For the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who went out with the early morn to hire workmen for his vineyard.
Peter had just asked what the disciples would get for leaving everything. The Lord answers with a picture of the kingdom: an employer goes out at daybreak to hire workers, and everything turns on the terms he offers.
The Lord replied to Peter on two levels before He told the story.
Peter's remark in Matthew 19:27 called it forth. "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" In reply the Lord told him that faithful service will never go unrewarded. For the apostles, special honour is kept for them in the golden era when the Son of Man will sit on His throne. But the Lord saw in Peter's remark a tendency to make too much of human deeds and sacrifices, so He added the parable of the labourers in the vineyard.
The householder hires workers to labour. That is the subject of the story — not how God saves a sinner.
But the parable has in view not conversion, nor eternal life, but labouring in the vineyard. How can those who know the gospel fall into a mistake so obvious and so deep as to overlook this? It was for Christ that Simon Peter left all and followed Him. Christ drew him, not reward — though reward there is. God is not unrighteous. He does not forget any work or labour of love shown to His name in the service of the saints or of the gospel.
Early morning is only his first trip. He goes out again, and again, and the last outing is the most striking of all.
"Whatever is right I will give you." It is God who judges what is fitting. "Again he went out about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same." And, remarkably, "about the eleventh hour he went out." What a heart this reveals! What infinite goodness! God recognises every service and every suffering borne for Himself. Yet He keeps His right to go out at the last moment, to bring in souls and give them what may look like a small piece of work. But He can give grace to do that little well.
The wage the master names is not a token. It is a full day's pay, and a generous one.
A denarius was a silver coin, worth far more than our penny. "The denarius a day was the pay of a Roman soldier in the time of Tiberius, a few years before this parable was spoken. We may therefore regard this as liberal pay for a day's work."
The first group settles terms before starting. The later groups simply go on the master's word. That difference is the heart of the lesson.
The principle laid down is this: we work out of confidence in Christ, not for a set amount of reward. It is grace, not law. Reward is encouragement to keep going, not the motive. Those who agreed for their denarius got their denarius; those who trusted the master of the vineyard got according to his heart. "What is right I will give," and they went on his word. Reward for sacrifice is sure when Christ is the motive of the sacrifice. But where reward is the motive of the service, it is poor pay, and in fact the whole thing is false.
When the complaint comes at the end of the day, the master does not defend his fairness by adjusting the wage. He appeals to his own goodness.
The steward is told to begin with the last hired, giving each a denarius. This stirred up the grumbling of the earliest workmen, who resented the householder's generosity. But he stopped the mouth of their spokesman at once. The injustice complained of lay only in the complainer. "Did you not agree with me for a denarius?" Grace keeps its right to bless. "Do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last." The despised enjoy grace that goes beyond anything man can question. Those who feed selfish thoughts justly sink.
Readers often try to fix a meaning to each hour and each detail. One writer warns against pressing the picture that far.
The difficulty of this parable clears up if we remember one thing. A parable is a picture that shows a principle or draws a moral for instruction. So it is wrong to think that every part of a parable must carry a special meaning and a spiritual application. Once we dig into the details and try to explain each one, we miss the true lesson — and may even teach the exact opposite of what the Lord teaches.
- Call — The master goes out himself, again and again, down to the eleventh hour. Every call to work starts with Him.
- Terms — Some bargain for a fixed wage; others simply go on His word. That choice, not the hours worked, divides the parable.
- Motive — Reward is real, but it only keeps you going. Christ Himself must be the reason you serve.
- Scope — The subject is work in the vineyard, not how a sinner is saved. The parable never makes salvation a wage.
- Outcome — Those who trusted the master receive according to his heart. Those who priced their own work receive just what they asked for, and no more.
And having agreed with the workmen for a denarius the day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Peter had just asked what he and the others would get for leaving everything. The Lord answered with a story about a landowner hiring workers for the day. Everything turns on this second verse. One group settles the terms at dawn. Every group hired later trusts the owner instead.
The wage named here was not a token sum. It was the standard rate for a full day's work, so the deal struck at dawn was a fair one.
The English penny in the Authorised Version is misleading, and the Revised Version kept it. The Roman denarius was worth about eight pence of our money. It was the daily pay of a soldier, and the daily wage of a working man (Matt. 20:2).
The owner hires workers at different hours. Yet the wage fixed at dawn sorts them all into two kinds, and one kind matches the question Peter had asked.
In fact there are only two classes: those who agreed on the amount they were to receive, and those who left themselves in the hands of the Master to give what he thought right. The first, we take it, are the "first," and the second the "last" of Matthew 19:30. The first also represent, we have no doubt, the spirit of Peter, as expressed in his question, "What shall we have then?" So the Lord brings before us the right and the wrong spirit of service. The wrong spirit finds its motive in the reward it expects. The right spirit draws its energy from the will of the Master. The one thinks of the value of the work done; the other thinks of the Master for whom the work is done.
The owner sends these men into his vineyard to work. That one fact fixes what the parable is about.
It ought not to be in question that in this parable it is not salvation but service that is the matter in hand. It is sad that in every age the tendency has been, and still is, to confuse the two, to the deep injury of both. For if we mix them, no one who honestly feels how unprofitable his own service is can be sure of his salvation, or ought to be.
The owner fixed this wage before anyone had worked an hour. That is the difference between the first group and all the rest. It decides what each one receives at the end.
The principle is this: we work out of confidence in Christ, not for a set amount of reward. It is grace, not law. Reward is an encouragement to keep going, not a motive. Those who agreed for their denarius got their denarius. Those who trusted the master of the vineyard got according to his heart.
Where pay is the reason for the work, the joy of the work itself is gone.
If we bargained with Him about it, we would lose the holy and precious privilege of serving Him altogether.
At the end of the day the early workers protest. The owner does not defend his generosity — he simply points back to the terms of verse 2, and that settles it.
The only injustice was in the man who complained. "Did you not agree with me for a denarius?" Grace keeps its right to bless. "Do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last." The despised enjoy grace that overflows beyond anything man can question. Those who indulge selfish thoughts sink, and they deserve to. God, who never fails in righteousness, keeps His right to act according to His own goodness.
The hiring language belongs to the illustration. Commentators warn against reading it as a description of how God actually deals with those who work for Him.
God does not "hire" labourers the way men do when work in His vineyard is in question. That idea is man's misunderstanding of His way. The lost son in another story, still far from home, may talk about the "hired servants" in his father's house. We are not to take that as a picture of the real truth. And the whole design of the parable here is to warn us, by how it ends, against such twisting.
- Agreement. The wage fixed at dawn was a full day's pay for a day's work. The owner cheats no one.
- Two classes. One agreement splits the workers in two: those who settled terms, and those who trusted the Master to give what was right.
- Service. The owner hires these men to work. So the parable is about service and reward, not about how God saves a sinner. Mix the two, and both suffer.
- Motive. Those who bargained got what they bargained for. Those who trusted got according to the Master's heart. Reward cheers the worker on; it is not why he works.
