https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Parable-of-the-Vineyard-Workers.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Matthew 20:1-16<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. When speaking of the nature of our heavenly reward, the parable of the vineyard workers\nis often cited to prove that each will receive a similar heavenly reward.\n A. Whether a Christian has lived a long life serving the Lord, or only found the Lord\nlate in life, all will receive the same reward from God, we are told.\n B. Yet, to apply this particular parable to Judgment and the life thereafter does not\nmatch certain facts in the parable.\n C. Before we begin to look at the details in this parable, I wish to point out a few\nthings.\n
1. It is possible to stretch a parable too far.<\/p>\n 2. Some people give meaning to the smallest detail in a parable, often to the\npoint of making points that are never addressed by the overall parable.\n
II. First, let us consider what led to the giving of the parable.<\/p>\n A. In Matthew 19:16-26, a young ruler desired salvation. He wanted to go beyond\nmerely keeping the commandments.\n 1. Jesus told him that his one weakness was in his possessions. He told the\nyoung man to give all that he had to the poor and invited him to follow\nJesus.\n 2. The young ruler was unable to do so. His possessions were great and he\ncould not let go of them.\n
B. Jesus commented about how hard it was for the rich to be saved.<\/p>\n 1. Generally we see the rich having an easy life. Money opens doors and the\nrich often gain whatever they desire.\n 2. Disciples were puzzled that if the rich could not be saved, then who could\nobtain salvation.\n
C. Peter pointed out that they had left everything to follow Jesus – Matthew 19:27<\/p>\n
1. Jesus pointed out that in the regeneration – Matthew 19:28-30<\/p>\n
a. He would sit on throne<\/p>\n
b. The apostles would also sit on thrones, judging Israel<\/p>\n c. Those who leave all would receive more in this life and will later\ninherit eternal life\n
d. The first would be last and the last first.<\/p>\n
2. When is the regeneration?<\/p>\n a. It is true that when judgment comes, this world will be replaced\nwith a new heaven and earth – Revelation 21:1\n
b. Yet, this isn’t the only renewal mentioned in the Bible<\/p>\n
(1) The church is an organization to renew people to God<\/p>\n
(2) Romans 6:4 – To walk in newness of life<\/p>\n
(3) Baptism is called the washing of regeneration – Titus 3:5<\/p>\n
(4) The word regeneration literally means spiritual rebirth.<\/p>\n
c. When does Christ reign? <\/p>\n
(1) Now – I Corinthians 15:23-26<\/p>\n (2) Christ reigns until death is abolished, then the kingdom is\nreturned to the Father. In other words, the judgment is the\nend of the Son’s reign.\n
d. When do we receive blessings? <\/p>\n
(1) The verse says in this life.<\/p>\n (2) Recall Ephesians 1:3 – This is something that has (past\ntense) been done.\n
e. When are the first last and the last first?<\/p>\n
(1) This was instructions concerning the church<\/p>\n (2) Jesus later told the Jews that sinners would enter the\nkingdom before they would because of their willingness to\nobey God – Matthew 21:28-32\n
(3) The greatest among them must learn to serve – Luke 22:24-30<\/p>\n (a) Notice that in the kingdom, the apostles would be\ngranted to sit at Christ’s table, sit on thrones, and to\njudge Israel.\n
(b) They would gain this through service.<\/p>\n (4) This is important because this same phrase both introduces\nand concludes the parable of the vineyard workers.\n
III. Taking note of the details<\/p>\n
A. Frequently this parable is seen as<\/p>\n
1. Jesus is the owner<\/p>\n
2. Christians are the laborers<\/p>\n
3. The vineyard is life in the service of God<\/p>\n
4. And the wage is the reward at the end of life.<\/p>\n B. Difficulty 1: If the denarius is our heavenly reward, then we have God giving out\nsalvation as a payment – Matthew 20:8\n 1. Yet, the Scriptures usually refer to the heaven as a free gift. The only\nearning man does is earning death by his sins – Romans 6:23\n C. Difficulty 2: When the wage is offered, the workers are not pleased. They envy the\nones who work less – Matthew 20:11-12\n 1. Yet, grumbling and envy are sins that should no longer exist in heaven –\nRevelation 21:3-4, 8, 27\n
2. James 5:9 warns us not to complain against our fellow brethren<\/p>\n
D. Difficulty 3: The complainers are sent away – Matthew 20:14<\/p>\n 1. Yet, at the end of life, we are to join the Lord always – I Thessalonians\n4:16-17\n 2. It does not make sense for a reward of eternal life to be given and then\nthose receiving it are sent away.\n
IV. What the parable teaches<\/p>\n
A. The workers are the people chosen by God<\/p>\n 1. Some were chosen early on. These are the Jews – God’s chosen people –\nDeuteronomy 7:6\n
2. Yet these people were not faithful to God – Jeremiah 4:22<\/p>\n 3. The Lord promised to take compassion on other people and called them –\nHosea 2:23\n
4. Jesus said he had other sheep who would answer his call – John 10:16<\/p>\n 5. All Christians today are God’s chosen people. They are selected from\namong the nations – I Peter 2:9\n B. It is true that the Jews had suffered much in their service to God, though much of\nthe agony was of their own making.\n
1. They had a long history of being the people of God.<\/p>\n 2. Yet, all through their history, they looked forward to the promise of\nsalvation. They had not yet received that promise.\n
