The Last Shall Be First (Matthew 20:1-16).

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

When we were young my brother and I had an intense sibling rivalry. Perhaps when you experienced something similar, maybe were small you felt that your parents treated you unfairly as compared to your brother or sister. But, let me ask another question, have you ever felt that God treated you unfairly. Have you ever looked around at what’s happens to others, and it felt like God treated other people better than you. I am sure some of us can identify with that. Have you ever felt that life has not treated you fairly? With that in mind listen to what Jesus once said , on more than one occasion. 

“The first shall be last and the last shall be first”.  (Matthew 19: 30)

In the series we’ve been going through the Gospel of Matthew and that was the statement he made last time right at the end, when we were looking at chapter 19. Does it strike as a bit unfair it. It might sound that way on the surface, but does it mean that God is unfair in his treatment of some people. What does it mean, well interestingly enough Jesus makes that statement at the end of chapter 19 in the Gospel of Matthew, but then he explains it in some detail in the first part of chapter 20. So, listen with me as I read for you Matthew 20: 1-16, in my bible it is titled.

“1 For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So, they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’ 8 “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ 9 And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”  (Matthew 20: 1-16)

In the first part of this passage Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who hired laborers. In the second part of the passage, he tells us how these laborers were paid, and then at the end of the passage the landowner in the parable offers what I would call some lessons based on this story. Today we’re going to look at each of these three parts, the hiring of the laborers, the paying of the laborers, and the lessons to be learned. So, let’s go back and begin with verse one. Notice that Matthew chapter 20 verse one begins with the word “For”. Now as you have heard me explain before and no doubt will hear me explain again anytime you see the word “For” at the beginning of a sentence in the New Testament that means it’s explaining what has just been said previously. In this case there’s a chapter break and in some ways that’s unfortunate. Thee chapter breaks were not in the original text, so when at the end of chapter 19, when Jesus says, “the first will be last and the last first”, forget the chapter break, because in the very next verse he is explaining what he means in what he just said. The reason we know that is because at the end of this passage in verse 20:16 he says it again to summarise what he has just taught “so the last will be first and the first last, many are called but few are chosen”. So, this is summarising what this passage has just explained these little phrases bookending this passage.

The parable itself is straightforward. He says the Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard, when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard”.

What is significant here is that the parable involves day laborers not slaves, in other words this landowner is not telling his slaves to go out into the vineyard rather he’s going into the marketplace and finding day laborers and he is hiring them for one day of Labour. As a matter of fact, the text says in verse two tells us he agreed with the laborers a wage of a denarius a day. Notice the word agreed, in other words he entered into a contract for them, to work for one day with a denarius as a day’s wage.

You also need to note the first group are hired was early in the morning. Remember the Jewish day started at 6:00 in the morning so this is somewhere between sunrise and 9.00am in the morning, so the landowner hires a crew early in the morning and he enters into a contract with them and sends them out into the vineyard. 

Next it says is the landowner went out about the third hour and saw others standing in the marketplace and he said to them you also go into my vineyard and whatever is right I will give you. This is the second group, the first group were hired early in the morning, the second group is hired around noon in the morning. So, this is the second group of day laborers that the landowner hires and he agrees to pay them a fair day rate in principle. What he actually says, is that whatever is right I will give you and they go, in other words there’s no contract this time only a promise. A promise to do what is right.

Then there is a third group and again he went out about the 6th and the 9th hour and did likewise. Let's keep in mind the day begins at 6am so this is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 3pm n the afternoon and then again, another group at almost the end of the day. With these next groups he just says, I will do what is right by you, so, there’s no contract only, a promise. Then there is a group we'll call the last group who we will picks up at the 11th hour, an hour before the close of the day. He hires them at around 5.00pm in the afternoon and they only work until six ,so this last group only got hired for only one hour. But notice again the text is very clear that he doesn’t make an agreement with them as to what they’ll get paid he just simply says to them, I will do what is right by you.

