Full Transcript

Welcome to Share the Word. We are on episode 233 with Margie Biasado behind the microphone, bringing you the big ideas of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 20. But before we get started, I wanted to share a thought that this episode reminded me of. You see, my previous occupation, I negotiated contracts and at times found the amount of work to be more than I expected for the pay received. But I’d be reminded of how those funds that I did receive were a blessing in a time of need. So when my perspective changed away from the desire for more to gratitude of the blessing received from God, my heart changed and I found peace.

And I pray that this episode speaks into your heart as it did mine. Thank you, Pastor Tony. Today, the big idea: all workers get the same wage. Steve Hartman, who does the CBS series On the Road, shared a story of great grace and generosity. Terry Codd, a 30-year employee for the Veterans Administration, died in 2021 without an heir. Previously, he had made the decision to leave all of his money to charity.

Terry Codd was a simple man who had a very modest life. He lived in the same house, drove the same car, never owned a cell phone, and didn’t even have an obituary written because he felt like it was a waste of money. He was described as being penny wise but pound generous, a description and a legacy that lived on well after he departed. Terry named his attorney, Dwayne Isaacs, the executor of his will, allowing Dwayne to choose which nonprofits would be recipients of a million dollars each in Terry’s honor. Dwayne has donated $13 million to deserving charities. Because of Terry and Dwayne, many people have benefited greatly.

When interviewed, some of the recipients exclaimed, I couldn’t believe it. I had to sit down. Another said, I’m still stunned. A third, Well, at first we hovered over our bodies thinking, This cannot be real. Then we came to our senses and rejoiced. Lastly, Our ministry is forever changed.

We are so grateful. In this chapter, we see even more radical grace and generosity in what is called the Parable of the Vineyard Workers. But first, for the history. When we join Jesus and his disciples in chapter 20, they’re still in Judea on the way to Jerusalem for the last time. While traveling, Jesus was healing, delivering, restoring, and occasionally scolding the religious folks, teaching the crowds and training his disciples. One of Jesus’s preferred and effective methods of teaching was to tell parables.

Remember, Matthew is a Jew writing to the Jews about a Jew, and parables were a very common form of teaching in Judaism. A parable is said to be an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, a story that communicates spiritual principles or truths, often using illustrations taken from everyday life. This one fits right into that category. There are 48 parables recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Twenty-three of those are in Matthew. In many instances, Jesus would let the audience wonder about the meaning of his parables and frequently explained them only to his disciples privately.

But in this case, he made his meaning very clear. Reading from verses 1 through 16. For the kingdom of heaven is like the landowner who went out in the first hour to hire men to work in his vineyard. First hour is 6 a.m. or sunrise, the official start of the Jewish workday. This was a very common scene in Israel, as most landowners did not have salaried employees. Okay, back to the text.

The landowner agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. A denarius was a silver coin that equaled about $50, a typical day wage for a Roman soldier. About the third hour, 9 a.m., the landowner went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour, noon, and then the ninth hour, 3 p.m., and did the same thing.

About the eleventh hour, 5 p.m., an hour before Hebrew quitting time, the landowner went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, Why have you been standing around here all day long doing nothing? They answered, Because no one has hired us. He said to them, You also go work in my vineyard. When evening came, that would be 6 p.m. sunset, the end of the Jewish day. 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 to the first ones hired.

The first shall be last, and the last shall be first is a repeated theme, as we know in the Gospels. The workers who were hired in the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. Those who were hired first expected to receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. These men, who were hired last, worked only an hour, they said. But you have made them equal with us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.

Can’t you just picture them with the backs of their hands against their glistening brows? The landowner answered one of them, saying, Friend, am I being unfair to you? Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. If I want to give the man who was hired last the same thing I gave you, don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?

Ouch. Hence, the big idea: all of the workers get the same wage. Now to the meaning of the parable. The vineyard represented the kingdom of heaven. The landowner represented God, and the workers represented the subjects of heaven, believers in Jesus Christ. So the big idea could be stated like this: all workers, believers, get the same wage, the kingdom of heaven, no matter when they say yes to the landowner.

