In Matthew 20: 1-17 we have the record of the parable of Jesus about the workers in the vineyard. What was Jesus' purpose in this parable. Why did he present it? Was he saying that, as we are commonly told, that it makes no difference how long  a man serves in the kingdom, his reward will be the same? Will a man who obeys the gospel today and dies tomorrow have the same reward as one who has labored in God's kingdom for many years? No doubt that is true - and we can be thank­ful that it is. I fear, however, that such an application is all some get out of the great story. We often come to Matthew 20 and completely forget about what has gone on immediately before. Perhaps that is be­cause there is a "chapter break" there. While such breaks are handy in Bible study, they can sometimes cause us to isolate one chapter from another. It seems that many do this when it comes to this chapter. And so our purpose here is not to study the application of the parable, but rather to ask, "why did Jesus tell it?"

The parable seems to have it's roots at least as far back as the story of the rich, young ruler (Matt. 19:16-22). Once that young man sorrowfully left Jesus, the Lord then had to explain some things to his disciples regarding such matters (Matt. 19:23-30). Peter responded to the Lord (Matt. 19:27), in effect saying, "Lord, we have done precisely what you told the young ruler to do. How now is that going to affect us?" He did not seem to understand the true point Jesus was making, which is summed up in Matthew 19:30 - "Many who are first will be last, and the last first." That must have thrown the disciples another of the proverbial "curve balls!" Jesus often had to "draw a picture" for his disciples, even as he would have had to do for most of us had we been there. And so he sets forth the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, and does so in order to explain what he said in Mat­thew 19:30. Note Matthew 20:8, where Jesus again talks about "the last to the first;" he has not abandoned what he said in 19:30. Let us go to the end of the parable ( 20:16), where he concludes by saying, "so the last will be first, and the first last." This thought permeates the parable, and Jesus repeats it over and over.

The parable was never intended to set forth some sort of rules for a worker's union that determined, among other things, wages that should be paid. Nor does the "first" or "last" refer to relative positions in the kingdom of God. That is a kingdom where there are no "second class citizens." How is it that the "last" to enter the Master's "work force" will be paid as much as he that is "first?" He has not spent as much time in the vine­yard as others. It may be that he has not expended as much money, or utilized as many talents as the earlier workers. In other words, he has a "smaller investment" in the kingdom, whereas those who went out first had a greater invest­ment. Yet their rewards are the same. We might illustrate the principle in the following scenario. Pat purchases a one hundred thousand dollar life insurance policy, and has been paying on it for 20 years. His friend Mike buys the identical policy, but he only bought it yesterday. Mike then dies one day after purchasing his policy, and guess what? The "bene­fits" of that policy are the same as those of Pat who paid on his for 20 years! We can understand that, and it is the same principle Jesus lays down in his great parable.

When Peter said, "Lord, we have left all and followed you," did he and the other apostles "give up" any more than the rich, young ruler was called upon to give up? No - and neither are we! So, if we lave a problem with the "wages" that were paid to the various workers in the parable, we need to remember that when Jesus spoke these things, he was doing nothing more than explaining what he said in Matthew 19:30, for he conc1udes that story with the same principle In Matthew 20:16. - Bill Moseley