In these verses we have seen that a land who owner hires various groups of people at different times during the day, and he makes a contract with the first group to give them a day’s wage, the other groups he simply said I will do what is right by you. Some were hired at 9, some were hired at noon, some were hired at three, and some were hired at five and all he did was give them a promise. That’s the first part of the narrative.

The second part of this passage tells us about them being paid and this is where the plot thickens. We are told, when evening comes the owner of the calls them to give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first. Now there was a law in Moses legislation that says that you should pay day laborers by the end of the day, so the landowner is doing what Moses law instructed it’s in Leviticus chapter 19, the shocker is this he pays them all the same day rate. The text then tells us and when they received their wages some grumbled against the landowner saying these last men have worked only one hour and yet you paid them the same as us who have worked all day, even working in the mid-day sun. Keep in mind this first group had a contract to work all day for a denarius, and the landowner lived up to his contract and yet they complained based on not what he paid them but upon what he paid the others. They felt because of that they had been treated unfairly.

Next in the third part of this passage Jesus will explain what this parable means. In fact, Jesus puts words in the mouth of the landowner and the landowner explains what he did. This is where it gets interesting. The landowner answers to them and challenged them by saying “did you not agree with me for a denarius for a day’s work, take what is yours and go on your way”. Then he says, “First of all, I did what was right by you and I entered into a legal agreement and I lived up to that agreement”. As a matter of fact, the idea that he did what was right is a reoccurring theme in this whole passage. Remember the second group he hired which was nine in the morning in verse four we were told that he said to them, “whatever is right I will give to you”, and that’s what he say throughout the day that every time he hires another group of labourers. The landowner obviously here represents God, and Jesus is saying God entered into a contract, into an agreement and did what was right.

The second thing he says is, if I wish to give this last man the same as to you it is lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things. He is sovereign, so to speak, so he says “I wish to give this last man the same as you, is it not lawful for me to do what I wish? So he’s arguing the landowner/God is sovereign over his own provisions and he can do with them whatsoever he wills.

But there’s a third point that he makes, and this is the most interesting of the three. The landowner says to them in verse 15 , “Is it evil in your eye to you because I am good”? The little expression, “evil in your eye” is a term that refers to being jealous or having a grudging spirit, it’s a reference to being envious of others. He is saying your problem is you are comparing yourself with other people and that is making you jealous, however the problem is not with me, for I can do what I want to with what is mine to give. I did what was right by you, and you are comparing yourself with those other people consequently means that you have become jealous. Isn’t that a common problem in the modern world?

Then he ends the passage a similar refrain to the one he opened it with, by saying again “So the last will be first and the first last for many are called but few are chosen”. This sounds like the same thing he said at the end of chapter 19 and in the sense, it is, but in another sense, it is slightly different because in chapter 19 he says but many who are first will be last and the last first, but at the end of the parable in chapter 20 he says and the last will be first did you get the difference he reverses it. There’s a different order in chapter 19 he begins with the first in chapter 20 he begins with the last, so there’s a slight difference here. Nevertheless, the principle is that in some cases those who are last will be first, that’s the lesson, the ultimate lesson, and then he says many are called but few are chosen. That little statement is often applied to salvation, God calls may to salvation but few are chosen, that true  But in my estimation this passage does not just about salvation, in fact I believe it is also talking about service, Christian service. So, the point. is that many are called to serve, but few show up with the right attitude. 

Many are called to serve the Lord, but few show up with a proper attitude. I would say that the point being made here is that God is sovereign righteous and faithful to his promises, and we should never complain about how he treats other people, rather we should focus our attitude and on what he has done for us. This parable is teaching that God keeps his promises to those who serve him, but he remains sovereign and is the sole judge and arbiter of who receives his grace and how that is dispensed. God keeps his promises to those who serve him and yet he remains sovereign master of the world. Look again at 15 where it says, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own thing”. 

