On Line Bible Study - For the week July 21-27, 2008

Lesson 345

Matthew 20: 1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5 So they went.

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 7 "'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

We continue to read what Jesus has to say about the "kingdom of heaven". Did you notice that, while the initial reason for hiring the workers is - presumably - because the landowner had work that needed to be done, later in the day the emphasis seems to shift away from what he needed to the fact that the laborers needed to work?

Also, notice this: while the first group of workers were paid a day's wage (we don't know exactly how much a denarius is, but it is believed to be a days' fair pay), the second group is told something different: I will pay you whatever is right. We assume they were present when the first group had been hired; would they have expected a full day's pay? Probably not. And by the time he gets to the later hours of the day, the wage doesn't even enter into the conversation. But it is when pay time arrives that the story gets interesting:

Matthew 20: 8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

9 "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12' These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

I guess the question is this: While they are laborers, and their legal status in the community is fragile at best, do they have a fair point? And now comes an even more interesting point. While the complaint is from the group, notice to whom the response of the landowner is directed:

Matthew 20: 13 "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

In his commentary on Matthew, John Nolland suggests that the lessons of the kingdom can not be appropriated in general; they are intensely personal. So, the response is given to ... one of them ....

While God calls us to be in community together, there is also something very personal about our relationship with God. We speak of a "personal relationship" with Jesus.

Another interesting point - that last sentence that speaks of being envious might be better translated: Or is your eye evil because I am good? There was a belief that some people could curse others with an "evil eye" - a look from such a person could bring you down. (It's the same phrase found in Matthew 6:23 - If your eye is unhealthy . . .) Do we look down on God's generosity when it is directed toward others?

For Jesus, perhaps he was trying to let people know that sinners who came to faith in him lately were just as much "in the kingdom" as the disciples who had followed from the beginning. For Matthew, perhaps he was underscoring the fact that more recent converts to the faith were every bit as much "in the kingdom" as those who had been there from the church's inception.

For us, it means we should remember to celebrate the extravagant generosity of God - not only when we are the recipients, but when it is directed toward others as well!

For next time we will consider a mother's request. Read Matthew 20:20-34.