THE 11TH HOUR DEAL
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When I think about 11th hour deals, being a die-hard Detroit Tiger’s fan, I think about the deal to trade Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros. On the positive side, this deal provided Verlander with a World Series ring, which is something that he missed out on with the Tigers. And by the look of things, if he had stayed with the Tigers he would never have gotten one. On the negative side, loyal fans such as myself really miss having him in a Tiger’s uniform.
This morning, as we continue on in our series called THE FINAL JOURNEY, we come to the passage which defines what an 11th hour deal is. It is often called the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. If you haven’t done so, please turn in your Bible to . As we consider this passage we will look at the setting, the parable, and the application.
What I want you to understand, as we look at this parable, is that it is all about grace.
Let’s read the passage together, .
THE SETTING
THE SETTING
As we consider the setting we need to go back into last weeks text. Jesus and the twelve were traveling through the region that came to be known as Perea. They were slowly traveling to Jerusalem for what would turn out to be Jesus’ last Passover celebration. As they were journeying they were first encountered by some Pharisees who were trying to trap Jesus in His teaching about divorce. Then there were several parent who brought the young children to Jesus so that He might bless them. The disciples had a negative reaction to this for which Jesus rebuked them.
As they once again began their journey Jesus was approached by a rich, young ruler who wanted Jesus to assign him some sort of a heroic deed by which he could earn eternal life. And Jesus instructed him to do the impossible. Basically this young man was told to keep all the commandments perfectly, which included dealing with his issues of covetousness. To deal with that specific issue he was to sell everything he had and then come and follow Christ. But the price was too high for this young man, so he walked away dejected.
This encounter culminated in a teaching moment between Jesus and the twelve. He showed them that it was impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom of heaven on their own merits. But what is impossible with man is possible with God.
Look at , which provides us with the specific setting for the parable in chapter 20. Specifically, Peter’s question in is what prompted the telling of the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.
As I have already mentioned, this parable is all about grace. To get a proper interpretation of the parable we need to understand who the audience was. And based on the context the twelve was the audience.
Grace is a very broad topic. One could almost say that it is an all encompassing topic. I have always picture grace as being an umbrella, and under the umbrella of grace comes everything that has to do with salvation as well as spiritual growth. I think that John Newton understood that well when he penned the words to the most famous English Hymn of all times — Amazing Grace. Let’s consider those lyrics for a moment:
Verse 1
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound that save a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found; was blind, but now I see.
So grace saves. Let’s see what grace does in verse 2.
Verse 2
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
Grace teaches — that is sanctification at its best!
Verse 3
The Lord has promised good to me; His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
Grace increases our faith — which once again is a part of the sanctification process.
Verse 4
Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come. ‘Tis grace hath bro’t me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
Grace keeps us safe and secure as we encounter the various trials of the Christian life.
Just for your information, the reason I did not put up the final verse is because that verse was not written by John Newton, but was added many years later.
With grace being such a broad topic it is no wonder why various commentators see different aspects of grace as being the focal point of this parable. Some see this parable as referring to the church replacing Israel in God’s program. While I see a slight distinction between Israel and the church I also see that God is not finished with Israel.
Some see this parable as emphasizing God’s sovereignty in election. While I certainly see election as being a part of this parable, based on the context I don’t believe it to be the main thrust.
What I believe is the main thrust of this parable is to instruct the twelve in how they are to relates to others who come into the kingdom after them.
Let’s look at
THE PARABLE
THE PARABLE
The parable itself is pretty straight forward. The phrase “the kingdom of heaven is like” is Jesus’ common way for beginning a parable.
A note about parable first, might be helpful. It is really easy to read way too much into parables. But parables most always emphasize one specific point, and so when we interpret them we should not try to find an exact match to every detail of the story. What we need to find is the main teaching point. And I believe in this instance the main teaching point is found in the book ends of this parable. Notice
But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.
Now look at
So the last shall be first, and the first last.”
The former verse is stated as a contrast, while the latter verse is stated as a summation. And the ordering is reversed with “the first” being mentioned first in , and “the last” being mentioned first in .
All that being said, they teach the same thing.