- Sovereignty. The owner answers the complaint by pointing to the agreement. God never fails in righteousness, and He stays free to act in His own goodness.
And having gone out about [the] third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle;
This verse opens the parable of the workers in the vineyard. From the third hour on, the master names no wage for the workers he calls — only a promise — and that difference carries the whole lesson.
Much confusion around this parable comes from reading it as a picture of how people are saved. One writer traces the trouble to the way we crowd God out of His own story:
Why has the parable that opens chapter 20 caused such confusion and disagreement, from long ago until now? It is because man looms so large in his own eyes that no room is left for the sovereign grace of God. Now this is the very thing the Lord asserts here. Godly men may, and must, allow that grace more or less clearly when it comes to His saving souls. But the Lord claims it for His dealings with service too. It ought not to be in question that the parable is about service, not salvation. Sadly, in every age the tendency has been to confuse the two, to the deep damage of both.
Another writer presses the same point from the other end. If the single coin paid to every worker stood for eternal life, the results would be damaging:
Suppose the penny, which everyone receives alike, means salvation. Then a man would have to work for salvation and earn it as a labourer. This strikes at grace and at the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
The word behind "idle" here is not a neutral description. It carries blame, and it reaches past work to words:
The Greek word argos (perhaps from a, 'not', and ergon, 'work') is applied to things as well as to people, and it involves blameworthiness. In Matthew 12:36, every "idle" word that people speak will have to be accounted for. It is translated 'idle' in Matthew 20:3, 6; 1 Timothy 5:13.
Yet standing idle is not always the worker's fault. One writer separates two conditions we often lump together:
There is a difference between being idle and being lazy; a man may be idle because he does not know what to do... The men in the parable were ready to work, but did not know what to do. A lazy man is one who knows what he ought to do and does not do it.
The first workers settled on a figure. After that the master names no figure at all, and the later the call, the less the worker has to hold on to:
The later in the day a worker is called, the more the thought of a fixed agreement drops away. Those who go into the vineyard depend more and more on the goodness of the householder to give them as he sees fit. To those called at the third hour he says only, "Whatever is right I will give you." At the sixth and ninth hours, "what is right" becomes a slimmer and slimmer hope. For those at the eleventh hour, nothing at all seems to be said of this. Everything rests with the owner of the vineyard, to give as he pleases, or not.
The workers at the third hour had only the master's word to go on. One writer finds in that the whole basis of service:
Clearly the Lord lays down the true source and principle of service. It is confidence in the one who calls... Those at the third hour went to work on his word, "whatever is right I will give you," as did those at the sixth and ninth hours.
This does not cancel reward; it puts reward in its place. One writer draws the line between what moves a worker and what cheers him along:
The principle is this: work out of confidence in Christ, not for a set reward. It is grace, not law. Reward is encouragement to keep going, not the motive. Those who agreed for their penny got their penny. Those who trusted the master of the vineyard received according to his heart. "What is right I will give," and they went on his word.
- Called. The master keeps going out — at the third hour and beyond — so the day is never too far gone for a fresh call into the vineyard.
- Idle. The word carries blame. Yet a man can stand idle because he is ready to work and does not know what to do. That is not laziness.
- Trusted. From the third hour on, no wage is agreed. The worker leans on the householder's word, and each later call leaves him leaning harder.
- Motive. Confidence in the one who calls is the true spring of service. Reward encourages the worker along the road. It is not the reason for setting out.
- Result. Bargainers get their bargain. Those who trusted receive according to the master's heart. That is why the parable is about service, not about how people are saved.
and to them he said, Go also ye into the vineyard, and whatsoever may be just I will give you. And they went their way.
The master of the vineyard goes back to the market at the third hour and finds men standing idle. He sends them into the vineyard on very different terms from the first group: He names no wage, and promises only to give what is right.
People have argued about this parable for centuries. One writer traces the confusion to a single cause:
Why has there been such perplexity and disagreement, from ancient times to now, about the parable that opens chapter 20? It is because man looms so large in his own eyes that no room is left for the sovereign grace of God. Now this is the very thing the Lord asserts here. Godly men might and must more or less admit it when He saves souls; but the Lord claims it for His dealings with service. And it ought not to be in question that the parable deals with service, not salvation. Sadly, in every age the tendency has been to confuse the two, to the deep injury of both.
The householder names no figure. He keeps the decision in His own hands:
"After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace" (verses 2-3). This is not grace in the sense of salvation. "Whatever is right I will give you." It is God who judges what is fitting. … It is the sovereignty of grace in giving as He pleases; not only in saving, but in rewarding in the time of glory.
The first group settled the price before they started. These men had nothing but the owner's word, and going on it was itself an act of trust:
The first group held to justice; they got exactly what they had agreed on. The last enjoyed their master's grace. And notice that they accept the principle of grace, of confidence in it. "Whatever is right I will give!" That is the great point of the parable — confidence in the grace of the master of the vineyard, and grace as the ground of their action. But who understood it? Someone like Paul might start late, because God called him then. He could still be a stronger witness to grace than the workers who had been at it since the first days of the gospel.
Fixing a price with God would cost the worker something he cannot afford to lose:
True servants of Christ have drunk of His grace. They are governed by one desire: His glory and the blessing of their fellow men. They are full of gratitude for the grace that lets them serve such a Master. The holy and precious privilege of serving Him would be completely lost if we bargained with Him about it.
The reward is real. But everything turns on which comes first for the worker — Christ or the pay:
The principle laid down is this — working out of confidence in Christ, not for a set amount of reward; grace, not law. Reward is encouragement to keep going, not the motive. Those who agreed for their penny got their penny; those who trusted the master of the vineyard got according to his heart. "What is right I will give," and they went on his word. The promise of reward for sacrifice is there when Christ is the motive of the sacrifice. But where reward is the motive of the service, it is poor pay, and in fact the whole thing is false.
One writer applied this to his own service:
We are not to grow weary in doing good. In due season we will reap, "if we do not give up." … The principle of Matthew 20 is "Whatever is right I will give you." So he went and worked and trusted. Trusting Christ is a great matter. I would have very little to show for my work; I feel it sometimes. … But … if I only have His approval, how content I should be!
- Call — the men stand idle until He comes to the market. The work starts with His invitation.
- Confidence — He fixes no wage. They go on His word alone, and that trust in the master's grace is the point of the parable.
- Concern — the parable is about service, not salvation. Mixing the two damages both.
- Cost — bargaining with God for terms would destroy the very privilege of serving Him.
- Compensation — He decides what is right. Reward cheers the worker who is already following Christ. Make it the motive, and the service is false.
Again, having gone out about the sixth and ninth hour, he did likewise.
The verse opens with the third-hour workers going out on nothing but a promise. Then the owner goes out twice more, at midday and mid-afternoon, and hires on the same terms. Those few words hold the pattern the whole parable turns on: a master who keeps coming back, and workers who trust his word instead of a fixed wage.
