“For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market-place, and he said unto them; 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 ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and 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;

“So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give 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. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

“And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for one penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” -Matthew 20:1-16.

This parable is difficult of interpretation so as to make all of its facts find fulfillment. The Great Teacher gave it as a parable of the kingdom; hence we know that it applies to the experiences of the church during this Gospel age. If we were to apply the different intervals mentioned to different epochs in this age, we would have difficulty; for the apostles and others, called early in this age, did not live and labor throughout the entire period. Again, in so applying it we would face the proposition that only those at the beginning of the age had definite promise as respects a reward-that all others got merely the assurance that they would receive what would be right.

Another difficulty which we would encounter in interpreting the parable is how to apply the murmuring of those who were first called and last rewarded. Other Scriptures show us that the apostles and others first called in the Gospel age will experience their resurrection change before those who will be living at the second coming of Christ. St. Paul declares that the dead in Christ shall rise first, and that then those of us who are alive shall be changed. Furthermore, it would be unthinkable that the apostles and others of the early church would murmur at the reward to be given them.

All of these difficulties must be borne in mind when we attempt to find a solution of this parable that would fit the experiences of the church as a whole during the Gospel age.

If we attempt to apply the parable to the individual experiences of God’s people, we have trouble also. Applying it thus, we might say that those who begin a Christian life early, and are found faithful in the Lord’s service at the evening-time of life, would be the ones first called and promised a reward. Others coming in later, and serving the Lord’s cause with only a portion of their time, strength, and talent would correspond to those who heard the later call-some even at the eleventh hour. If we interpret the parable as meaning that all these will get a similar reward regardless of the time spent in the Master’s service, we would still have difficulty with the fact that those called earliest murmured, complained, and were dissatisfied.

On the contrary, we are surely convinced that any who would murmur against the Lord’s will and his just and loving arrangements for his people, will never obtain the kingdom reward beyond the veil. We may feel assured that any who receive the Master’s “Well done” and the resurrection change will be far from murmuring. They will rejoice and be glad, and feel more than rewarded for every little service and sacrifice. How then can we apply this parable consistently, in harmony with the teachings of other Scriptures respecting the reward of the kingdom class? We can think of only one way, and that is to apply the parable entirely to present-life experiences of the kingdom class, especially of those who will be living at the close of this Gospel Age.

Partly Applicable to the Jews

For sixteen hundred years and more the Jews waited for the first coming of Messiah and the blessed opportunities which then would come. When Jesus began his ministry, he preached, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and gave the Jews the privilege of entering into it. That privilege was a “penny,” or a reward for their faithful endeavors to keep the law all their lives. However, when the offer of the kingdom was promulgated, some publicans and sinners were attracted-some who had previously neglected God’s service and labors in the vineyard. These new laborers were received by the Lord Jesus and given an opportunity to become his disciples.

The privilege of discipleship was the penny or reward. The Scribes and the Pharisees, who had been faithful to the Lord God all their lives, considered that they should have had some preeminence or preference over the publicans and sinners; and they murmured at any arrangement as unfair which would not give them the first opportunities of the kingdom. If publicans and sinners were to obtain the blessed privilege of discipleship with Messiah, then surely, they thought, some still higher favor should come to them. They murmured that Jesus received publicans and sinners and ate with them.

One of the Master’s parables was intended as a special reproof to the Pharisees along this line. The prodigal son represented a class of Jews not living up to their privileges, while the elder brother represented those who had continuously sought to be earnestly and actively engaged in the Father’s business. When some of this prodigal class received the message of God’s love from the lips of Jesus and his disciples, and returned to the Father’s house, and were treated graciously and given the same privilege of sonship as those who had not gone astray but who had labored faithfully, the elder-brother class was offended. They murmured and refused to participate in the feast. Thus there were some who were first in opportunity, but who were last so far as the blessing was concerned, and others who were last and least found opportunity for receiving the divine blessing sooner and more effectively.

Applicable Also to Christians

The general lesson of the parable would seem to be that we should appreciate the fact that whatever God has to offer is a gift. We should enter His service with loving loyalty to principle, to righteousness. If we have served many years, that privilege of service should be esteemed; and our interest in the Lord’s cause should make us happy. From such a standpoint of appreciation of the privilege of service, we should be glad to see the Lord’s work carried on, glad to see others enter the service, and glad to see them get the same reward that we hope for ourselves. Only those who have such a broad spirit, such an appreciation of the privileges of the vineyard, such a sympathy for “as many as the Lord our God shall call” -only these will be fit for the kingdom proper and in readiness to receive the special privileges of knowledge and opportunity when the kingdom is ready to be announced.

As the typical kingdom was offered to the Jews in Jesus’ day, and as those who were newest in divine service received the same opportunities for a share in the kingdom with those who had been long engaged, so apparently it is to be in the end, or harvest time, of this Gospel age. Those who have all their lives been seeking to be faithful to the Lord and to serve his cause should remember that they have had that much more privilege and blessing. If some shall enter the divine service later, they should be rejoiced with as fellow-servants.

Indeed, all who are servants, according to the Word of the Lord, should be praying the Master to send other laborers into the vineyard, instead of feeling jealous of any others who might come. As greater knowledge of present truth is now coming as a reward to all who labor in the vineyard of the Lord, let us not be surprised if this shall be equally distributed to those who have come in recently and to those who have been a long time in the Master’s service.

Let us rather rejoice in the Lord’s ways. Let not our hearts be angry because of his graciousness to those who have come into the service even during the eleventh hour. Are they not brethren? Under the terms of the Golden Rule should we not wish them to have the same blessings that we enjoy? Any aloofness on the part of those who have been longer in the Lord’s service-any feeling on the part of such that they must have more manifestation of the Lord’s favor now-is evidently wrong. The Lord would have us more like unto himself. This is the suggestion of those who have selected the Golden Text for this lesson. Be ye like unto your Father; for He is kind to the unthankful. “He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust .” -Matthew 5:45.

R 5473 (1914)