The parable of the vineyard, like all
of Jesus’ parables, has two distinct levels of meaning. To
fully understand the parable and the point Jesus is attempting to
covey by telling it we must give attention to more than just the
outward appearance of a story, we must continue in our attempt to
know Christ by seeking the underlying meaning of the parable. We must
do this by first evaluating the superficial layer, the use of words
and structure of the story. Then me must continue to a deeper
evaluation of the meaning of the story by analyzing the significance
of words and phrases and identifying the antecedent thoughts of the
religious, social, and historical nature that we are expected to
share with the author. This paper will discuss the meaning of the
Parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16 according
to the use of the tools listed above.
Before
we can analyze the deeper meaning of the parable, we must start by
attempting to grasp what the text means in a literary breakdown.
Before even beginning to analyze verse by verse, we can tell that
Jesus is teaching on the Kingdom of heaven, we know this because
Matthew 20:1-16 comes in the midst of Jesus’ teaching on the
Kingdom in Matthew and both the first verse and the last verse of the
parable indicate a direct correlation to the Kingdom of Heaven.
In
the first verse, Jesus begins by using a parable to liken the story
of the vineyard workers to his more general teaching on the kingdom
of Heaven. Jesus describes that the kingdom of heaven is like a
vineyard owner who went out very early one morning to hire laborers.
The next verse explains that the landowner found workers in the
marketplace and hired them, agreeing to pay them a fair days wage for
a day’s labor, and sent them into the vineyard. This took place
early in the morning one day, about 6:00; verse three and four tell
us that at 9:00 the vineyard owner went to the marketplace again and
saw people standing around, he offered them jobs and pay at a fair
rate and they went off to work in his vineyard. The same scenario
took place at noon and three o’clock pm according to verse 5.
The story alters a bit in verses 6 and 7, leading up to a confounding
change in direction in verse 10, the owner returnes to the
marketplace at 5 o’clock, just one hour prior to the end of the
work day, and found people looking for work. After questioning why
the job seekers are standing there they reply that they could find
work no place else. The vineyard owner then issues an invitation for
these workers to come work in his vineyard, agreeing to pay them what
they deserve. These two verses are an interesting shift in this
parable from mere storytelling to a fascinating dialogue which
engages the first century listener as well as the twenty-first
century reader. The teaching continues in story form in verse 8,
which tells us that one hour after hiring the last group, the owner
of the vineyard instructs the foreman to bring in the workers and pay
them, beginning with those hired last and ending with those hired
first. Verse 9 and 10 tell us that the workers who were paid first
(and hired last) received a full day’s wages, and when those
who had worked a whole day saw this they expected to be paid more;
however, they also were paid a full day’s wage. Verses nine and
ten serve as a turning point and teaching point of this parable. Up
until this point, we can assume that this parable is only mildly
different from a normal Jewish parable of the time (due to the fact
the owner kept looking to hire more workers throughout the day).
Verse 1, 10, and 16 are the support of this parable, which hold the
entire message in place with authority, verses 2 through 9 serve to
build anticipation for verse 10, and 11-15 are to drive home verse
16. in eleven and twelve we see the workers complaining to their boss
on the grounds they were not paid more, since the workers hired at 5
o’clock were paid more than they deserved. At this point the
parable turns back to conversation form to help emphasize the point
Jesus is trying to make. Addressing the worker’s spokesman in
verse thirteen and fourteen, the owner addresses him in a kind way
and assures him he is being treated fairly, reminding him he agreed
to work for one day’s pay before sending them on their way,
explaining it was the owner’s wish to give his extra money to
those who worked less. Verse fifteen drives home a powerful point
even for those simply trying to read the surface of the text, the
owner points out through a question that his desire to give money
away is benevolence, and if they hate the fact that he desires to
give his money to the undeserving, they hate goodness. In the
concluding sentence Jesus ties the first and the last verses together
in this way: “the kingdom of heaven is like…” (a
story about vineyard workers) because “…in this
way the first will be last
and the last first”. These words clearly show us that if we can
understand what the parable means, we can understand an attribute of
the kingdom of Heaven.
This
logically leads us to a closer investigation of the meaning of the
parable in search of a better understanding of the kingdom of God.
Having established the superficial meaning and the basic content of
the story, we can now move on to analyzing the underlying meanings
and ideas Jesus is trying to convey through this parable. Through
this parable Jesus is telling us that the reward of payment after the
work is over is like the reward of eternal life Christians receive
after working to live a Christian life: the reward is the same no
matter how long we were in service before our time of service ends.
Many other general applications can be made from this parable such
as: “1. God is a debtor to no man, 2. that many who begin
last... sometimes, by the blessing of God, arrive at a great deal of
knowledge, grace, and usefulness. And 3. The recompense of reward
will be given to the saints, but not according to the time of their
conversion.” (Matthew Henry) However, the general theme my
interpretation takes is one of Grace, which is expounded upon by
almost all commentators that I researched. The whole purpose of the
parable serves to “show the marvelous grace of God in
Salvation” and we can identify three major themes of grace
within the parable (POSB). First, we see a owner of a vineyard, the
vineyard is a work place, just as the world is for Christians. We see
that grace has provided a vocation and a field in which to labor.
(POSB) “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven,
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were
created by him, and for him.” (Bible, Col. 1:16) The second
indicator of this grace is that the owner of the vineyard wished to
find workers to work in his field, he sought them out and didn’t
stop seeking until the end of the period of work (POSB). Our God is
the same way in that He desires for us to do His work in the world,
He invites us to come work for Him and will continue “hiring
workers” until the last minute. Matthew 9:37-39 gives us a good
example of Jesus clearly equating Christian labor to work in a field
or vineyard. The third indicator is that just as the owner rewarded
his workers for their labor, God will give us our promised reward for
our service (POSB).
As
becomes obvious after careful analysis, the parable of the vineyards
is a dynamic portion of scripture that when studied and taken in it’s
original context is a fascinating and enlightening text for both
biblical teaching and personal growth.
