Many are called but few are chosen.
** The context of this parable supports the teaching that it is impossible to earn the generosity of the Master (God the Father). This is a lesson on grace. Regardless of whether or not our performance is better than someone else's, we all need God's grace because we have all come short of God's standard. **
Date: 8/23/2018
Matthew 20:8 "So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire (wages), beginning from the last unto the first."
MATTHEW 20:1-16
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Matt 20
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 [a]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, [b]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 (equal to a penny today).
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius (equal to a penny today).
11 And when they had received it, they [c]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 (equal to a penny today)?
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[d] many are called, but few chosen.”
Footnotes:
Matthew 20:6 NU omits idle
Matthew 20:7 NU omits the rest of v. 7.
Matthew 20:11 grumbled
Matthew 20:16 NU omits the rest of v. 16.
New King James Version (NKJV)
====================
This parable begins with Jesus' statement that the Kingdom of (God) Heaven is likened to a man who is a householder (owner of an estate).
He went out early in the morning to hire workers to work in his vineyard for the day.
An agreed upon price was set at the normal wage paid daily for a laborer. Later, around
9 a.m. (09:00), the landowner encouraged others, standing idle in the marketplace, to work in the vineyard, not for a set wage but for "whatsoever is right." The landowner employed more laborers at noon, at 3 p.m.(15:00) and even some at 5 p.m. (17:00) when there was only one hour left to work.
According to Jewish law, wages must be paid each evening before the sun sets. When it came time for the steward to pay the laborers, he began with those working the shortest amount of time and paid each man a full day's wage. Those working the entire day murmured, for they supposed they would have received more. They agreed, however, to work for, the stipulated wage agreed upon.
The context of this parable supports the teaching that it is impossible to earn the generosity of the Master. This is a lesson on grace. Regardless of whether or not our performance is better than someone else's, we all need God's grace because we have all come short of God's standard.
The landowner gave freely, making all equal. Jesus is saying that the benefits of the Kingdom are the same for all who have become subject to its King, regardless of what they have done.
Therefore, those who are last (or least) in the sense that they have not served the Lord as long or as well as others, will truly become "first" when they share equally of the Lord's goodness with those who "have borne the burden and heat of the day" (Mt. 20:12).
** " Many are called, but few chosen.”
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