Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-07-03
Parable Of the KInadom.


Jesus says this is a parable Of the
kingdom, hence the householder repre-
sents God (cf. 1927; 21:33, 43); the
vineyard is the kingdom, see lisa. 2:7;
Matt 21:33. The king is seeking
laborers to labor in his vineyard. He
began in the early morning ". u
and with those whom he employed he
made a definite agreement. The
penny had a value of about seventeen
cents and represents an average days
wage at that time. No one works fol-
God without a fair wage, Eph. 6:S;
Heb. 6:10. Notice. before they were
set to their task God called them
The call was to service, Mark 1:17
He goes out again at the third and
the sixth and the ninth hour, finds
other laborers, making no definite
agreement with them but sends them
into his vineyard to work. He led
Shem into the work and they trusted
him for wages. At the eleventh houl
he found idlers and asked them the
reason (v. 81, they replied that nc
one had employed them and them toe
he sends into the,vineyard without any
bargain as to wages. None except
those at the third hour had any in
timation as to their wage and they
were to receive whatsoever is right
Those called at the first may put II
longer hours but produce poorer
quality of service than others called
at a later time. The character of the
service is of greater value than the
amount rendered and the higher tbs
service the greater the proportionate
reward. We get in this life abou
what we work for. If we are seeking
pleasure, wages or fame we usually
get that to which we give ourselves
with wholehearted abandon. If with
God we work as faithful servants
and leave the reward we will receive
above that we ask or think"
ii. The Reward of Service, wv. s-f6
/ At the end of the day the Lords
steward rewards each man, beginning
| with the last and ending with the
first (v. 81. The first one is paid &C.
cording to the strict letter of the
agreement, and the last is likewise
| paid in strict justice but in a most
liberal manner. He, too, was worthy
for he worked throughout all the
/ time that was for him available
Giving an equal reward to all was a
test of the character of those men
who entered the vineyard in the early
morning. The Lords answer (vv
13-15) is four-fold one (D Il did
thee no wrong" the contract had been
lived up to to the very letter (2)
1T is my will to give, even as unto
thee" the Lord has right to be
generous if he so desires. 90 1T Ii
lawful for me to do what will with
mine own" God has a right to exer
else such a prerogative and man has
10 right to complain, Rom. 9:15-21
,4) 'Is thine eye evil because an
ood?" The ground of this complaint
was that of envy. Our God has 6
ght- to do as he pleases and he al
ways pleases to do right. The one
mo serves for love not only gets 6
ull days pay but gets satisfaction as
/ WSl1, Wu6TSdS Iuc OuO WIZ pCANOo AOi
wages will get that for which he
serves only, he will be minus the
satisfaction Thus we see how Jesus
reveals the real motive Of their com
olaint, viz, it was for envy.
Hl.-The Teaching. We must be
ware of trying to make this parable
teach more than is written. To right
fully understand our Lords dealings
with those who serve him we mus
consider others of his parallels. This
one has two chief lessons; first, tha
priority of time or even length o.
service is not the all-esseptial requi
site; and second, that our fidelity tc
and use of our opportunity is the
chief desideratum. Along with this
there are of course other lessons. II
answer to Peters question our Lort
showed him and his fellow disciples
lat the last might be first.