God. Remember, Matthew is a Jew writing to the Jews about their Jewish Messiah, the King of the Jews and His kingdom. So let’s break it down a little more. The phrase kingdom of heaven is used 30 times in the Gospel of Matthew. The other gospel writers mostly referred to the kingdom of God, approximately 50 times. Sometimes these terms were used interchangeably, even by Jesus, as seen in the preceding chapter in verses 23 and 24.

But the bottom line, kingdom of God describes God as the King. Kingdom of heaven describes where King God reigns, which reminds me of a joke, Pastor Tony. Have you heard the one about the king who was only 12 inches tall? Well, he was a terrible king, but he made a great ruler. Jesus made it very clear the kingdom of heaven is both spiritual and physical. Chapter 17 of Luke, Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is within you, meaning that heaven resides within those who accept Jesus as their Messiah King, spiritually and immediately.

Those who say yes to the landowner, those who have God reigning in their hearts and in their lives, His kingdom people, those who have submitted to His rule. Verses that we’ve studied confirm that. Philippians, our citizenship is in heaven once we follow King Jesus. Ephesians, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and the members of God’s household once we follow King Jesus. Colossians, He’s delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Matthew’s Jewish audience knew the Hebrew Scriptures indicating the same.

Daniel described how the kingdoms of earth would be subject to the kingdom of heaven. Isaiah prophesied of mighty King, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, whose government will have no end. First Chronicles declared God’s greatness, power, glory, victory, and supreme dominion over His people. And Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is physical. Heaven is a real, tangible place. Again, Matthew’s Jewish readers would be familiar with Old Testament passages which described heaven as the realm where God dwells.

So let’s talk a little bit more about the kingdom of heaven. There are actually two heavens: present and future. Present heaven, which the Bible describes as up. Hebrew in the Old Testament, the word heaven is shamayim, meaning the heights. The Greek New Testament word for heaven is ouranos, meaning raised up or lofty. Present heaven is the place where we tell children that Grandma has gone.

Ethereal, disembodied spirits, angels singing. Bernard Shaw once said, Heaven seems a place so dull that nobody ever ventured to describe a whole day there, though plenty have described a whole day at the seashore. Unfortunately, that’s not just the opinion of a 1900s Irish Nobel Prize winner, but also of modern folks who aren’t quite sure what heaven looks like. Even my own mother was confused, saying, I’m not sure I want to sit on a cloud playing a harp all day. Okay, that does sound rather boring, but heaven is not boring because God is not boring. First of all, we will be with God in His very presence.

Revelation 22 says we will see Him face to face, which is outrageously wonderful. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, John all describe these crazy, glorious, otherworldly sights and sounds: a sea of glass like crystal, elders on the thrones, crowns of gold, white robes, creatures with eyes all over their bodies, innumerable companies of angels, along with saints experiencing unknown peace, beauty, joy, and perfect fellowship. It will not be boring, because we will not be sitting around all day. We will be working, like the vineyard workers. We will have jobs. Jesus said in this very gospel, If you are faithful with little, much will be given.

There will be plenty to do. Ruling and reigning begin in present heaven and continue into future heaven. As Randy Alcorn, who I lifted a lot of this information from, says, We will work and serve at our greatest capacity, the fullest expression of our giftedness. It will be glorious, fulfilling, and satisfying labor. We cannot possibly comprehend the excitement and the adventure ahead. We won’t have stress, heartache, pain, pressures, or the difficulties that accompany life here and now.

No more worry, death, disease, suffering, tears, broken relationships, sin. That will all be a thing of the past. The psalmist said, In His presence is the fullness of joy; at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. As for future heaven, our future eternal dwelling place will be here on planet Earth. New heaven, new Jerusalem, new usses will be on new earth. Genesis 1:26.

Then God said, Let us make mankind in our own image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over the creatures that move along the ground. Triune God created us little mud babies from earth for earth. We were made to work, worship, rule on earth, and God has never changed or abandoned His original plan. Leviticus 26. God said, I will put my dwelling place among you. I will walk among you.