3. The law they lived under could not save them – Galatians 3:21-22<\/p>\n
C. The gift then is the promise of eternal life – John 10:25-28<\/p>\n
D. The promise is given equally<\/p>\n
1. It goes to the Jews and the Greeks – Romans 1:16<\/p>\n
2. There is no distinction between the Jews or the Greeks – Romans 10:12-13<\/p>\n
3. A renewal in which there is no distinction – Colossians 3:10-13<\/p>\n
a. There is that idea of a regeneration or a renewal once again.<\/p>\n b. All Christians have been chosen by God and there is no distinction\namong them.\n
E. All are offered the same hope – Ephesians 4:4<\/p>\n
1. One cannot be “more saved” than another.<\/p>\n F. In essence, the denarius is entrance into the kingdom of God and the hope of\nsalvation.\n
1. The Jews were jealous of the acceptance of the Gentiles – Romans 10:19<\/p>\n
2. They were broken off to allow the Gentiles in – Romans 11:11–12, 17-23<\/p>\n
V. Just because we are called does not imply there is no work expected of us.<\/p>\n
A. We must labor for our master<\/p>\n B. A laborer is paid at the end of the day. If we quit before the end, there is no\npayment – Hebrews 6:10-15\n C. The knowledge that salvation is there, waiting for the faithful servant should give\nus the endurance to remain faithful – Hebrews 6:19\n
D. Will you answer the call? Will you join brethren the world over in serving God?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 20:1-16 I. When speaking of the nature of our heavenly reward, the parable of the vineyard workers is often cited to prove that each will receive a similar heavenly reward. A. Whether a Christian has lived a long life serving the Lord, or only found the Lord late in life,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[410,689,47],"class_list":["post-16377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-judgment","tag-parables","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-will-remove-its-hedge\/","url_meta":{"origin":16377,"position":0},"title":"I Will Remove Its Hedge","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joe Hickman via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 I recently had the opportunity to travel to Mozambique. While there, I noticed an abundance of bushes covered with enormous thorns. Sometimes these thorn bushes were just sitting in no particular place, as though waiting to give a big\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/laborers-in-the-vineyard\/","url_meta":{"origin":16377,"position":1},"title":"Laborers in the Vineyard","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 20:1-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The context of the parable \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A rich, young ruler had come to Jesus asking how to be saved. - Matthew 19:16-22 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus told him to follow the law, but the young man wasn\u2019t satisfied with this. He wanted something more. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus told\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18111,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-degrees-of-rewards-and-punishment\/","url_meta":{"origin":16377,"position":2},"title":"Are there degrees of rewards and punishment?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are there degrees of\u00a0punishment\u00a0and\u00a0rewards after the judgment? In II Peter 2:20-21 Peter states, \"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49096,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-ever-too-late-to-be-forgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":16377,"position":3},"title":"Is it ever too late to be forgiven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it too late to ever be forgiven and saved with Jesus Christ? \u00a0I would love to move forward and let go, but sometimes I feel as if I'm too late because of my past. \u00a0I feel like it's just me saying this to myself and not what God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3695,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-repent-from-your-sins-right-before-you-die-and-still-go-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":16377,"position":4},"title":"Can you repent from your sins right before you die and still go to heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you repent from your sins right before you die and still go to heaven? Answer: Perhaps in theory, but it would be difficult to accomplish since we generally do not know when we will die. \"Come now, you who say, \"Today or tomorrow we will go to such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29648,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-justice-requires\/","url_meta":{"origin":16377,"position":5},"title":"What Justice Requires","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Micah 6:6-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The concept of justice is rarely applied evenly. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Justice is the quality of being right or proper. It carries the idea of fair and equal treatment. There is no favoritism with justice. People get what they deserve. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People want justice when they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}