Daily Devotional For Friday, January 9, 2026
Good morning Southside. We are making our way through the Gospel of Matthew. Today, we come to Matthew 20:1-16. Because this is another longer teaching by Jesus using the parable, we are going to look at this over several days as well. Here is the text:
“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. (2) He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. (3) At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. (4) So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. (5) So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing. (6) At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’ (7) They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’ (8) That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. (9) When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. (10) When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. (11) When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, (12) ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat. (13) He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? (14) Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. (15) Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’ (16) So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last” (NLT).
Jesus’ words here are an expansion of Mathew 19:30, since Jesus repeats Matthew 19:30 in Matthew 20:16. In this Parable of the Vineyard, Jesus clarifies the rules of membership in the Kingdom of heaven – entrance is by God’s grace alone. In this parable, God is the landowner, believers are the laborers, and the vineyard is the Kingdom of heaven. This parable shows that those who feel superior or better because they spend time with Christ and even believers, can only do this due to grace. It’s not them; it is Him. It’s not one’s place; but God’s grace.
The parable begins by telling us that the landowner went out early in the morning looking for laborers. This means this would probably be around 6:00 AM. Laborers worked from sunup to sundown. Long days with long hours. These laborers would agree to work for 1 denarii, which was the going rate then, but many times there were negotiations between landowners and laborers. Once these negotiations were agreed upon, the laborers went to work.
For this landowner, 6:00 AM has now become 9:00 AM. Finally, he comes across some potential day laborers. We are not told why the landowner went back out at 9:00 to hire more laborers. All we are told is he did this. Probably the main reason was he needed more laborers. It was common that unemployed laborers would gather in the public square of their towns hoping someone would hire them. Depending on the amount of work, you worked until it was all done. For some, this meant up to sunset. So, for each group of laborers hired after 6:00 AM, each successive group then worked less hours than the previously hired group that day. This would get less than 1 denarii for their labor.
We are told this landowner went out at noon, then 3 and then 5 looking for laborers. We are not told why these other laborers were not employed. But each group, the ones hired at noon, then 3 and then 5, understood 1 denarii was for one full day’s worth, not a partial day. Normally, depending on the number of hours worked, you got paid by the hour. Sort of like our hourly workers are today who punch or sign-in to a time clock. Since food was scarce, if you did not work, you did not eat and you went hungry. God had given very specific laws to landowners in how they were to pay and treat their laborers (see Lev. 19:13 and Deut. 24:14-15).
Jesus threw a surprise in this parable. The laborers who had worked the longest traditionally got paid first, not the workers who had worked the least hours. This would have raised an eyebrow or two. Then Jesus threw a second surprise in this parable. The workers who had worked the least number of hours got paid a full day’s wage like the workers who had worked a full day. Seeing the laborers who had worked the least probably made the workers who had worked the most believe they were going to get more than the standard one day’s wage. But that did not happen either. So, the laborers who had worked more hours complained.
We can understand and identify with them. We live in a culture that says “more work, more pay; less work, less pay.” The landowner’s point is that the workers had initially agreed to work at that wage and since he owned the field, it was his right to pay accordingly. The laborers’ complaint is that they have rights. Jesus’ point is that grace supersedes rights. Rights claim what is fair; grace is given by God as He sees fit – not us. Grace is given generously by the kindness of the giver; rights claim what is perceived as fair. If God rewarded us on what is fair versus grace, we all would be in big trouble.
So, the laborers got paid as they were promised. They were not grumbling because they were paid; they were grumbling because the landowner had been generous with all the laborers. I like what New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton writes:
“The loving father allows his child to push against handle while Dad makes it move. Alone, the child could not budge the machine. Alone, the father would finish the work much sooner. But this father has a greater purpose than simply mowing grass. He also desires to help his child grow. The landowner in Jesus’ parable had more than grapes to harvest. He also wanted to practice generosity. He went looking for harvesters.
Grace cannot be rightly defined as God doing it all for us. That would simply display divine power. Rather, God’s grace evokes wonder and growth in us as we recognize that He does it all with us! Our participation is never essential, but it is real! God doesn’t need us. Working in and through us slows the divine plan to a snail’s pace. But therein lies God’s grace! Submitting to Christ’s lordship requires that we admit that we can’t do it by ourselves. Nor can we claim that the final results are due to our efforts. But we have participated. In fact, the deeper our commitment to working with the Father, the greater our awareness of how much God does. Ask God to multiply your efforts to serve Him” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 390).
On Saturday we will look at this again. Have a blessed day!
Assignment: We see God’s grace on the cross to a thief before he died and we see God’s grace to 11 disciples who followed Jesus for 3 years. Some might consider this as being unfair; what do you think and why? This is the point of Matthew 5:45. Some consider this unfair of God. What do you think and why? Do you ever get angry or upset at how generous God seems to be with others than with you? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: Psalm 145:9, “The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all His creation” (NLT).
Prayer to Pray: “Dear Lord, please forgive me when I think You are not being fair. I thank You that You do not relate to me with fairness, but with grace. God, please help me to give grace to those who I otherwise would feel they deserve fairness, not grace. Help me love people – all people in the same way You do. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly