In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. In the parable, the master hires laborers for his vineyard early in the morning and agrees to pay them a denarius for the day’s work (vv.1-2). As the day progresses, the master hires additional laborers at the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hours (in our way of reckoning time 9am, noon, 3pm, and 5pm respectively) from those who had been standing idle in the marketplace (vv. 3-7). When evening comes, the laborers are paid beginning with the last hired to the first (v. 8). The eleventh-hour laborers received a denarius, and the ones hired early, expecting to receive more, complained when they likewise received a denarius (vv. 9-12). However, the master was simply being generous. He likely realized that no man could feed a family with a small fraction of a day’s wage, and so in his graciousness he blessed those who had worked only a short time. His response to the complaints of those hired early was, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” (vv. 13-15).

This parable is used by Jesus to rebuke His opponents who complained about God’s grace to sinners. Matthew places this parable in an interesting spot in his gospel account. At the end of Matthew 19 is the account of the rich, young ruler who thought he was good enough to inherit the kingdom of heaven (vv. 16-20); however, when Jesus exposed how his heart was with his riches instead of God (vv. 21-22), the Lord went on to point out the impossibility of salvation by means of riches or any other human means (vv. 23-24). When asked who can be saved, Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (vv. 25-26). Peter expressed his commitment to follow Jesus and asked what the disciples would receive (v. 27). Jesus responded by speaking of the esteemed place the twelve would be given and the tremendous blessings God would shower on all those who follow Him, both in this life and the life to come (vv. 28-29).

Jesus capped off this discussion (Mt. 19:30) with the same thought He would use as a conclusion to the parable of the laborers (Mt. 20:16) that the last would be first and the first last. In the first-century church (who read the book of Matthew), there were those who felt superior to others and thought themselves deserving of the first seats. The believing Pharisees thought the Gentiles to be behind them in the kingdom of God and tried to impose the requirements of Judaism on them to bring them up to their level (Acts 15:5). But these Pharisees needed to learn that their background in the old covenant did not make them superior to others in relation to Christ.

When those of us today who have been longtime members of the Lord’s church read about Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees, we should not be quick to feel too comfortable. We can look back over a lifetime of work for the Lord and be grateful for entering His vineyard early in life, but let us not look down on others who have lived many idle years outside of His service. God is gracious and gives eternal life as a gift (Rom. 6:23). All of our labors are the least we can do for Him who freely saved us; the result of our labors being that many souls may be saved, even late in life, should the part in which we rejoice.

-Mark Day

When the apostles were placed before the Sanhedrin, who reminded them about the council’s command to not teach anymore in the name of Christ, Peter said, “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:29-31). In his bold preaching to these religious leaders, why didn’t Peter simply say “you crucified him” rather than using the more cumbersome phrase he does about hanging on a tree? Evidently, Peter wanted to conjure up in the minds of these Jewish leaders the connotations of Deuteronomy 21:22-23:  “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.”  His audience, familiar with these words, would draw the inference that Jesus Christ was the Messiah who died under God’s curse. Not only the original audience but all people should reach this conclusion in their hearts: “Jesus took my place on the cross.” It seems Luke maintained Peter’s particular phrasing here so that readers of Acts may draw this inference about the significance of the cross as well.

In his first epistle, Peter again employed the image of a tree in regard to Christ’s crucifixion, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24). In addition to the tree language of Deuteronomy 21:22-23, Peter uses phrases from the description of God’s suffering servant in Isaiah 53; on the tree Jesus bore our sins and by his stripes we are healed. Readers of the Hebrew scriptures must understand the Messiah came to save us by His suffering. We were all under the curse of God, but Christ took the curse for us.

In dealing with Judaizing teachers, who were requiring all men to keep the law of Moses to be saved, Paul, recalling the curse of Deuteronomy 27:26, wrote, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them” (Gal. 3:10). There is no way to get out from under the curse of God on our own. The only way for us to be saved is for Jesus to take the curse for us. We avail ourselves of this blessing in following Him by faith. Paul went on to write: “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’ Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’ Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” (Gal. 3:11-13).

Thus, while Peter was very bold to point out that the members of the Jewish council before whom he stood had murdered Jesus, he invoked the language about the tree to show that Jesus took even their place that they may be given the opportunity for repentance and remission of sins (Acts 5:30-31). God wants all men to be saved, even those who in their spiritual blindness are vehement enemies of His Son (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8-10; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9). Let us be reminded that Christ took the curse for every person and pray that even our enemies would repent and receive forgiveness of sins.

-Mark Day