Matthew 20:1–16 is usually called Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard, but it is better to call it Jesus’ parable of the generous vineyard owner. As we mentioned recently, anytime you are reading a parable, in order to understand it correctly, you always have to start outside the parable and find out the context. Jesus always tells his parables in response to something. Unless we know what that something is, we won’t be able to understand the parable correctly. Earlier, in Matthew 18, Jesus says the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is the one who restores sinners who are falling away, because that is what God does.

In the case of today’s parable, in order to understand what Jesus is responding to, we need to go back to the beginning of Matthew 19. In last week’s message we finished Matthew 18, which was Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant. That parable was Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question, “How many times must I forgive the brother or sister who sins against me?” But it was also part of Jesus’ overall answer to the disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” The parable—and all of Matthew 18—says that the one who is greatest is the one who seeks to restore the brother or sister who is falling away because of sin, even when it means forgiving that brother or sister 77 times. Jesus says that one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven because God is like that.

Throughout Matthew 18 we get to see Jesus’ heart and thus God’s heart. If Jesus were alone in a room with you, what would he talk with you about? What is of greatest concern to him? The secret sin in your heart? Who you should marry? What job you should take? How much he loves you?

No. When you get Jesus in a room alone, what he talks about is your care for his “little ones”. Remember—that’s what Jesus calls those who believe in Christ and who are your brothers and sisters now that you have been baptized into Christ. Jesus’ concern is always especially for the least and lowest of our brothers and sisters, and whether the rest of us are caring for them. These are those who cannot contribute anything of worldly value to the church. Jesus reminds us to invite them when we hold a party, and he commands us to bring them back from sin.

How do we know that this is what Jesus would speak about in private? Because this is what Jesus discusses with Peter when he talks to him privately after the resurrection.

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. (John 21:17)

Peter may not have realized how his betrayal and falling away affected other believers, but it was Jesus’ main concern. Likewise, we often fail to consider how our behavior affects Jesus’ little ones. We frequently complain about other Christians. But Jesus says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” And whatever you did not do, Jesus says, you withheld from him as well. If you withhold love and forgiveness from believers, he says it is the same as withholding them from him.

That’s where Matthew 18 concludes. Now, we move on to Matthew 19. It begins with Pharisees asking Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” Jesus answers like this:

I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery. The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” (Matthew 19:10)

Remember the disciples’ response! We’ll come back to it.

Then little children are brought to Jesus for him to bless them. The disciples try to stop this, but Jesus rebukes them, saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Then the rich young man comes to Jesus.

Jesus replied, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)

Each of these teachings from the Lord in Matthew 19 are of course important for us to study. But what we’re focused on today is the disciples’ reaction to each of the Lord’s teachings here. In the case of the rich young ruler, when he walks away sad, notice the disciples’ reaction: Peter reminded Jesus that the disciples had left everything and followed him, and he asked, “What then will there be for us?” Don’t forget that question: “What then will there be for us?” Because Jesus sure doesn’t forget it! But first Jesus says this:

Jesus said to them, “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. 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.”

But then Jesus concludes with by dropping this bomb:

“But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Matthew 19:28-30)

Jesus tells the parable of the generous vineyard owner to explain what he means.

“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. 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, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

And when evening came, 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.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.

And on receiving it 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.’

But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 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?’

So the last will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:1–16)

Jesus ends the parable with the same phrase with which he begins. But who is last, and who is first? Remember: the parable is Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question: “What will there be for us?” Peter and the disciples were among the first to leave everything and enter the Kingdom of God. Yet Peter’s question showed they had brought something with them into the Kingdom: envy.

There are three “Bible words”–envy, jealousy, and covetousness—that we often use interchangeably but are actually slightly different. Jealousy fears losing something we have. Covetousness wants something someone else has. Envy resents another person receiving something we want because we believe we deserve it more.

We know envy is sinful, but we may not realize how serious it is. It was the reason the religious leaders had Jesus arrested.

For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over. (Matthew 27:18)

Envy was also central to Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. The older brother envied the welcome his younger brother received.

But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.

But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:28–32)

Here, the older brother has only two choices: enter the party or leave. Today’s parable ends with the same standoff. The workers who labored in the vineyard all day are in the older brother’s position.

Envy is one of the main reasons people do not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and it is one of the main reasons people leave after entering it.

Envy shapes every reaction the disciples have to Jesus’ teaching in chapter 19. When he teaches about divorce, they envy single people. When he blesses the children, they envy the children. When the rich young ruler leaves, they show no concern for him. Their focus is entirely on themselves.

Jesus’ response is the same as the vineyard owner’s: the Lord always gives what is right.

Some people say, “I don’t think God is fair to send my grandfather to hell because he was born in a Buddhist country where no one had ever heard of Jesus.” But God is always fair. He will always give everyone what is right. We do not know whether your grandfather will go to hell. But we know Jesus will judge him justly when he stands before him. We do not frighten people with strict theology or comfort them with loose theology. We testify only to what Jesus has given us to proclaim: he will return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and he will always judge justly.

Why would envy keep you out of the kingdom? Because we hate the idea of a kingdom where everyone gets the same reward! “That’s communist!” we say. That’s why these days many pastors and teachers and Christians comfort themselves by saying, “OK, all of us—the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the hypocrites, and us—we all enter the kingdom the same way: By believing and being baptized. But in addition to eternal life, we also can get rewards in heaven based on what we do for Jesus here on earth! So the pastor who faithfully serves a church for 40 years is going to get more rewards than the person who sins their whole life but repents on their deathbed.”

This is why Christians like the parable of the talents much more than this parable of the generous vineyard owner. We think, “The one who uses their ‘talents’ to serve God should get a bigger reward than those who bury their ‘talents’.”

But the parable of the talents is not about God rewarding those who use their talents to do great things for God. In that parable, “talents” are a metaphor for the members of Christ’s family. In that parable, Jesus shows us that what he entrusts to us are not skills and talents to use for him but his family members. Jesus is asking, “What did you do with the little ones I entrusted to you?” They are his “talents”. This is why right after Jesus tells the parable of the talents he tells the parable of the sheep and the goats, and he says, ““Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”

Jesus’ parables will never make sense if you apply them first to yourself. They are not primarily about you. They are about God and how you treat members of God’s family. That is why Jesus usually begins parables by saying, “The Kingdom of God is like…” And the focus of Jesus’ parables—including today’s parable of the vineyard, as well as the parable of the prodigal son, as well as the parable of the unforgiving servant—is about how you treat other members of Christ’s family…especially the little ones who are most easily and often falling into sin! 

Through the parables, Jesus tells us, “Do not worry about yourself. I will provide what is right. I am never unfair. Instead, seek first the Kingdom of God. Serve the Father, and care for your brothers and sisters—especially those you do not like and those who are strangers to you, yet still belong to God’s family.”

Notice that Jesus does not tell parables where he praises people who play the piano for God or who sing for God or who do other great things for God. Jesus tells parables where the only way to enter the kingdom is to die to yourself, and the only thing you do when you enter the kingdom is to join him in caring for the little ones.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not like the kingdoms of this world. It is not for personal advancement or reward. In this Kingdom, it is not the pastor who serves for forty years who gets the party. It is the sinner who repents on his deathbed. And both receive the same reward.

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:7)

The best reward for a faithful pastor is to preach faithfully, die quietly, and be forgotten. That pastor does not need a party, because he is content with the Father’s word: “You are always with me, and all I have is yours.”