“Well, that movie ruined the story! It was nothing like the book.” Perhaps you have spoken those words or have heard them from a friend. None of us like having a beloved story or book changed drastically.
Recently I read a story that was “ruined” as a beloved story of its day. Jesus told a story in which the landowner got some workers at 6 am, another group at 9 am, more at noon, then 3 pm and a final group came at 5 pm. When the work day ended, at 6 pm, the landowner paid each worker the same wage, a denarius, the cost of living for a family for a day in the Ancient Near East. (see Matthew 20:1-16)
Jesus actually took a familiar story and changed it. In the 1st century there were several stories in Jewish literature that had the following storyline. A king hired some workman to work in his vineyard. A particular laborer impressed the king with his skill. As a result, after a couple hours of working, the king pulled him from his post and spent the rest of the day walking and talking with him. When it came time for everyone to get paid, his laborer received the same wage as everyone else. When the other laborers grumbled the king said, “What cause have you for grumbling? This man in two hours did more good work than you in a whole day.” (Eccl. Rab 5.11.5; Jer. Ber. 2:5c; Cant. Rab. 6.2.6)
Now, you can tell right away how Jesus “messed up” this story. The emphasis is supposed to be the amount of work that a laborer completes. The man gets the same wage BECAUE HE DID THE SAME AMOUNT OF WORK. But, this is the antithesis of what Jesus wants us to learn.
Jesus wants the disciples to understand that their position before God is according to the generosity of God, not according to their work in the vineyard. Jesus does not NEED the disciples to accomplish His earthly ministry. Jesus calls them to follow Him and in responding to that call, they get the blessing of being a part of His great work of redemption.
In speaking about the last workers’, author, Jerry Bridges writes, “They needed to work more than the landowner needed their work. He hired them, not because of his need, but because of their need. He represents God in His gracious awareness of our needs and His continuous work to meet them. God calls us to serve Him, not because He needs us, but because we need Him. Then His reward for our service is always out of proportion to our efforts as Jesus said to Peter, “a hundred times as much” (Matthew 19:29).”
As we begin this new year, many of us will strive to do more, read more, pray more, serve more and give more to Jesus in 2012. I pray that it is the desire of many of you – to grow in grace through making use of the means of grace. But my concern is that many of us will do it out of a motivation to earn the Lord’s favor this year. This story reminds us to make sure we are rooted in the gospel and that our activity flows out of our understanding of the generosity of God towards His people.
Ed Dunnington is the Senior Pastor at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Roanoke. Visit their website at www.ctkroanoke.org.
