Matthew 20:1-16
Listen Now!

The rich young ruler has just turned away from following Jesus because of his many possessions. Jesus uses the tragic incident to teach His disciples about— 

Impossible Salvation—For people to forsake their self-sufficiency to trust and follow Jesus is like passing a camel through the eye of a needle, that is, impossible with man—but not with God.

Astonishing Reward—hundredfold and eternal life—completely dwarfs anything or anybody we might lose for the sake of following Jesus

Humbling caution about feeling they were somehow superior to the rich man and others like him because they were among the first to leave everything to follow Jesus. 

This parable illustrates what He means when He says “many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Following Jesus is like being in the service of a Gracious King, Who owns it all, recruits workers, gives generously, cheats no one, and rewards as He chooses. 

I. The gracious King owns it all. (1)

John 3:27: John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. . . . He (Christ) must increase, and I must decrease.

No one can honestly say that we deserve or own anything in an absolute sense. It all belongs to God to be given at His will (1 Corinthians 4:7).

II. The gracious King recruits workers. (1-7)

This is very encouraging! As long as it is day, the end has not yet come, and the King is still calling out a people for His name. There is still a place for you to serve. You may be a Timothy, with a lifetime to serve, or you may be like the thief on the cross, asking for mercy in your final hours. The King is gracious. Come to Him!

But remember that the evening is coming. There will be an accounting. You don’t have forever—trust the gracious King now, in this hour, and serve Him with whatever remains of your day.

III. The gracious King gives generously. (8-9, 15)

Jesus gives generously and treats all of us better than we deserve.

The parable mentions no agreement for what the master of the house would pay those hired later in the day—just whatever is right, he would pay.

A denarius was the standard day’s wage for a common laborer. That the master paid a day’s wage to those hired later reflects his generosity and compassion. Someone has said, “God cares as much for the good of the workers as the amount of work done.”

IV. The gracious King cheats no one. (2, 4, 10-14)

They had no problem with the landowner’s generosity toward others until they received their own pay. It was the comparison that sparked their jealousy and discontent.

These workers not only complain about the pay to which they had agreed. They also exaggerate the suffering they endured to do the work.

Will God’s reward be adequate for whatever you endure for Christ? Paul says, what we suffer is not worthy to be compared to the glory that is coming.

Not everyone has the same opportunities, but everyone that responds to the Master’s call will receive a gracious reward.

Sometimes we think greater opportunity means greater reward. Those who serve prominently are not necessarily greater servants. They usually endure greater criticism and praise from men than they deserve. But what matters is what they are before God (1 Corinthians 4:1-5).

It is not about the length of the service that is abundantly clear from the parable. Some persons who’ve been in a church for years think themselves superior to those whose service is more recent. But in God’s kingdom seniority does not necessarily mean greater honor.

Response to the participation of others in a particular ministry of a local church: “Tell them to find another church; we were here first.”

Such a “we got here first” attitude fails to recognize that it is only by God’s grace that any of us serve at all.

It is worldly carnality to view others as inferiors—ethnicity (Jew, Gentile, white, black, Hispanic), income level, education, gifts, age—but none of these distinctions win greater favor with God.

V. The gracious King rewards as He chooses. (14b-15)

The point of the parable is not that God rewards all service equally, but that God has full right to reward as He sees fit.

It is easy to be jealous of the ministry of others or dismissive of it and that is contrary to the heart of the Master toward His people (John 21:21-22; 1 Corinthians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 12:11, 15, 18, 21).

Is this not the same truth King Nebuchadnezzar learned centuries before in Daniel 4?

F. B. Meyer pastored Christ Church in London at the same time Charles Spurgeon was pastoring Metropolitan Tabernacle and G. Campbell Morgan was pastoring Westminster Chapel: “I find in my own ministry that supposing I pray for my own little flock, ‘God bless me, God fill my pews, God send me a revival,’ I miss the blessing; but as I pray for my big brother, Mr. Spurgeon, on the right-hand side of my church, ‘God bless him’; or my other big brother, Campbell Morgan, on the other side of my church, ‘God bless him’; I am sure to get a blessing without praying for it, for the overflow of their cups fills my little bucket.”

Give yourself to fully trusting the Gracious King and serving Him with all your heart. He owns it all, he recruits workers, he gives generously, he cheats no one, and he rewards as He chooses.

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