The parable counts hours from sunrise, the way its first hearers did. Their clock does not run like ours.
The day was divided into twelve hours, generally counted from sunrise to sunset. In Palestine this varied: about ten of our hours in winter, about fourteen in summer. So a summer hour was nearly half as long again as a winter one. Scripture hours are now usually counted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. That makes the third hour our 9 o'clock, the sixth hour our 12 o'clock, and the ninth hour our 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
"He did the same" points back to the words spoken at the third hour, not to the bargain struck at daybreak. Only the first group settled on a price.
The workmen called first agreed to the terms. Those at the third hour went to work on his word: "whatever is right I will give you." Those at the sixth and ninth hours did the same. The last group at the eleventh went simply at his call: "You go into the vineyard too."
Across the hours, the master says less and less. At last he promises nothing at all.
As men are called to work at later and later hours of the day, the thought of a fixed agreement drops away more and more. Those who go into the vineyard become more dependent on the goodness of the householder, to give them as he sees fit. To those called at the third hour he only says, "Whatever is right I will give you." At the sixth and ninth hours, "what is right" becomes a thinner and thinner hope. For those at the eleventh hour, nothing of the kind seems to be said at all. They are left wholly to the owner of the vineyard, to give as he pleases, or not.
These repeated trips tell us what the master's heart is like. And they do not stop at the ninth hour.
"Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same." And, remarkably, "about the eleventh hour he went out." What a heart this tells! What infinite goodness! God recognises every service and suffering done for Himself. Yet He still keeps the right to go out at the last moment, to bring in souls and set them to what might seem a small service. But He can give grace to do that little well.
The workers of this verse never fix a price. That silence is the point. They act on trust in the master, and the parable makes that its great lesson.
The first held to justice. They received what was agreed on. The last enjoyed the grace of their master. And notice this: they accept the principle of grace, and put their confidence in it. "Whatever is right I will give!" The great point in the parable is just that — confidence in the grace of the master of the vineyard, and grace as the ground of their action.
Because these workers earn pay, many readers take the parable as a picture of how people are saved. Commentators reject that reading.
Some of these interpretations are altogether wrong and contradict Scripture. One of them explains the denarius, or penny, as eternal life and salvation. If the penny that all receive alike really meant salvation, then a man would have to work for salvation and earn it as a labourer. This strikes at grace and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. No, the question of the parable is not the question of salvation.
Commentators differ on how far to press the details. Some match the hours to set groups: the apostles, the early Christians, and workers of our own day. Gaebelein warns that in a parable "it is not at all correct to think that everything must have a specific meaning." Chase every hour, he says, and you will miss the true lesson.
- Call. The master goes out again at midday and mid-afternoon. He keeps coming back all day, right down to the eleventh hour.
- Terms. "He did the same" repeats the third hour's offer, not the morning's bargain. He names no wage, only what is right.
- Trust. As the day goes on, the promise shrinks. Those hired lean on the owner's goodness, not on a contract.
- Grace. The first held to justice and got the agreed price. The last trusted the master's heart and enjoyed grace. That trust is the true ground of service.
- Caution. The pay stands for service and reward, not for salvation. Salvation earned as a labourer would strike at grace and at Christ's work on the cross.
But about the eleventh [hour], having gone out, he found others standing, and says to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Peter had just asked what the disciples would get for leaving everything to follow Jesus. This parable is the Lord's answer. So when the householder goes out one last time and finds men still standing with nothing to do, two questions press: may God call whom He wants, when He wants? And what makes service worth anything?
He has already hired at dawn, and at the third, sixth and ninth hours. Now, with one hour of daylight left, he goes out again.
And, remarkably, "about the eleventh hour he went out." What a heart this shows! What infinite goodness! God recognises every service and every suffering done for Himself. Yet He keeps intact His right to go out at the last moment, to bring in souls and give them what might look like a very small piece of service. But He can give grace to do that little well.
The word behind "idle" is not neutral. It carries blame, and Matthew 12:36 uses it of the words we speak — quoted below in an older translation.
The Greek word argos … applies to things as well as to persons, and involves blameworthiness. In Matthew 12:36, people must give account for "every 'idle' word that men speak". The same word appears as "idle" in Matthew 20:3, 6 and 1 Timothy 5:13.
Yet these men were not refusing work. One writer draws a line between two kinds of standing still:
There is a difference between being idle and being lazy; a man may be idle because he does not know what to do. … They were ready to work, but did not know what to do. A lazy man is one who knows what he ought to do and does not do it. How shameful is laziness!
Read the hiring scenes in order and something shifts. The first group settles terms. The later groups get less and less to hold on to. The last get nothing but the call itself.
In those called to work at various hours of the day, we find the thought of a fixed agreement given up more and more. Those who go into the vineyard depend more and more on the goodness of the householder to give to them as he sees fit. To those called at the third hour he says only, "Whatever is just I will give you." At the sixth and ninth hours, "what is just" becomes a slimmer and slimmer hope. To those at the eleventh hour he says nothing of this at all. They depend wholly on the owner of the vineyard, to give as he pleases, or not.
The eleventh-hour men have only one thing to go on:
Clearly the Lord lays down the true spring and principle of service. It is confidence in the one who calls. … The last batch at the eleventh hour went simply at his call: "Go into the vineyard also." … Grace reserves its title to bless. The despised enjoy grace that overflows beyond every claim of man, while those who give way to selfish thoughts rightly sink.
A popular reading treats the day's wage as eternal life. One writer rejects that, and gives the reason:
One wrong interpretation explains the denarius or penny as meaning eternal life and salvation. … That this is wrong hardly needs saying. The salvation of the sinner is not in view here at all. If it were true that the penny, which all receive alike, means salvation, then man would have to work for salvation and earn it as a labourer. This strikes at grace and at the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
The parable is about service and its reward. So it exposes the worker who keeps score.
Human pettiness, even in true saints, tends to price its own service and magnify its own labours in the Lord's vineyard. But remembering what each soul owes to its Redeemer rebukes all such notions. … Love is the only true motive. Scripture gives every statement about final reward as encouragement only.
- Called. The householder goes out one last time, with the day almost gone. God keeps His right to call at the last moment, and to give grace to do a small task well.
- Idle. The word carries blame, yet these men were ready to work. Idle can mean not knowing what to do; lazy means knowing and not doing.
- Trusting. Each later group gets less to bargain with, until the last go on the call alone. Confidence in the one who calls is the true spring of service.
- Not salvation. The wage cannot stand for eternal life. Otherwise man would earn salvation by labour — and that strikes at grace and at the cross.
- Rewarded. Reward is encouragement, not motive. Love is the motive, and selfish scorekeeping only sinks the one who indulges it.
They say to him, Because no man has hired us. He says to them, Go also ye into the vineyard [and whatsoever may be just ye shall receive].
The men found at the eleventh hour have a reason for standing about: nobody had put them to work. His reply is the shortest call in the parable — no terms, no figure, just a word sending them into the vineyard.