Now, of course, we know He did that as Jesus, but He will also walk with us in the future, as He did in the past with Adam and Eve. Other Old Testament verses reiterate the same idea. Isaiah, I will create a new heaven and a new earth, declares the Lord. Job 19. He says, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on earth. After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, in His resurrected body on earth.

The New Testament repeats the same theme. Second Peter. But in keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells, where God dwells. Jesus said in John 14. My Father’s house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you?

Place, topos in the Greek, a locatable physical site, a literal, not just a spiritual location. New Jerusalem is an actual physical place. It’s located in present heaven, but one day will be the holy capital city here on earth. Apostle John recorded in Revelation 21, And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among his people. He will live with them, and they will be his people.

God himself will be with them.’ Emmanuel. The estimated dimensions of New Jerusalem: 1,500 miles wide, long, tall, and high. So in cubic form, like the Ark of the Covenant, that would mean it has a two million square mile first floor, 600,000 stories tall, with 12-foot ceiling height. Revelation 21 describes great high walls with 12 gates. Each gate is one huge pearl with an angel at each gate.

The city is adorned with all kinds of stones: sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardis, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, amethyst. Streets will be like transparent glass, but made of pure gold. The river of life will be pure, crystal clear. On each side of it, twelve trees of life, yielding a different fruit every month, and the leaves for healing of the nations, enhancing holiness and wellness. Unfathomable glory, beauty, fulfillment, pleasures and joy. I’m guessing we haven’t met our favorite food, seen our favorite sight, smelled our favorite fragrance.

We might describe a day at our seashore as gorgeous, but just wait, Bernard. Resurrection creation will be perfect. And I, for one, can’t wait. I want everyone that I know to experience heaven, don’t you? Which brings us back to the big idea. All workers, believers, receive the same wage: heaven.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a sub-theme of this parable: the bad attitude of those first-hour workers, the ones who grumbled and complained against the landowner, who fussed about the pay they had agreed upon. Notice the word agreed has the word greed in it. Now, it is true they had worked the longest and seemingly the hardest, and everyone was paid the same wage, which clearly they felt was wrong. This isn’t fair, they whined. Isn’t that such a human and real response? Grumbly, not grateful.

And now that we know the meaning of the parable, I ask you, shouldn’t they have been grateful, thrilled, in fact, that no matter how late the workers arrived at the vineyard, they got the same wage? Shouldn’t they have been happy for the latecomers and all of the generous landowner? I love the landowner’s response. Friend, am I doing you wrong? Are you envious because I’m generous? Are you grumbling because I give grace and abundance?

As a six-hour worker myself, I am very grateful for my wage. And I’m sure the thief crucified with Jesus was relieved and grateful that he made it in the eleventh hour, hearing the words as he died, Truly, I tell you, this day you will be with me in paradise. Present heaven. Honestly, we should hope and pray that all get to heaven to live forever with God, no matter when they come to faith in King Jesus. The Bible says the Lord is patient, hoping that none should perish, but everyone come to repentance. Just like the landowner, the Lord goes out to find each of us, just as Jesus did with the disciples, Come, follow me.

The landowner God invites us until the last possible second. He wants us to accept His Son, King Jesus. He desires that we would be with Him in heaven. And when that happens, the Bible says there will be more rejoicing in heaven, present heaven, over one sinner who repents than the ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away. It sounds like all of heaven rejoices over that eleventh-hour worker, maybe even more than the first-hour worker. And we should all celebrate with them and be grateful that all workers get the same wage.

After all, it is really King Jesus that did all the work. For our wage. At the beginning, I said the landowner in our parable was even more generous and gracious than Terry Codd. King Jesus gives us the spiritual kingdom of heaven the moment we believe, and present heaven upon our death, and future physical heaven here on earth. I’d say that’s worth more than a million dollars. My hope and prayer is that you will accept His offer today if you haven’t yet.

Say yes to Him. Say yes to heaven. It’s not too late. And no matter when we arrive at the vineyard, may we all respond the way the recipients of the charity did. I am still stunned. I’m still rejoicing.

I am forever changed, and I am so grateful.