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Author: Stephen Weller
1,653 words, 9 minutes read time
Mt 20:1 “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. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”
We have before us another example of what the kingdom of heaven is like. Earlier in Matthew we studied other examples. In chapter 13 there were several examples: In verse 31 “The kingdom of heaven was like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.”; in verse 33 “The kingdom of heaven was like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”; in verse 44 “The kingdom of heaven was like treasure hidden in a field.”; in verse 45 “The kingdom of heaven was like a merchant in search of fine pearls.”; and in verse 47 “The kingdom of heaven was like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.”
Three other examples are found in Matthew 18:23 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.”; in Matthew 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.”; and in Matthew 25: “The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”
Here in our study “the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” Jesus chose to use a vineyard because grapes were one of ancient Israel’s most important crops, and often Israel was referred to as the “vine” or “vineyard” of God. A good illustration of this is found at Isaiah 5:1 – 7. In Jeremiah 2:21 God said he planted Israel as a choice vine, wholly of pure seed, but they turned degenerate and became a wild vine. In Hoses 10:1 Israel was described as a luxuriant vine that yielded fruit, but the more fruit it produced, the more altars they built.
In connection to the kingdom of God, “vineyard” represents the activity of the kingdom in this world. This is illustrated in Matthew 21:28 – 32 in the parable of the two sons who were to work in the vineyard, and in Matthew 21:33 – 46 in the parable of the tenants who were put in charge of caring for a vineyard.
The master of the house has a vineyard and needs laborers to do some work for him, so he goes out early in the morning to find some. He finds them and “after agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”; a denarius is considered a typical day’s wage (6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.). The master makes some observations and based on them he makes a decision.
Mt 20:3 “And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.”
About the “third hour” (9:00 A.M.) the master adds a few more to his workforce and agrees to pay them a fair price. He does the same thing at the “sixth hour” (12:00 P.M. by convention) and the “ninth hour” (3:00 P.M.). By now the master has a good-sized workforce doing the required work.
Mt 20:6 “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?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’”
At the “eleventh hour” (5:00 P.M.), near the end of the workday he adds even more to his workforce. Since work usually ended at the twelfth hour (6:00 P.M.), this last group would only work about one hour. At the end of the workday, the master has five groups of laborers in the vineyard. Of these five groups only the first is working at a specific wage of one denarius. No amount has been agreed upon for the other four groups; just that it would be a fair price.
Conclusion
There has been much activity in the vineyard, especially near the end of the day with five groups of laborers employed. Since the last four groups were employed without a specified wage it will be interesting to see what they are paid. Would it be one twelfth of a denarius per hour of work?
Hiring Laborers
Scripture: Matthew 20:1-7
Section gev157 and gev158 related to the rich young ruler while this new section of study is about laborers in a vineyard.
Mt 20:1 “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. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”
We have before us another example of what the kingdom of heaven is like. Earlier in Matthew we studied other examples. In chapter 13 there were several examples: In verse 31 “The kingdom of heaven was like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.”; in verse 33 “The kingdom of heaven was like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”; in verse 44 “The kingdom of heaven was like treasure hidden in a field.”; in verse 45 “The kingdom of heaven was like a merchant in search of fine pearls.”; and in verse 47 “The kingdom of heaven was like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.”
Three other examples are found in Matthew 18:23 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.”; in Matthew 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.”; and in Matthew 25: “The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”
Here in our study “the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” Jesus chose to use a vineyard because grapes were one of ancient Israel’s most important crops, and often Israel was referred to as the “vine” or “vineyard” of God. A good illustration of this is found at Isaiah 5:1 – 7. In Jeremiah 2:21 God said he planted Israel as a choice vine, wholly of pure seed, but they turned degenerate and became a wild vine. In Hoses 10:1 Israel was described as a luxuriant vine that yielded fruit, but the more fruit it produced, the more altars they built.
In connection to the kingdom of God, “vineyard” represents the activity of the kingdom in this world. This is illustrated in Matthew 21:28 – 32 in the parable of the two sons who were to work in the vineyard, and in Matthew 21:33 – 46 in the parable of the tenants who were put in charge of caring for a vineyard.
The master of the house has a vineyard and needs laborers to do some work for him, so he goes out early in the morning to find some. He finds them and “after agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”; a denarius is considered a typical day’s wage (6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.). The master makes some observations and based on them he makes a decision.
Mt 20:3 “And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.”
About the “third hour” (9:00 A.M.) the master adds a few more to his workforce and agrees to pay them a fair price. He does the same thing at the “sixth hour” (12:00 P.M. by convention) and the “ninth hour” (3:00 P.M.). By now the master has a good-sized workforce doing the required work.
Mt 20:6 “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?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’”
At the “eleventh hour” (5:00 P.M.), near the end of the workday he adds even more to his workforce. Since work usually ended at the twelfth hour (6:00 P.M.), this last group would only work about one hour. At the end of the workday, the master has five groups of laborers in the vineyard. Of these five groups only the first is working at a specific wage of one denarius. No amount has been agreed upon for the other four groups; just that it would be a fair price.
Conclusion
There has been much activity in the vineyard, especially near the end of the day with five groups of laborers employed. Since the last four groups were employed without a specified wage it will be interesting to see what they are paid. Would it be one twelfth of a denarius per hour of work?
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