Their answer clears them of a charge that is easy to make. One writer uses their answer to separate two things people often confuse:
There is a difference between being idle and being lazy; a man may be idle because he does not know what to do. We are familiar with the parable of the labourers. At the eleventh hour of the day the householder went out into the market-place. He found men standing there and said to them, "Why do you stand here idle all day?" They answered, "Because no one has hired us." They were ready to work, but did not know what to do. A lazy man is one who knows what he ought to do and does not do it.
The hour is almost gone, and the owner is still searching the market-place. One commentator sees God's heart in it:
And, remarkably, "about the eleventh hour he went out." What a heart this tells! What infinite goodness! God recognises every service and suffering done for Himself. Yet He keeps intact the right to go out at the last moment, to bring in souls and set them to what might seem a little service! But He can give grace to do that little well.
Across the parable the promise of pay grows thinner with each hour, until it disappears. One writer traces the pattern:
As the householder calls workers at the later hours, the thought of a fixed agreement is given up more and more. Those who go into the vineyard depend more and more on his goodness to give to them as he sees fit. To those called at the third hour he says only, "Whatever is just I will give you." At the sixth and ninth hours, "what is just" becomes a more and more slender hope. At the eleventh hour, nothing of the kind seems to be said at all. These men are left wholly to the owner of the vineyard, to give as he pleases, or not.
Commentators differ here, because the manuscripts differ. Some keep a closing clause in verse 7 that promises whatever is right. Others leave it out:
The Fifth Company go into the vineyard at the eleventh hour with no promise at all, if we omit, with the best authorities, the last clause of verse 7.
Much confusion around this parable comes from treating the day's wage as eternal life. One commentator names the problem and its cost:
Some interpretations of this parable are altogether wrong and contradict Scripture. Among them we mention the explanation of the denarius or penny as meaning eternal life and salvation. Luther taught this, and many other commentators after him. That it is wrong hardly needs saying. The salvation of the sinner is not in view here. If the penny, which all receive alike, meant salvation, then a man would have to work for salvation and earn it as a labourer. This strikes at grace and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
Nothing in the account suggests these men had been holding back. One writer draws out what that says about God's timing:
God gives according to His goodness and His grace. There had been no refusal of the invitations among the last (vv. 6, 7): God called them when the moment that pleased Him arrived.
One writer sets beside the parable a man who came in at the very end:
Many who thought themselves to be first may be seen to be last, and many who came in late may get a first place. The dying thief came in at the eleventh hour, surely, but his one short hour of witness to Christ was given at a time when all had forsaken Him.
- Idle — standing in the market-place is not proof of laziness. These men were willing, but no one had hired them. A lazy man is one who knows what he ought to do and does not do it.
- Called — the owner goes out again with the day almost gone. God keeps His right to bring in souls at the last moment. He gives grace to do a small service well.
- Trusting — each later group gets a thinner promise than the one before. The last men hear no figure at all. They depend wholly on the owner's goodness.
- Serving — the wage is not eternal life. Make it salvation, and salvation becomes something a labourer earns. That strikes at grace and at the cross.
- Rewarded — the timing was God's, not theirs. He called them when it pleased Him. One late hour of witness can come first of all.
But when the evening was come, the lord of the vineyard says to his steward, Call the workmen and pay [them] their wages, beginning from the last even to the first.
The working day is over. The owner turns to his manager with an order: call the workers in and pay them, but start at the wrong end — with the ones hired last. That order turns the whole parable, and it raises two questions. What are these wages, and why does the payment run backwards?
Everything here depends on where the owner sent the workers. One writer makes that point, then sorts the workers into two groups by how they agreed to work.
It is essential to notice that this parable is about service, because the workers are sent into the vineyard. There is also no doubt that it grew out of Peter's question: "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" ... In fact, there are only two classes. There are those who agreed on the amount they were to receive. And there are those who left themselves in the Master's hands, for him to give what he thought right... All this comes out when the steward settles with the workers. Obeying his lord, he begins with the last, and everyone received a penny.
The workers earn their coin by labour. One commentator names a common mistake about that coin and shows what it destroys.
This parable puzzles many readers of the Bible, and all kinds of interpretations have been attempted. Some of them are completely wrong and contradict Scripture. One of them explains the denarius, or penny, as eternal life and salvation. The salvation of the sinner is not in view here at all. If it were true that the penny, which all receive alike, means salvation, then a man would have to work for salvation and earn it as a labourer. This strikes at grace and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
The reversed order is not a stray detail. It is the owner honouring something he prizes in the workers who came without a contract.
But the master of the house placed great value on the trust the later comers showed. They were confident that his mind was right, and they had faith in his word. He had a right to do what he wanted with his own money. He valued faith so highly that he gave the last the same as he gave the first. And when he handed out the money, he began with the last. So the last were first and the first last.
Every man received one coin. Some conclude from this that all rewards are equal. One writer answers by weighing the coin against the hours behind it.
People argue that all were rewarded alike. But not so. The point of the parable is, that all were rewarded. Not that all were rewarded alike. There is a great difference between a penny a day and a penny an hour... The dying thief did come in at the eleventh hour. But he gave his one short hour of witness to Christ at a time when everyone had abandoned Him.
Once the steward pays the last, the first start calculating. Their complaint shows what they had agreed to and what they had forgotten.
But when the first heard about it, they began to think themselves entitled to more — they who had borne the burden and heat of the day. But the master reminds them that all was a settled thing before they entered on their work. In their selfishness, they forgot both the terms and the righteousness of the man they were dealing with. If he chose, out of the generosity of his heart, to give the last as much as the first, what was that to them? God maintains His own rights.
So two motives can drive the same work. One writer states the principle that decides between them.
The principle is this: work out of confidence in Christ, not for a fixed amount of reward. It is grace, not law. Reward is an encouragement to keep going, not the motive. Those who agreed for their penny got their penny. Those who trusted the master of the vineyard got according to his heart: "Whatever is right I will give you," and they went on his word. The promise of reward for sacrifice holds when Christ is the motive of the sacrifice. But where the reward is the motive of the service, it is poor pay, and in fact the whole thing is false.
- Called — The owner sends workers into his vineyard. So the subject is service and its reward, not how a sinner is saved.
- Contracted or trusting — Two groups work in that vineyard. One fixed a price first; the other took the Master at His word.
- Paid — At evening the steward hands out one coin to each. Read that coin as eternal life, and salvation becomes wages earned.
- Reversed — The owner pays the last first, because he prizes the trust that asked for no bargain.
- Revealed — The first grumble and show their selfishness. All were rewarded, but not all alike. God keeps His right to be good.
And when they [who came to work] about the eleventh hour came, they received each a denarius.
Payday in this parable runs backwards: the master pays the men hired last first, and those who worked a single hour receive a full day's wage. That single denarius, paid to men who had done almost nothing, starts the complaint that follows and raises a question about how God pays for service.
