Matthew 20:6

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? AND ABOUT THE ELEVENTH HOUR - but one hour before the close of the working day; a most unusual hour both for offering and engaging - "and found others standing idle, and saith, Why stand ye here all the day idle?...

1-16 The direct object of this parable seems to be, to show that though the Jews were first called into the vineyard, at length the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, and they should be admitted to equal privileges and advantages with the Jews. The parable may also be applied more generally, and shows, 1. That God is debtor to no man. 2. That many who begin last, and promise little in religion, sometimes, by the blessing of God, arrive at a great deal of knowledge, grace, and usefulness. 3. That the recompense of reward will be given to the saints, but not according to the time of their conversion. It describes the state of the visible church, and explains the declaration that the last shall be first, and the first last, in its various references. Till we are hired into the service of God, we are standing all the day idle: a sinful state, though a state of drudgery to Satan, may...

Verse Matthew 20:6. _ELEVENTH_] _Five o'clock_ in the evening, when there was only _one hour_ before the end of the Jewish day, which, in matters of labour, closed at _six_....

THE ELEVENTH HOUR - About five o’clock in the afternoon, or when there was but one working hour of the day left....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 20:1 _Parable of the labourers in the vineyard_._ _(Peculiar to St. Matthew.) MATTHEW 20:1 FOR. The following parable is intended to illustrate the apophthegm at the end of the last chapter, which is repeated almost in the same words at the close, "Many that are first," etc., and "The last shall be first," etc. It taught the apostles a lesson in answer to Peter's question (Matthew 19:27), "What shall we have therefore?" and the primary lesson was that the reward of the kingdom is not of debt, but of grace. There are many difficulties in the parable, which may be better noticed after we have expounded it

AND ABOUT THE ELEVENTH HOUR HE WENT OUT,.... About five o'clock in the afternoon. The Persic version reads it, "the twelfth hour", which was six o'clock in the afternoon, the last hour of the day. The Jews divided their day into twelve hours, John 11:9 and these twelve hours into four parts; Ne 9:3 each part containing three hours, to which division there is a manifest respect in this parable. These different seasons of the husbandman's going out to hire labourers, may have regard either to the several periods of time, and ages of the world, as before the law, under the law, the times of the Messiah, and the last days; or the various dispensations of the Gospel, first by Christ, and John the Baptist to the Jews, then by the apostles to the same in their first mission, afterwards when their commission was renewed, first to the Jews in Judea, and t

Matthew 20:1. _For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard._ The kingdom of heaven is all of grace, and so is the service connected with it. Let this be remembered in the exposition of this parable. The call to work, the ability, and the reward, are all on the principle of grace, and not upon that of merit. This was no common man that is an householder, and his going out to hire labourers into his vineyard was not after the usual manner of men, for they will have a full day's work for a full day's wage. This householder considered the labourers rather than himself. He was up before the dew was gone from the grass, and found labourers, and sent them into the vineyard. It was a choice privilege

8. THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD. The Healing of the Two Blind Men. CHAPTER 20 _ 1. The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. (Matthew 20:1 .) 2. The Third Prediction of His Death and Resurrection. (Matthew 20:17 .) 3. The Ambitiousness of the Disciples. (Matthew 20:20 .) 4. The Healing of the Two Blind Men. (Matthew 20:29 .)_ The Lord had spoken about the rewards to be given at the time when the kingdom is to be established on the earth in power and glory, the time of regeneration. His last word in the nineteenth chapter was the statement, “many that are first shall be last;

PARABLE OF THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. It is possible (as it is necessary) to distinguish two interpretations of this splendid parable, (_a)_ that intended by Jesus, (_b)_ that suggested by the evangelist. To Mt. the vineyard is the Christian community: those who joined it early and those who join it late may expect the same reward. There will be no distinction between them at the Parousia. It is probable that we should omit Matthew 20:16 as well as the words Many (the Jewish nation) are called, but few (the Christian community) chosen. But what Jesus meant to teach was that the eternal life is the result not of work but of grace; God is no mere timekeeper; the laws which govern admission to the Kingdom are not those which prevail in ordinary business transactions (_cf._ Isaiah 55:8 f.). A

"For the situation in the Kingdom of Heaven is like what happened when a householder went out first thing in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. When he had come to an agreement with them that they would work for 4 pence a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out again about nine o'clock in the morning, and saw others standing idle in the market-place. He said to them, 'Go you also into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' And they went. He went out again about twelve o'clock midday, and about three o'clock in the afternoon, and did the same. About five o'clock in the evening he went out and found others standing there, and said to them, 'Why are you standing here the whole day idle?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'Go you also to the vineyard.' When evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call th...