has asked us to volunteer.
God gives daily bread ... a denarius ... to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people. He doesn’t count the hours, measure the quality or quantity of our accomplishments. He doesn’t track our resume. The Lord desires all men to come to the knowledge of this truth and be saved (1 Tm 2:4). He is the one who calls, gathers, sends, and cares for all. In fact, he continually offers you the most magnificent gift of all: His unmerited grace, mercy, forgiveness, and means of grace, all of which deliver eternal life in the vineyard with all the fruit of Christ.
Therefore, repent every one of you, and enter the vineyard to receive your inheritance.
1. Then thank God that he gives you something much better than fair.
Jesus took all of your sin, iniquity, transgression ... all of your failures to meet the needs of others, all of your secret immorality, your rebellion to do nothing upon his shoulders. He took the blame for all the times you thought that you don’t need to receive his means of grace. In fact, he took all of the sin, all of the iniquity, all of the transgression of the entire world for all time. He carried it all to the cross. And that’s not fair.
He didn’t deserve to be crucified. We do. He was humiliated in front of the world for you. We beat him and stripped him and nailed him to the cross ... for what? Because it was fair? Jesus is the one who bore the heat of the day for you. He is the one who sweated blood for you.
Though you were dead in your sin and trespasses, standing idle all day ... Though you idly can’t remember your sin and trespasses, what you’ve done or left undone ... Though you are embarrassed by some of it and idly hide every chance you get ... Jesus chose to give you the riches of his kingdom. And now that God has raised Jesus from the dead, he has given you all the credit that comes with his resurrection. The Lord of the Vineyard has made you one of his very own, giving you the righteousness of Christ and eternal life in his kingdom.
That’s the wage the workers received for their time in the vineyard.
That’s the wage you too will receive. Because of this, we now know
HE IS NOT ONLY FAIR, BUT THE LORD IS JUST
[Conclusion]
Now we can labor in joy. Now we can serve one another with confidence. Now we find great success. And even when we feel the day is wasted away ... we know the work of Christ has already benefited us now and into eternity.
So ... Let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods (Ps 95:1-3 ESV).
In Jesus’ name. Amen