The master goes to the marketplace one last time, with only an hour of work left in the day. That final trip tells us something about the one who hires.
"About the eleventh hour he went out … and says to them, Go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right, that you shall receive." What a heart this shows! What infinite goodness! God recognizes every service and every suffering borne for Himself. Yet He keeps the right to go out at the last moment, bring in souls, and give them what might look like a small piece of work! But He can give grace to do that little well. … "Beginning from the last." The last are always spoken of first in this parable. … It is the sovereignty of grace in giving as He pleases — not only in saving, but in rewarding at the time of glory; for that is what is spoken of here.
The coin was nothing unusual. What differed between the two groups was not the amount but the agreement.
The penny (or denarius) that the householder agreed on with his first batch of workers was the usual day's wage for a labourer then. So the agreement was fair to all parties. At pay-time a problem arose about some men whom the master found out of work at the eleventh hour and sent into the vineyard. He fixed no wage for them. He only told them, "Whatever is right you shall receive." They trusted the master's goodness — a safe principle where God is concerned.
One common explanation of the coin fails, and it fails because of what it would do to the cross.
Some explanations of this parable are altogether wrong and contradict Scripture. Among them is the explanation of the denarius or penny as meaning eternal life and salvation. … That this is wrong hardly needs to be said. The salvation of the sinner is not in view here at all. If the penny, which all receive alike, really meant salvation, then a man would have to work for salvation and earn it as a labourer. This strikes at grace and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
The parable sorts the workers by what moved them into the vineyard.
The principle laid down is this: work through confidence in Christ, not for so much reward. It is grace, not law. Reward is encouragement to endure, not a motive. Those who agreed for their penny got their penny. Those who trusted the master of the vineyard got according to his heart. "What is right I will give," and they went on his word. … But where the reward is the motive of the service, it is poor pay, and indeed all is false.
Every man gets the same coin, so some conclude that every reward will be the same. The moral of the parable points the other way:
From this some have drawn the doctrine of an equal reward for all. But that is not the doctrine of Scripture. The rewards here follow the moral of the parable given to us, that the "first shall be last and the last first" — which again is not equality.
The early workers were content with their wage until they saw what the one-hour men received. What offended them was not injustice but generosity.
They were thankful to get their day's wages for their day's work. But men who had worked only one hour stirred up their covetousness. And why? Because they could not accept God's right to be good — not just to be righteous. … He claims to be good, for He is good. So He knows where to show this goodness. And He will ask no one's permission to show it.
- Called — the master goes out even at the eleventh hour. He keeps His right to bring in workers late and give them a small task to do well.
- Trusted — the first group fixed a price. The last group went on His word alone, and trusting the master's goodness is the safe ground with God.
- Paid — the denarius was an ordinary day's wage, not a picture of eternal life. Call it salvation, and the cross becomes wages earned.
- Motive — reward encourages us to endure. It is never the reason to serve. Work for the pay, and the pay is poor.
- Good — the complainers allowed that God is righteous but resented that He is good. He asks no one's permission to show that goodness.
And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, and they received also themselves each a denarius.
At pay time the men hired at dawn watch the last workers collect a full day's wage, and they start counting. They expected more, so the verse raises two questions: were they cheated, and does everyone in God's service get the same?
Commentators agree that this story is about service, not about salvation. Two details settle it. The master hires men and sends them into his vineyard. The parable also answers Peter's question about what the disciples would get for leaving everything.
It is essential to notice that this parable is about service, because the master sends the labourers into the vineyard. There is also no doubt that it grew out of Peter's question about what he and the others would get for leaving everything. In fact there are only two classes. One group agreed on the amount they were to receive. The other left themselves in the hands of the Master, to give what he thought right. The first group, we take it, are the "first" of Matthew 19:30, and the second the "last."
The men who "thought they would receive more" were the only group who fixed a price in advance. That bargain explains what they expected.
Of the various groups of workers the Master employed, only the first made a fixed agreement. This is surely law, and it makes God man's debtor. But whoever makes the bargain will get his due and proper reward in righteousness, though it leaves him discontented and finding fault.
What was the coin worth? It was no token sum.
A denarius was a silver coin, worth far more than a penny in our money… so we may regard it as generous pay for a day's work.
(The ESV reads "denarius" where older translations have "penny.") When the earliest workers grumble, the fault is not in the books. It is in the heart doing the counting.
This stirred up complaints from the workmen hired first. They resented the householder's generosity. But he silenced their spokesman at once. The injustice they complained of was all in the complainer. "Did you not agree with me for a denarius?" Grace keeps its right to bless.
Because everyone in the story receives the same coin, some have concluded that all believers will be rewarded identically. Writers here push back on that reading, and for different reasons. One points out that the parable's own moral works against it:
When the first come, expecting to receive more, they too are each paid a penny. From this some have deduced the doctrine of an equality of reward for all; but that is not the doctrine of Scripture, and the rewards here are plainly according to the moral of the parable given to us, that the "first shall be last and the last first" — which again is not equality.
Another makes the same point by looking at the rate rather than the sum:
People argue that everyone got the same reward. But not so. The point of the parable is that everyone got a reward — not that everyone got the same one. There is a great difference between a penny a day and a penny an hour.
The men who never named a price came off best. So what should drive service?
The principle is this: we work through confidence in Christ, not for a set amount of reward. Grace, and not law. Reward is encouragement to keep going, not the motive. Those who agreed for their penny got their penny. Those who trusted the master of the vineyard got what his heart decided.
In the end the complaint is against another man's blessing. The master answers by claiming a right, not by defending his sums.
In their selfishness they forgot both the terms and the righteousness of the one they were dealing with. If, out of the generosity of his heart, he was pleased to give to the last as much as to the first, what was that to them? God maintains His own rights.
The parable's reversal turns on how each group leaves the master's presence.
The showing of grace, with all its sovereign rights, only stirred up the envy of the natural heart… Those who went to work last in the vineyard left the master's presence satisfied with his goodness, and so became "first," while those who worked first left with murmurs in their hearts and on their lips, still strangers to grace.
- Bargain. This parable is about service, not salvation. Only the first workers fixed a price. That agreement is law, and it makes God a debtor who pays the wage and nothing more.
- Wage. The denarius was generous pay for a full day. "Did you not agree with me?" leaves the complaint no ground. The injustice was in the complainer.
- Trust. Those who went out on the master's word alone got what his heart decided. Reward is encouragement to keep going, not the reason to go.
- Sovereignty. The master defends his right to give as he pleases, not his sums. Envy of another's blessing spoils service.
- Reversal. Equal coins do not mean equal reward. A penny a day and a penny an hour are worlds apart. Those who trusted left satisfied, and so became first.
And on receiving it they murmured against the master of the house,
Peter had just asked what the disciples would get for leaving everything behind. The Lord answered with a story about a vineyard, a day's wage, and workers who ended the day resentful. Here the complaint breaks out: the first-hired take their pay and grumble at the man who gave it.
