This parable does not excuse those who hear the first call to labor but who neglect to enter the Lord’s vineyard. When the householder went to the market place at the eleventh hour and found men unemployed he said, “Why stand ye here all the day idle?”Matthew 20:6. The answer was, “Because no man hath hired us.”Matthew 20:7. None of those called later in the day were there in the morning. They had not refused the call. Those who refuse and afterward repent, do well to repent; but it is not safe to trifle with the first call of mercy.
(COL 399.1)
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When the laborers in the vineyard received “every man a penny,” those who had begun work early in the day were offended. Had they not worked for twelve hours? they reasoned, and was it not right that they should receive more than those who had worked for only one hour in the cooler part of the day? “These last have wrought but one hour,” they said, “and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.”Matthew 20:12.
(COL 399.2)
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“Friend,” the householder replied to one of them, “I do thee no wrong; didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?”Matthew 20:13~15.
(COL 399.3)
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The first laborers of the parable represent those who, because of their services, claim preference above others. They take up their work in a self-gratulatory spirit, and do not bring into it self-denial and sacrifice. They may have professed to serve God all their lives; they may have been foremost in enduring hardship, privation, and trial, and they therefore think themselves entitled to a large reward. They think more of the reward than of the privilege of being servants of Christ. In their view their labors and sacrifices entitle them to receive honor above others, and because this claim is not recognized, they are offended. Did they bring into their work a loving, trusting spirit, they would continue to be first; but their querulous, complaining disposition is un-Christlike, and proves them to be untrustworthy. It reveals their desire for self-advancement, their distrust of God, and their jealous, grudging spirit toward their brethren. The Lord’s goodness and liberality is to them only an occasion of murmuring. Thus they show that there is no connection between their souls and God. They do not know the joy of co-operation with the Master Worker.
(COL 399.5)
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