Grace, Not Fair: Matthew 20:1-16

“‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous” (Matt. 20:15).

In our democratic society in America we seek justice. People march in the streets, gather in peaceful demonstrations, and speak out for social justice. The strange thing about this is that the call for social justice is largely a cry that white policeman treat Black people the same way that they treat white men. People want fair and equal treatment for all people. One could argue that sometimes it is not a matter of justice. Rather, it is a cry that there is equal treatment for all people in a given situation. When we hear Black people call for justice they are likely to quote numbers that tend to say that Black men are more likely than white men proportionally to be killed by policemen. Although the call is for justice, the truth is this. Black Americans are not seeking justice because if their desire was for justice they would be calling for justice for everyone in all situations. Really, it is a matter of being fair to all people. Our article today is written to show us that God gives grace, and God’s grace is not based on our idea of being fair.

Let us begin by defining the word “fair.” Most words have more than one definition or application. For the purpose of this article we will use the dictionary definition that defines fair to means, “free of favoritism or bias; impartial.” In our story today, the first workers hired early in the morning are upset because at the end of the day the landowner pays the workers last hired the same amount of money that he pays the workers first hired. The workers hired at the beginning of the day do not think that the landowner is being fair.

So, why does Jesus tell this parable? Jesus is approached by a rich young man who ask Jesus what he will have to do to gain eternal life (Matt. 19:16). First, Jesus tells the man to keep the commandments. Good the young man thinks. He tells Jesus that he has kept the commandments (v. 19). Then Jesus tells the young man to sell his goods, give the money to the poor and follow him. The young man walks away because he is rich and having to give up his wealth does not seem fair. When Jesus tells His disciples that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven the disciples are astonished. They ask “‘Then who can be saved” (19:25). Further, Peter observes, “‘Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us’” (19:25)? Both the rich young man and Peter and the Disciples are asking a question about fairness. Jesus, however, is not talking about fairness in human terms. Rather, Jesus is establishing that entrance into the kingdom of God is by grace, and grace is not fair.

In the parable, the landowner goes out to hire laborers to work in his vineyard. The first workers that he hires make an agreement with the landowner. “When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard” (Matt. 20:2, NASB). As Jesus tells this parable He says that the landowner goes out an additional four time to hire workers. He does not agree to a specific amount of money. He promises them saying “whatever is right I will give you” (v. 4). At the end of the day all the workers are paid the same amount of money. Obviously, based on the way the world operates, the landowner has not been fair. It appears that the landowner shows favoritism to the ones hired last. On the other hand, the landowner denies their charge. He had paid everyone what he had agreed to pay. After Jesus tells this parable, He makes a concluding statement. “‘So the last shall be first, and the first last” (20:16). The kingdom of God does not conform to the world. The kingdom of God does not admit people on the basis of fairness. Rather, the kingdom of God admits people on the basis of grace.

Every since I heard the word grace, I have heard that grace is God’s unmerited favor. Now, some people explain this saying that grace is favor from God that we do not deserve. Others say that grace is God’s favor toward us that cannot be earned. The word merit means that one can earn spiritual credit. One can earn rewards and punishment. This is the reason that Jesus tells the parable. No one can earn their rite of passage into the kingdom of God. No one can earn their salvation. We do deserve God’s favor. Let us look at this logically.

In 1 John 4:7-21 the writer tells his audience that those who believe in Jesus receive the Holy Spirit. Since they have the Spirit in them they will love one another just as God loves each one of them. The writer says, “The one who does not love does not know God for God is love” (4:8, NASB). In the phrase, “God is love,” the word love is translated from the Greek word “agape” which is a noun. Thus, the writer is saying that the entire being of God is summed up in the word love. Thus, attributes of God such as grace, mercy, compassion, omnipotent, omnipresence, and omniscience describe to us different parts of His being. We cannot earn salvation because we cannot earn God; His love. “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Everyone is loved by God. God is our creator that created us in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-28). God breathed His Spirit into the man and woman. “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” God created human kind to be like Him. Even though humanity fell because of disobedience, from the beginning God intended that man would be saved from sin and reconciled to God. Paul writes to Timothy instructing him to pray for all people because “God our Savior desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4, NASB).

We can see that human beings cannot be saved because God is fair to everyone. If God were to save us based on fairness, we would have different levels of salvation with different rights and privileges based on our ability to pay. As the rich young ruler learned, he could be saved only if he gave up what he thought was his earning power. He would have to strip himself of everything that he possessed and walk with Jesus as a person with equal status as all other followers of Jesus. God saves us by His grace (Eph. 2:8-9). Grace is not fair.