It’s all about God being sovereign. In other words, God is righteous, God is sovereign, God is good, and finally God is faithful to his promise. They first group agree with him for a denarius for a day’s labour, and he did what I said he was going to do. The point being, God will reward those who sacrificially serve him and beyond that he allows those who come in later will receive a full reward also. This is not a matter of God being unfair, regardless of how the people hired first felt, rather this is all about God’s doing something that he promised. I think the bottom line of the passage is the last verse. God rewards those who serve him, and he allows those who come in later to work gain the full reward. Let me apply this and mention three ways this passage can be applied.

The Applications

Firstly, this should be applied historically to the Jews, God established a covenant with the Jews. I think it’s significant that in this parable the landowner made an agreement with those hired first and that’s simply an illustration of the fact that God entered into an agreement with the Jews, but then later he included the gentiles. This passage is teaching that the Jews needed to recognize that when the gentiles came into the Kingdom they too could benefit from God’s salvation. It was to the Jew first but as Paul says in Romans chapter one verse 16 it is also to the Greek. In other words, God is allowing those who come in later to receive a full reward. Don’t miss the point of this passage or you are in danger of being like that first group that was hired and then walk away with a less than proper attitude towards God. God allows those who came in last to get the same reward as those who came in first. God made a covenant with the Jews and he kept that covenant but later he allowed the gentiles to come in and they can receive his full reward even though they came in last.

Secondly, I think this can be applied to the apostles on that day. The apostles were on the ground floor so to speak, they came in at the beginning but afterwards others came into the Lord’s work and the apostles needed to recognize that those who came in later would and could receive a full reward. Paul who came later would eclipse them all when it came to explaining the teachings of Christ to the wider western world and few would question that God was right in giving Paul the full reward. The apostle Paul didn’t even know or live during the lifetime of Christ in the way the 12 apostles did. However, he came and laboured hard and those who came in later, in this case Paul, were also able to receive a full reward. Jesus is indeed teaching the last can be first in the sense that they will still receive a full reward.

Finally, I would like to suggest that this can be applied to individuals today. It can be applied to the early Jews; it can be applied to the apostles, and it can be applied to us today. This applies to individuals whether you’re saved early in life or late in life, when you turn to the Lord you’re entitled to a full reward. The problem is that some are envious, and they complain. So let me conclude by making this simple statement based on this passage.

God is good and compassionate far beyond his children’s understanding. As a friend of mine once said to me, “we are quick to understand and appreciate God’s grace when it happens to us, but we don’t understand grace when it happens to other people.

So, beware of comparing yourself with other people and ending up jealous and complaining and with a bad attitude.

This parable emphasizes a right attitude in all our service and the right attitude is to trust God. Those hired later in the day did not have an agreement before they went to work, the landowner promised to pay them what was right, that said three times in this passage, and those laborers simply trusted the goodness of the landowner.

In the final analysis those hired first did get more in a sense. They got to serve the master for longer. I think this passage is teaching that when we compare ourselves with others we are inclined to get envious and jealous, but when we simply look at the Lord and realize that he’s righteous that he’s good that he’s faithful to fulfil his promises, then we can trust him to do what is right and do whatever we are called to do with joy and gratitude.

Years ago, when airlines used to serve great meals, I remember by dad talking about those days, I once heard him speak about when he went off to Singapore in 1976 to attend a Mission conference with 20 or so other Missionaries from the UK. It was on a rather full flight the meal and the meal that was served was steak, they don’t so that sort of thing anymore. But they ran out of steaks when the got to a friend of my fathers who was sitting in the row behind. The had the vegetables and the potatoes but all they had left to serve the man behind as a pate for hamburger instead of the steak. The man later told my dad, his first thought was to complain but then according to his own testimony he said, I remembered all they promised was a meal, it’s their stake they can give it to whomsoever they will. So he adjusted his and gratefully accepted what they offered.

There is a powerful truth here in this passage and if you embrace it, it can save you from, jealousy, envy grumbling, complaining and a general bad attitude.

We need to serve the Lord sacrificially, but then we just need to trust him to do what is right because he is sovereign he is righteous and he is good.