Labourers in the Vineyard
Of those who have left all. Labourers in the Vineyard.
(The Gospel History, Section 120)
Then answered Peter and began to say unto him. Lo, we have left all, and followed thee: what then shall we have? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And there is no man that hath left house, or wife, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my sake and for the gospel’s sake, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions: and in the world to come eternal life. But many shall be last that are first, and first that are last. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a house-holder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing in the marketplace idle; and to them he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard. And when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they received it, they murmured against the householder, saying, These last have spent but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take up that which is thine, and go thy way; it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last.
Untitled
(The Saviour of the World, Vol VII Book I Poem XX)
“Twelve thrones, my friends, for you are set,
About My place on high;
In that day when the tribes are met
E’en ye, by wisdom ye shall get,
Should judge as kings, release from debt
And men’s fit meal supply.”
A little counts for much with Him we serve,
And yet, ungenerous, grasping, we reserve
Our claim for recompense adequate, and more
Then he receives who brings a lesser store!
The patience of our Teacher! Sure, our hearts
Meet to perceive how, careful, He imparts
As slow dropped elixir, that word shall reach
The tardy soul of him He deigns to teach!
The other side of the shield He straight displays
To the disciples’ much affronted gaze:
“One brings a little, others much shall serve
Yet the same recompense doth each deserve!”
For not by niggard rule of less or more
Your Father metes to man His generous store;
Freely He gives, nor reckons your poor due
Sure glad and grateful thanks shall rise from you!
He found you idle in the market-place,
Early or late, what mattered to His grace?
He bade you to His vineyard, gave employ,
And named the wages each one should enjoy;
A day’s wage gets the man an hour had wrought,
The others calculate in eager thought
At that rate, how much then shall he receive
Had worked all day with his lord’s gracious leave.
But as each held his palm, therein was laid
That penny he had bargained to be paid.
Unjust! they cry; how can he treat us so
Who’ve worked all day beneath the sun’s hot glow!
St. Matthew xix. 27 – xx. 16;
St. Mark x. 28-31;
St. Luke xviii. 28-30
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Commentary by J. R. Dummelow
Mt 19:27–30. The reward of those who forsake all to follow Christ (Mk 10:28 Lk 18:28).
Mt 19:28. These words may refer to the position to be accorded the Apostles in the Church, after the resurrection, personally during their lives, afterwards through their writings and teaching: or they may have a real Eschatological sense, that is, they may refer to the new conditions after the final consummation.
In the regeneration] cp. Lk 22:28–30. The word occurs only once again in the NT., viz. Tit 3:5, where it is used of the grace of baptism. Here it is an open question whether by the Regeneration Jesus means His own resurrection, or the general resurrection at the last day, accompanied by the renewal of all created things.
Dalman says, ‘The unusual expression “regeneration” is distinctly Greek, and cannot be translated literally into Hebrew or Aramaic.’ The idea, however, is Hebrew, for it was believed that the Messiah would restore the world to its primitive perfection. There are also many analogies for the use of Regeneration in the sense of a personal resurrection. Josephus speaks of the resurrection as ‘being born a second time.’ St. Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as His birth or begetting into a new and glorious life (Ac 13:33). Among the Greeks, too, Regeneration was the usual term for the transmigration of a man’s soul into another body to begin a new life, which would be a kind of resurrection.
Judging] may also mean ‘ruling.’
The twelve tribes of Israel] i.e. not the unbelieving Jews who would reject the apostles’ preaching, but the Universal Church, the tribes of the New Israel of God. See Rev 7, where the twelve tribes of Israel (vv. 4–8) are identical with ‘the great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and kindred and people and tongues’ (v. 9). The apostles at the time (perhaps even the evangelist when he wrote) understood it of Israel after the flesh, but in this case, as in so many others, enlightenment was to come later (see Intro.).
Mt 19:29. An hundredfold] referring to spiritual compensations in this life > Mk 10:30. For their temporal losses they will have a hundredfold return in spiritual blessings, including holy fellowship with saints and angels. ‘Houses’ and ‘lands’ perhaps stand for rich spiritual possessions. If their literal meaning is to be pressed, our Lord indicates that, owing to the prevailing spirit of brotherly love, which issued in the apostolic communism, Christians would enjoy their houses and lands in common, as members of one family. Persecutions] A startling word in the midst of a shower of blessings. Yet persecutions are often, to a Christian, the greatest blessing of all.
Mt 19:30. See the following parable, especially 20:16.
Mt 20:1–16. Parable of the labourers in the vineyard (peculiar to St. Matthew). This difficult parable is closely linked with what goes before, and can only be understood in connexion with it. It rebukes the spirit of Peter’s enquiry (19:27), ‘We have left all and followed thee; what then shall we have?’ The Twelve through Peter had demanded a superlatively great reward, because they had been called first and had laboured longest. Such a reward had been promised them, should they prove worthy of it (19:28), though at the same time it was darkly hinted, that some outside the apostolic circle would prove in the end more worthy than some of the apostles (19:30). Then follows the parable. It is a sermon on the text, ‘But many shall be last that are first, and first that are last,’ which opens (19:30) and closes it (20:16). It is addressed primarily to the apostles. It teaches them that great as their merit and their reward undoubtedly are, there will perhaps be others whose merit and reward will be equal or even greater. Thus St. Stephen (not an apostle) was the first to gain the martyr’s crown, St. Paul laboured ‘more abundantly than they all,’ Barnabas and James the Lord’s brother ranked with the leading apostles, and many great names in the subsequent history of the Church—Athanasius, Augustine, Jerome, Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, St. Louis—have completely eclipsed the fame of the more obscure apostles. The apostles are warned not to be jealous of the attainments and rewards of other followers of Christ, but to do their own work single-heartedly, and to leave the recompense to God. Another important lesson is taught by the identity of the recompense paid to the various groups of labourers. They all receive the same coin, a denarius, which at this time was regarded as a liberal, but not unusual day’s pay (Tob 5:14). This does not necessarily signify that there will be no degrees of rank or blessedness in heaven, but it does signify that such degrees, if they exist, will be relatively unimportant. The supreme reward of all, to see God as He is in His unveiled splendour, will be enjoyed by all who are faithful to the end, and those who have this will care little what else they have or have not.
(a) Among the numerous conflicting interpretations of this parable, the following are the most noteworthy. (1) Calvin: a warning not to be over-confident because we have begun our Christian course well. (2) St. Irenæus: the various bands of labourers are the OT. saints; those last called are the apostles. (3) Greswell: the labourers first called are the Jews; those last called, the Gentiles. (4) St. Chrysostom: it refers to the periods of men’s lives at which they begin to serve God. Some begin in infancy, others in youth, others in manhood, others in old age. It encourages those who have entered late on God’s service, to labour heartily. (b) The following interesting parallel is taken from the Talmud. ‘To what was Rabbi Bon like? He was like to a king who hired many labourers, among whom there was one who performed his work extraordinarily well. So the king took him aside, and walked with him to and fro. And when evening was come, those labourers came, and he gave him a complete hire with the rest. And the labourers murmured saying, “We have laboured hard all day, and this man only two hours, yet he hath received as much wages as we.” But the king said to them, “He hath laboured more in those two hours than you in the whole day.” So Rabbi Bon plied the Law more in twenty-eight years, than another in one hundred years.’
Mt 20:15. Is thine eye evil?] i.e. Art thou jealous, because I am generous?