The story grew out of Peter's question about reward. The workers fall into only two groups.
We must notice that this parable is about service, for the master sends the labourers into his vineyard. There is also no doubt that it sprang out of Peter's question: "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" ... But in fact there are only two classes. Some agreed on the amount they would receive. Others left themselves in the Master's hands, for him to give what he thought right ... So the Lord brings before us the right and wrong spirit of service ... Those who went to work last left the master's presence satisfied with his goodness, and so became first; while those who worked first left his presence with murmurs in their hearts and on their lips, still strangers to grace.
The murmurers cannot say the master cheated them. Their loss is of another kind. They never put themselves where grace could reach them.
The householder answers one of those who murmur. His answer shows what brought about the very result they now complain of so foolishly. They cannot say they have not received what they contracted for. They had received what was just. They had not trusted or sought grace. How then can they complain that the master showed grace to those who depended on it — and in the measure in which they depended?
Some read the two arrangements as a picture of God's dealings with Israel and with the nations.
Their agreement rested on the legal principle of fair pay for work done. Israel, if they had obeyed the law, could expect no more than they had bargained for. If God chose to deal with others in grace, as He has done with Gentiles today, they ought to be glad. That is, if they really loved their neighbours as themselves, as the law required.
Notice what sets off the murmur: not a shortfall in their own pay, but the size of someone else's. They will not allow God the right to be good as He pleases.
God is righteous, and He will not be unrighteous and forget the work of faith and labour of love. But He always keeps the sovereign rights of grace. He claims to be good, for He is good, and so He knows where to show this goodness. What is more, He will not ask anyone's permission to show it ... They were thankful to get their day's wages for their day's work, but men who had worked only an hour stirred up their covetousness. And why so? Because they could not enter into God's title to be good — not merely to be righteous.
God's ways can look impossible to defend at first glance. In this parable He answers for Himself, and the answer turns the charge back on the accuser.
We think that some of His doings cannot be defended. They seem so strange, so contrary to all the natural sense we might have of righteousness and goodness — like paying one labourer the same wages for one hour's work as another got for eleven! For what could appear more monstrous! But we need only wait, and He will be His own interpreter, as He is in that parable ... He will prove that He has done no wrong and has acted in grace. He will show that if anyone objects to His way, the objection must come from a tainted moral spring in the heart of the accuser himself.
The men who agreed on a figure got every coin they bargained for. What they missed cannot be counted in coins at all.
The labourer in the vineyard who worked for his penny gained his penny, but he never won his master's smile. It is the Christian's happy privilege to work for love.
Scripture does not deny reward. It puts reward in its place: an encouragement when the path is hard, not the motive for serving.
Reward never drives the service of love. God does not set reward before the soul as the motive for doing anything. But when we meet difficulties on the path of service, He sets the crown before us to encourage us to go on ... If reward and not love is the spring of our service, it would just amount to this: "Take what belongs to you and go."
- Bargain. Those who fix terms with God get their terms — nothing withheld, and nothing more.
- Trust. Those who trusted His word alone stayed open to a generosity no bargain could win.
- Goodness. The murmur was never about injustice; it was resentment at God's freedom to be good where He chooses.
- Mirror. When His dealings look unfair, the parable points to the fault in the one who objects.
- Love. Work for the pay and you keep the pay; work for love and you gain your Master's smile.
saying, These last have worked one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.
The men hired first make this complaint at the end of a long day. They have watched latecomers take home the same pay, and their protest raises the question the parable answers: on what basis does God reward those who serve Him?
The grumbling is about work done, not about souls saved. Readers who treat it as a picture of how God saves a sinner miss its subject.
The common application of this parable to the salvation of the soul is a mistake. For this is what Christ worked for, suffered for, and lives for, independently of man. The poor sinner has only to give himself up to be saved by Christ… But that is not the question in this parable. The question here is the work of each servant, whom the Lord is pleased to call to work in His vineyard. If He pleases, He will put all upon an equal footing. He will reward the work that is done, but He will give as He will.
Only one group in the story struck a deal in advance. That agreement is the root of the resentment we hear in this verse.
Of the various groups of workers employed by the Master, the first alone made a fixed agreement. This surely is Law, and it makes God man's debtor. But whoever makes the bargain will get his due and proper reward in righteousness. It still leaves him discontented and finding fault. There is nothing of this with the rest. Those hired at the third hour had carried much more of the day's burden than the eleventh-hour men. Yet there is no mention of complaint. They were plainly on the line of grace.
The word for what these men had borne is worth noticing. The same word turns up again for something far heavier and far better.
Those who had worked for twelve hours complained of the burden (baros) they had borne. Matt. 20:12. The same word is used in 2 Corinthians 4:17 for the "eternal weight of glory" that the apostle looked forward to. He set it against our "light momentary affliction."
They accuse the owner of unfairness for making the last equal to themselves. But the owner took nothing from them; the fault lies elsewhere.
The Lord lays down the true spring and principle of service. It is confidence in the one who calls… This stirred up the murmurs of the earliest workmen, who resented the owner's generosity. But he stopped the mouth of their spokesman at once. The injustice complained of was solely in the complainant. "Did you not agree with me for a denarius?" Grace keeps its right to bless… The despised enjoy the grace that abounds beyond all question of man. Those who indulge in selfish thoughts sink, and rightly so.
Weigh the complaint against what each man received. There is nothing solid in it.
Only the first murmur. It would be impossible for any of the rest to do so, one would say, for they are all in fact overpaid. If we were not overpaid, how little any of us would receive! In the day of reward, will one legal-minded servant be found murmuring about the size of his pay? Surely not one; again, this is only the ideal picture. And yet even the first can only complain that they have not received more than they bargained for.
God does not settle this by their arithmetic. He answers from His own right to be good.
The point at the beginning of Matthew 20 is not reward. It is the right and title of God Himself to act according to His goodness. He is not going to lower Himself to a human measure… He maintains His sovereign right to do good, to do as He will with His own. The first lesson is, "Many who are first will be last, and the last first." That is the failure of nature, the reversal of what we might expect. The second is, "So the last will be first, and the first last." That is the power of grace. God delights to pick the last for the first place. It puts down those who are first in their own strength.
- Bargain — only the first workers fixed a price. A fixed price puts service on the ground of law and makes God a debtor. That is what breeds the complaint.
- Burden — the same word for their day's load is used for the "eternal weight of glory," set against a light affliction.
- Murmur — they got the pay they had agreed to. The injustice they protest lies only in the one protesting.
- Goodness — God answers from His right to give as He pleases, and He delights to put the last first.
- Trust — service rests on confidence in the one who calls. Those who bargain get their wages; those who trust receive from His goodness.
But he answering said to one of them, [My] friend, I do not wrong thee. Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?
Peter had just asked what he and the others would get for leaving everything to follow Jesus. The parable of the vineyard is His answer, and this verse is the owner's reply to a worker who grumbles at his pay.
The master sends his workers into a vineyard, so the subject is service, not how a person is saved. The many hiring times come down to only two groups.
Notice that this parable is about service, because the workers are sent into the vineyard. There is also no doubt that it grew out of Peter's question: "See, we have left everything and followed You. What then will we have?" … But in fact there are only two classes. One group agreed on the amount they were to receive. The other put themselves in the Master's hands, to be given whatever he thought right. We take the first group to be the "first," and the second the "last," of Matthew 19:30.
The coin named in the agreement had a known value in the everyday world of that time.
A denary was a silver coin, worth far more than our penny. "A denarius a day was the pay of a Roman soldier in the time of Tiberius, a few years before this parable was spoken… We may therefore regard this as generous pay for a day's work."
The figure was settled in advance, so no one could claim to be short-changed:
The penny (or denarius) for which the householder agreed with his first batch of workers was the usual labourer's wage in that day. So the agreement was fair to everyone.
The householder does not argue his case at length. He points back to the agreement. That one question ends the objection, and the fault lies with the man who raised it.
This stirred up grumbling among the workers hired first, who resented the householder's generosity. But he silenced their spokesman at once. The injustice they complained of was only in the complainer. "Did you not agree with me for a denarius?" Grace keeps its right to bless.
The same principle runs through God's government of the world, and a grumbler always meets the same answer:
These words teach a double lesson. First, they show the even-handed justice and perfect truth that always mark the government of God. He deals with every case on its own merits and on the ground of its own facts. The judgement is so plain that there is not a shadow of ground for a question. All argument is closed, and if anyone grumbles, the answer silences him at once: "Friend, I am doing you no wrong."
Those who fixed a price received the price they fixed. Those hired later went out on the master's word alone, and he paid them from his own heart.
Those who agreed for their penny got their penny, those who trusted the master of the vineyard got according to his heart. "What is right I will give," and they went on his word. The assurance of reward for sacrifice is there when Christ is the motive of the sacrifice. But where reward is the motive of the service, the pay is poor, and in fact the whole thing is false.
More is at stake than the size of the wage:
The holy and precious privilege of serving Him would be completely lost if we bargained with Him about it.
The grumblers had forgotten two things: the terms they had accepted, and the one they were dealing with.
But the master reminds them that everything was settled before they began their work. In their selfishness they forgot both the terms and the righteousness of the man they were dealing with. If, out of the generosity of his heart, he chose to give to the last as much as to the first, what was that to them? God maintains His own rights.
Remembering what we owe to our Redeemer ends all weighing up of our own work:
Human pettiness, even in true saints, is quick to put a price on its own service and to make much of its own labours in the Lord's vineyard. But remembering what each soul owes to its Redeemer rebukes all such thoughts… Grace alone has put us into the path of Christ, the same grace keeps us there, and grace will not fail to crown it generously when the end comes.
- Vineyard, not verdict. The parable answers Peter's question about reward. It is about service, not about how a person is saved.
- Bargain. A denarius was a full and generous day's wage, agreed in advance. The terms were fair to everyone, so the master wronged no one.
- Trust. Those who named a price received that price. Those who went out on the master's word alone got what his heart chose to give.
- Motive. Where reward is the reason for serving, the pay is poor and the whole thing is false. Bargaining with the Lord destroys the privilege of serving Him.
- Goodness. The only injustice was in the complainer. God keeps His right to be generous, and grace both starts the service and crowns it at the end.
Take what is thine and go. But it is my will to give to this last even as to thee
Peter had just asked what the disciples would get for leaving everything. This parable is the Lord's reply. One writer names the principle behind it:
The principle is this. We work out of confidence in Christ, not for a set amount of reward. It is grace, not law. Reward is encouragement to keep going, not the motive. Those who agreed on their penny got their penny. Those who trusted the master of the vineyard received according to his heart. "What is right I will give," and they went on his word.
The words hand the complainer everything he asked for, and no more. One writer shows why his complaint fails:
Only the first murmur. None of the rest could, since in fact they are all overpaid. The first cannot say they failed to receive what they contracted for. They received what was just. They had not trusted or sought grace. So how can they complain that grace came to those who were depending on it — and came in the measure in which they were depending on it?
Why did the latecomers receive as much as the men who worked all day? Because of what they brought instead of a bargain: confidence in the man who hired them.
The master of the house set great value on what marked the later comers. They were confident that his mind was right, and they had faith in his word. He had a right to do what he liked with his own money. He valued faith so much that he gave to the last just what he gave to the first. And in handing out the money he began with the last.
The master's answer defends a right, not a rate of pay.
The point in this chapter is not reward. It is the right and title of God Himself to act according to His goodness. He is not going to lower Himself to a human measure. Not only shall the Judge of all the earth do right, but what will He not do who gives all good? … He maintains His sovereign title to do good, to do as He will with His own. … God's delight is to pick out the very last for the first place, and to shame those who are first in their own strength.
The warning lands on believers who serve with an eye on the pay.
While we work, our work is not to be for the sake of reward, like someone hired for a certain sum of money. We are to be labourers with no trace of legality about us. The servant who aims to earn something by his service and sacrifice lives only to himself. He would be nothing but a hired servant, and the believer is not that. Such a person may have stood the heat and burden of the day. Even so, he would find the Lord acting on the principle He explains here: "Take what belongs to you and go."
Another writer shows where that motive ends, and what the parable is not about:
The promise of reward for sacrifice is there when Christ is the motive of the sacrifice. But where the reward is the motive of the service, it is poor pay, and in fact the whole thing is false. … Here the question is service, not conversion.
One writer reads the first group as Israel under law, and the later group as those God blesses in grace:
The agreement had been on the legal principle of a just repayment for work done. Israel, if they had obeyed the law, could expect no more than they had bargained for. Suppose God deals with others in grace, as He has done with Gentiles today. Then they ought to be glad — if indeed they loved their neighbours as themselves, as the law required.
Commentators differ over whether the reward is identical for all. One writer notes that "all were rewarded. Not that all were rewarded alike. There is a great difference between a penny a day and a penny an hour" (Messiah, the Prince).
- Bargain. The first workers set a price with God, and a price is all they got. Perfect justice left them nothing to complain of.
- Trust. The later workers named no figure. They went on the master's word, and he prized that trust and paid it in full.
- Right. "I choose to give" states God's title to act from His own goodness, not from a scale set by human comparison.
- Reversal. God delights to put the last first. Late or small service, done in trust, is never the lesser thing men assume.
- Motive. Reward is real, but it is encouragement along the road, never the reason for the journey. Make it the reason and you serve as a hired servant — and the pay is poor.
is it not lawful for me to do what I will in my own affairs? Is thine eye evil because *I* am good?
The householder does not defend his accounts; he answers the grumbler with two questions — may he do as he likes with his own money, and why should his kindness make another man's eye evil? Behind both lies the real subject of the parable — God's right to be good, and what happens in the heart of a servant who resents it.
