“Out of many possible applications which the parable may have there are three which especially appeal to us as having merit. In the first place, there is one possible, and even likely, application of this warning and parable which cannot fail to be very welcome to us all. We are thinking now of the young man whom Jesus loved. We love him, too, do we not?
A rich man, yet not spoiled by his wealth; a zealot for the law, and yet bent on learning more than the law could teach; a young man, and yet modest and teachable. We do not think it strange that he found it hard to give up "great possessions" all at once, and to become a penniless, homeless, wanderer, even that he might become perfect. It irks and grieves us to think that he should have gone away from Christ. We cannot easily persuade ourselves that he never came 'back. Nor need we try, for in our Lord's rebuke to Peter, "But there are last who shall yet be first," we have at least a hint that he who went sorrowfully away came joyfully back.
For, surely, he was one of the last who became one of the first in Christ's regard; or why, as he went away, should Christ begin to speak of late-comers, who would 'be as dear as those who came early, and to tell a story of certain laborers, who, though they entered the vineyard at the evening hour, took as high a wage as those who came in the early morning hours?
To us it seems that our Lord Jesus, yearning with love and pity for the sorrowful young ruler, was comforting Himself with the thought that he would come back by and by. That seems to us the reason why He harps and lingers on the thought so long. First, as the ruler departs, He says, "Well, well, there are last who will yet be first." Then He tells the story of the laborers in the vineyard. And again when He has told it, He reverts to the thought with which He had started, and "So shall the last be first, and the first last." Let us cherish a good hope for that young man. There is much reason to believe that he now stands very near the Throne.
The First-called Jews became Last
As a second illustration of the main, the essential, teaching of the parable, let us take the case of the Jews and Gentiles. And here it will be helpful to notice a point in the parable to which we have not yet alluded. We refer to the contract into which the householder entered with the first called laborers. With them, we are told, He agreed for a denarius for the day.
Scholars tell us that the word here translated "agreed" suggests that a certain amount of bargaining went on and it was only when an agreement had been reached for a certain stipulated wage that these particular laborers commenced work. This is a point of no little interest, for, as we read on, we find that no bargain of the sort is made afterwards.
At the third hour, nine o'clock, the householder takes on more men; but to them he simply promises: "Whatsoever is right I will give you," and they go their way into the vineyard without demur, not haggling for terms, trusting simply to his justice and his generosity.
At twelve o'clock, at three o'clock, even at five o'clock in the evening he takes more men on; but in no case have we any hint of a bargain, nor does he even promise: "I will give you whatsoever is right." The laborers are eager for work on any terms; and there is something, we suppose, in the householder's face, and in his tone of voice, which is a promise in itself.
Well, now, let us see how this may apply, at least in part, to the Jews, and have constituted both a warning to them and a prophecy of the causes which would lead to their rejection. Their nation was the first to be called into God's service, centuries before the Gentiles were invited to labor in His vineyard. Moreover when the Jews engaged in God's service it was not without an agreement as to wages. They would keep so many laws, offer so many sacrifices, say so many prayers, on condition that God would bless them above all other nations of earth. And, taking them as a whole, excepting only a few choice souls, a few men and women among them of faith and vision, the Jews, who, before entering His vineyard, had contracted, covenanted, AGREED with their Householder for a definite wage, did their work in the spirit of hirelings. The ruling motive of their service was the reward. So long as they got their wage they were therewith content. But when they heard that God had shown His grace to the Gentiles also, they were offended. They murmured and complained: "We have borne the heat of noon, and the weight, the burden, of the toil. These have wrought but one hour, and that in the cool of the evening, yet Thou hast made them equal to us."
They had all that was stipulated in the contract, but with this they were not content. God kept, and more than kept, His agreement with them. He blessed them in basket and in store when they sought to walk in His counsels; He graciously chastised them when they deflected from the paths of truth and righteousness, so that their national conscience might - be kept tender; although they were most unprofitable servants to Him, God acted towards them as a Father and a Husband combined. But it was intolerable to them that the uncovenanted Gentiles (believers in general) should be placed on an equality of privilege and favor with them, and rather than continue to work with the late called Gentiles they left the vineyard (Verse 14).
Here, then, was the first who became last. Was it unjust that they should be among the last?
Was it God who put them last, or themselves? Surely it was they, for they might have remained among the first. Did not the Apostle Paul, although a Hebrew of the Hebrews, become the foremost Apostle of the Christian Church?
Continued with next post.
