Septuagesima
Mt
20:1-16
2/16/25
“What
in it for us?” That’s what Peter has just asked immediately before our
text. He said, “See, we have left
everything and followed you. What then will we have?” There was some truth to Peter’s question. The
apostles had left everything in order to follow Jesus. They had left behind their previous life as
they traveled with Jesus during his ministry.
In
his reply, Jesus acknowledged the unique status that the apostles had. After all, our Lord had chosen these twelve
men to be his apostles – his authorized representatives. He said, “Truly, I say
to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne,
you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel.”
Jesus
pointed to the new creation of the Last Day.
Christ will sit on the throne pronouncing the final judgment. He tells the apostles that they will join him
in doing so. They will have a role beside him in the judgment. They will have this exalted status that will
be shared by no one else.
Our
Lord’s statement certainly set apart the apostles. But right after this, he goes on to say
something that indicates all believers will be equally blessed. He states: “And everyone who has left houses
or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's
sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”
All will receive this blessing, not
just the apostles. Even those who seem
to be nothing in the world and in the Church will receive it. For as Jesus says
in the verse just before our text, “But many who are first will be
last, and the last first.”
Jesus
had just said that all Christians – even those who seem to be last – will
receive blessings on the Last Day. And
in our text he tells a parable to expound on this. He teaches us about the grace of God – the
unmerited gift of salvation that he gives to us.
Christ
says in our text: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who
went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” As you know, when Jesus refers to the kingdom
of heaven, he is not talking about a place.
Instead, he is talking about the reign of God that was present in Jesus. What is God’s reign like? What should be
understand about it? Well, it’s like a master of a house who went out early in
the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
The
owner of the vineyard did not have employees.
Instead, he hired people from the area when he had work that needed to
be done. He went out early in the
morning – around 6:00 a.m.- and hired those who were looking for work. We learn in our text, “After agreeing with
the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” A
denarius was the standard day’s wage. The master and the laborer agreed on a
fair amount, and so they headed to the vineyard to begin work.
Next
Jesus said, “And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in
the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and
whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.” The master went out at 9:00
a.m. He saw others in the marketplace
who had not been hired. He told them to
go work in his vineyard, and said he would give a wage that was fair.
The
workers didn’t know how much they would receive at the end of the work day.
Apparently, they trusted that the master was a fair man who would not cheat
them. So they headed off to the
vineyard.
The
master went out and did the same thing at noon.
He did it again at 3:00 p.m. He
continued to hire people to work in his vineyard, and promised to pay them what
was right.
Finally,
we learn that at the eleventh hour – at 5:00 p.m., one hour before the end of
the work day - he went out and found others standing. He said to them, “Why do
you stand here idle all day?” The
workers had been standing around all day long doing nothing. They explained, “Because
no one has hired us.” So the master said, “You go into the vineyard too.”
When
evening came – when it was 6:00 p.m. – the owner of the vineyard said to his
foreman, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last,
up to the first.” Those who had been
hired at the eleventh hour – at 5:00 p.m.- came forward first. Each of them
received a denarius. They had worked only one hour, yet the master paid them a
full day’s wage.
Those
who had been hired first, at the beginning of the day were excited. If the laborers
who had only been there for an hour received a denarius, think about much they
were going to receive who had worked twelve hours! Yet their expectations were dashed, as each
of them also received a denarius.
These
laborers were not just disappointed. We
learn that when they received the denarius they grumbled at the master of the
house saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to
us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” It was not fair. They had worked for the whole day. They had done the most work and endured the
heat of the day. And yet, the master had
paid them the exact same amount as those who had worked for one hour.
However, the master replied to them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” The master had been true to his word. He had given these laborers exactly what they had agreed upon.
Then he told them, “Take what
belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am
I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you
begrudge my generosity?” The master
reproved the laborers. He had given them what was right. And he was free to do with his money what he
wanted. He was being good to these other
workers. Why should that cause them to be indignant? Then Jesus concluded the parable with words
that link it to what he had just said to Peter: “So the last will be
first, and the first last.”
So what is the kingdom of heaven –
the reign of God - like? It is like a
master who gives his laborers what they have not earned and don’t deserve. It is God acting by grace. And because all receive what they don’t
deserve, all are equal before God. There is no distinction.
This is true because of God’s action
in Christ to save us. God has given us what we don’t deserve. Apart from Christ, all are equal before God
in a very different way. Paul told the
Romans, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.” We are all equal
in that we are all equally deserving of God’s judgment.
With David we must confess, “Behold, I
was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” This sin
which is present in us from the moment of conception demonstrates itself as we
create false gods. We give more time, thought, and attention to our hobbies and
sports than we do to God. It is seen as
we act in selfish ways towards those around us; as we speak angry words; as we
say things that harm the reputation of others.
As sinners, we were equally
deserving of God’s judgment. But Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, was the presence of God’s reign in this world bringing
God’s salvation to us. Immediately after
our text we learn: “And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve
disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to
Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and
scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to
the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be
raised on the third day.’”
God the Father sent his Son into the
world to be the sacrifice for our sin.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary, Jesus Christ
was present to bear our sin and die on the cross. Later in this chapter Jesus says, “the Son of
Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many.” He, the holy One,
received the judgment against our sin.
But God’s saving reign in Christ did
not end in death. Instead, Jesus passed
through death in order to defeat it. God raised Jesus from the dead on
Easter. Jesus Christ is the risen and
ascended Lord. To die is to be with
Christ. And because Jesus has been
raised, you will be too. Christ will
return in glory on the Last Day to give you a share in his resurrection.
It was God who acted in Jesus Christ
in order to rescue you from sin by his death and resurrection. And it is the
Holy Spirit who has called you to faith.
In Holy Baptism you were born again of water and the Spirit. You are sons and daughters of God in Christ
Jesus.
There is nothing “fair” about this.
And thank God this is so! It is a matter of God’s grace – his completely
undeserved love and favor. God has given
you the status of being a saint – a holy one in his eyes. You live knowing that you have peace with
God.
This grace received is now grace
that is shared with others. Jesus says
in this chapter, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over
them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so
among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and
whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man
came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many.”
The Lord has called you to provide
service and help to others – service and help even when they don’t deserve it. He has called you to view and treat every
other Christian as having equal worth and value – to make no distinctions no
matter how others view them.
This is not how the world works. But
it is how things work for those who have received the kingdom of heaven – the
reign of God – in Jesus Christ. We have received God’s grace – his undeserved
love and forgiveness. And so we share this love and forgiveness with others.
For in God’s reign, the last will be first, and the first last.
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