The problem is not that reward exists. The question is where reward sits in a servant's motives.
The principle is this: we work out of confidence in Christ, not for a fixed amount of reward. It is grace, not law. Reward encourages us to keep going; it is not the motive. Those who agreed for their penny got their penny. Those who trusted the master of the vineyard got according to his heart. "What is right I will give," and they went on his word. The promise of reward for sacrifice stands when Christ is the motive of the sacrifice. But where reward is the motive of the service, it is poor pay, and the whole thing is false.
The verse turns on a small contrast of pronouns. The master hands the complainer his own wage and tells him to take it. What he gave to the others was never the complainer's business.
Verse 15 is very sweet. The contrast is between what is mine and what is yours. "Take what belongs to you … Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?" It is a practical lesson for us not to think we are worthy of anything. Any good that comes out of us comes entirely from the Holy Spirit. Paul could say, "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me."
That principle reaches further than wages. It touches the arguments people raise about whom God chooses to bless.
God maintains His own rights. It is of greatest importance for our souls that we hold to the rights of God in everything. People will argue about whether it is righteous for God to choose this person or that. But on the ground of righteousness all are lost, and lost for ever. Suppose God chooses to show His mercy to these poor lost ones, according to His wisdom and for His glory. Who can dispute with Him?
Older translations end the verse literally: "Is your eye evil because I am good?" The ESV puts the same thing as generosity. That goodness is what the first workers never allowed for. They could accept that the master was fair, but not that he was generous.
It is not merely a question, therefore, of righteousness in God. God is righteous, and He is not unrighteous, so He will not forget the work of faith and the labour of love. But He always reserves the sovereignty of grace. He claims to be good, because He is good. So He knows where to show this goodness, and He will ask no one's permission to show it.
The evil eye in the verse is envy. Scripture shows the same look elsewhere.
King Saul is one example. Jealous hatred against David filled him, because the women of Israel praised the killer of Goliath more than they praised Saul himself. And he "eyed David from that day on" (1 Sam. 18:9). The labourers who grumbled against their fellow-workers showed the same spirit of envy against people who seemed better favoured than themselves.
The grumbler resents goodness. That same goodness keeps going out to look for workers when the day is nearly over.
What a heart this shows! What infinite goodness! God recognises every service and every suffering done for Himself. Yet He keeps the right to go out at the last moment, bring in souls, and set them to what looks like a small piece of work! But He can give grace to do that little well.
The answer to an eye that measures itself against others is not better bookkeeping. It is remembering what we owe the One who redeemed us.
Human pettiness, even in true believers, is apt to put a price on its own service and to make much of its own labours in the Lord's vineyard. But remembering what each soul owes to its Redeemer rebukes all such thoughts … Love is the only true motive. Scripture holds out final reward only as encouragement.
- Cause: goodness. The householder's last word explains the rest. He is not just fair; he is good. And God asks no one's permission to be good.
- Gift: sovereignty. God recognises every service done for Him, yet keeps His right to give what He pleases to whom He pleases.
- Reach: latecomers. The same goodness that offends the early workers still goes out at the last hour to find those no one has hired.
- Result: envy. An evil eye is not injured justice. It is the heart of Saul eyeing David, resenting kindness shown to someone else.
- Answer: love. Serve out of confidence in the One who calls. Reward encourages you along the road; it is never the reason for walking it.
Thus shall the last be first, and the first last; for many are called ones, but few chosen ones.
Peter had asked what the disciples would get for leaving everything, and the Lord answered with a story: a landowner paid the same wage to early workers and to latecomers. This closing line seals that story — but why does it flip the order of the saying in 19:30?
The same words close chapter 19, but here the two halves change places. One writer draws a different lesson from each order:
The first of these lessons is, "Many first will be last, and last first" (Matt. 19:30). It plainly shows the failure of nature, the reverse of what you would expect. The second is, "So the last will be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen." It is the power of grace. God delights to pick out the very last for the first place, and to put down those who are first in their own strength.
Some workers in the story settled on a wage first. The parable answers that spirit, and it follows Peter's question about what he would get:
While we labor, our labor is not to be for the sake of reward, as one who is hired for a certain sum of money. We are to be laborers with no trace of legality about us. The servant or laborer who aims to earn something by his service and sacrifice lives only for himself. He would be only a hired servant, which the believer is not… The Lord wants us to trust grace. He wants us to leave the rewards, the recompense, to Him and to His will to give as it pleases Him, and to think nothing of our service. So the parable appears as a rebuke to Peter, who was occupied with what he had given up.
The word "so" ties this line back to the parable. What is on display is not pay scales but God's freedom:
Here we find, not the principle of rewards, or righteous recognition of the service done by His people, but God's own rights, His own sovereignty… God will certainly acknowledge every service and every loss for the sake of Christ. Yet He still keeps His own title to do as He will. Some poor soul may come to know Christ on the day of his death. God claims His own title to give what He pleases, to give to those who have not worked at all — as we may think — just what is good in His own eyes.
The two groups in the story chose their own ground, and each got what that ground could give:
The last are those who do not bargain for their own rights. In genuine faith they depend on the grace of God, and God will see to it that they become first. The first are those who put themselves first, using the legal principle of demanding justice. So they receive justice: they are made last.
The ESV does not carry the closing line here; it keeps "For many are called, but few are chosen" at Matthew 22:14. Older translations include it in this verse. Commentators differ over what it means. Some link it to the wide reach of the gospel call, and to what God's grace produces inside it:
Compared with Matthew 22:14, the same general principle holds in both cases: a contrast between the outward result and what makes it real. The Gospel call goes out to "as many as you find," and the outward result is that "the wedding hall was filled with guests." But verses 11-13 there prove that being present, and blessed in reality, is not of man's will but of God's calling in grace. The principle is the same in 20:16 — only there it is a question of labour and reward that introduces it.
Others keep the clause inside the parable's own subject — service and reward, not salvation:
"The first will be last" — so the parable began, and it shows the human failure. At the end the order turns around: the last will be first. The Lord, in His sovereign grace, will lift up those who trusted in His grace. "Many are called, but few are chosen" — this has nothing to do with salvation. It is connected with rewards.
The principle also shows up in how God has dealt with whole peoples, not only with individual workers:
This shows the Lord's saying, "So the last will be first, and the first last" (Matt. 20:16). The Jews were called first in time, but they will be last in coming into their promised earthly blessing. The Christian, called last, will be first in coming into heavenly blessing.
- Bargain — Agreeing on terms with God reduces you to a hired hand; the wage you fixed is the wage you get.
- Trust — The later workers named no price. They leaned on the owner's goodness, and that is the true spring of service.
- Sovereignty — God never overlooks real service. Yet He keeps His right to give what He pleases, even to someone who comes to Christ on the last day of life.
- Reversal — Demand justice and you are put last; depend on grace and God Himself sees to it that you come first.
- Reality — The call goes out to many. But the crowd of workers is not what counts; God's grace is what makes anyone real among them.