The parable itself is pretty straight forward. The phrase “the kingdom of heaven is like” is Jesus’ common way for beginning a parable. The Lord went on to say that the owner of a vineyard had enough work to do that he felt compelled to go out and hire day laborers to work in his vineyard. It appears that he negotiated with the first men he hired to pay them what was probably an exceptional wage for day laborers, a denarius a day. A denarius a day was the common wage for a soldier, who was probably paid better than a day worker, since day workers were about the lowest spot in the food chain.
Now Jesus did not specify why there was a need for workers. Whether it was for harvest or for preparation to plant, or what not. And since He did not specify it probably is not important to the understanding of the parable.
The odd thing about the parable, the thing that doesn’t fit the common practice of the day, was that the owner went out about every three hours and hired more workers to work in his vineyard. Why he felt the need for more workers is not specified, but since this parable is about the magnificient grace of God, my take is that he hired more workers simply because of his benevolence.
The real thrust of the parable begins around verse 8 where the owner instructs his foreman to call it a day and pay the men their wages beginning with the last first. The order in which they were paid is very important to the understanding of the parable. If the first workers had been paid first they would have gone on their way and never known how much the other workers were being paid. But since they had to wait until last to be paid they began to anticipate a higher rate of pay for the services they rendered. But that was simply not the case. They were paid the wage that they had agreed to work for. And they were resentful of what the others were paid. I think that labor unions would have a field day with this situation.
I remember when I worked in a non-union shop, the common practice was for every hourly worker to be hired at the bottom tier and that they had to work their way up the ladder, so to speak. Well there came a time when a shop that did similar work to us went out of business, and our plant manager hired a couple of the maintenance men. These men did not have to work their way up the food chain, but simply came in at a higher level. That caused many of my workers (probably myself included) to complain about how they had been treated differently than everyone else who had been here for already.
Look at verses 13-15 which give us the thrust of things from the owners perspective.
It basically boils down to the fact that the original workers were jealous of the generosity of their employer. But the fact of the matter is that the owner had every right to use his money as he wished.
Let’s turn our attention now to
THE APPLICATION
THE APPLICATION
Let’s consider for a moment why Jesus may have it necessary to tell this parable to the twelve. I mean these guys alway got along well, and there was never any sort of contention or jealousy among them, right? I mean, Christ wouldn’t choose men to lead His church who had any sort of shortcomings, would He?
I hope you know that I am speaking in jest. Christ had no choice but to use people with shortcomings to lead His church. And that is because other than Jesus Himself, there is no one who was ever born that did not have some sort of shortcoming. You have them and so do I. The honest person is the one who recognizes his or he own shortcomings. If we do not then we open ourselves up to all kinds of issues with pride. And of course pride comes before the fall.
We’ve already seen time and time again in our study of Matthew that the apostles had shortcomings as it relates to perception and understanding. They often were rebuked by Christ for their lack of faith or their lack of understanding. Personally, I find that very comforting, because I so often am lacking in those areas myself.
Being the omniscient God, Christ knew some of the things that were yet to come. For instance, in they questioned Jesus about who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He also knew that James and John would try to use their mother to jockey for position in Christ’s coming kingdom — . And He knew that the other apostles would be offended by this.
Christ also knew that James and John would try to prohibit those who did not belong to the company of the twelve from performing miraculous works in Jesus name.
Christ was also aware that the apostles would continue to argue about which one of them was the greatest, right up until the time of His betrayal. According to Luke’s account, immediately after the institution of the Lord’s Supper they began to argue about which of them was the greatest. I’ve always thought this was the background for why Jesus disrobed and washed their feet in .
Being that these men were very human and prone to envy just like the rest of us, I believe that in this parable Jesus was actually teaching them to be content with the grace that was given to them. Just as He reproached Paul in
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
What are some principles that we can take home from this parable?
God sovereignly initiates and accomplishes salvation
God alone establishes the terms of salvation
God continues to call people into His kingdom
God redeems everyone who is willing
God is compassionate to those who have no resources and acknowledge their hopelessness
All who come into the vineyard work
God has the divine authority and ability to keep His promises
God always gives more than is deserved
Humility and a genuine sense of unworthiness is the only right attitude in which a person may come to the Lord
God’s sovereign, overarching grace — from beginning to end this parable pictures God’s boundless grace
Let’s pray.
Closing Song: #343 — Amazing Grace
Closing Song: #343 — Amazing Grace