“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning 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 noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon 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.’
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 five in the afternoon 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 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.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one 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?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
I think many of us, at times, have difficulty with this parable. We think it's not fair. How come those who accept God's gift of salvation on their deathbed get into heaven just like those of us who have been Christians for a long time, who have been doing our best to do God's will and serve him with our lives? That doesn't seem fair. They get to live however they want, live as though sin doesn't matter, and still get into heaven under the wire?
Since beginning this reading through the Bible journey two and almost-3/4 years ago, I've come to understand this a lot better. The truth is that it doesn't matter when we become Christians. We can't be perfect and holy. We can't earn it, Christian or not. We aren't any better than they are. I think the equality here is that none of us are any more deserving of the gift of salvation than any others, whether we've worked for the Kingdom for 50 years or 5 minutes. Mr. MacArthur says this, in The Kingdom's Common Reward:
The proverb is given in verse 30, "The first will be last and the last first." Repeated in verse 16, "The last shall be first, the first last." Very clearly it brackets the parable, which indicates to us that the parable is an illustration of this proverb. Now, I suppose you could say that it is a riddle to some degree because if the story weren't here we might struggle to understand it. But if it were to be considered a riddle it would be a pretty simple one. There's only one way to understand this proverb, it is this; if the first are last and the last are first, then everybody's the same.
And that is the proverb. It really isn't that difficult. It's simply Jesus saying, "Everyone is the same." There is no inequality. There are no first place finishers, second place finishers on down the line.
We all come to the foot of the cross. All as condemned sinners. We all come needing to repent of sin and embrace the gospel by faith and we all receive the same eternal life, whether you came to Christ just hours before you died or whether you knew him for 80 years. You say, "Well, isn't there inequity?" No, because we all have the same need and God's generosity will give us the same great blessing. And in the end, anyway, it's all grace, isn't it? And that's the principle. That's the principle that I wanna close with.
The principle is this; all eternal reward is by Grace. It's all by Grace. Works, length of service, tasks, duties done, they will show up in some measure of eternal blessing. The epistles talk about rewards. But they are not what distinguishes or determines eternal life. All eternal reward, in the sense of eternal life, is by Grace. So length and difficulty of service is not a factor. Sovereign Grace, God's incredible mercy, is not to be measured by our understanding of human equity. God graciously gives to all, all undeserving sinners, the same eternal life.
No comments:
Post a Comment