The parable in Matthew 20:1-16, which is an explanation of the Lord’s word to Peter in 19:28-30, concerns the kingdom reward. Peter thought that he was able to pay the price of buying the kingdom, but the Lord indicated to him that the kingdom is priceless and cannot be purchased. Because the kingdom is of peerless worth, we cannot buy it. What the Lord had asked Peter to give up was not the price of gaining the kingdom. He had simply asked Peter to give up all entanglements and frustrations. The kingdom is not a recompense; it is a reward. Peter needed to realize that, having forsaken every entanglement and frustration, he would receive the kingdom as a reward, not as a recompense. This means that the Lord does not act according to the commercial principle which says that the more we pay, the more we receive. The full enjoyment of eternal life in the manifestation of the kingdom is priceless. The price we pay cannot compare with the reward we shall receive. Therefore, receiving the reward is not a commercial transaction. It is not a matter of paying a certain amount and of receiving something equal to that in value.
In 20:1-16 the Lord goes on to speak a parable to further illustrate the impossibility of earning the kingdom or of paying a certain price for it. He tells of a householder who has a vineyard and who goes out at different times during the day to hire workmen. Then in the evening the householder pays the workmen, beginning with the last group and concluding with the first group and giving each worker the same thing-a denarius. Some murmured saying, “These last have worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat” (v. 12). Then the householder, who denotes Christ, replied, “Friend, I am not wronging you; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go. I desire to give to this last one even as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is mine?” (vv. 13-15a). This was a strong answer to Peter from the Lord, indicating that the Lord had given him what He thought he deserved. But the Lord was right to give the same thing to the latest workmen according to His own wish, in the principle not of work but of grace.
Peter’s concept, in dealing with the Lord in 19:27, was altogether commercial, according to the principle of work. In His answer to Peter the Lord strongly indicated that His reward to His followers is not commercial but according to His desire and grace. For the disciples to gain the kingdom of the heavens, they need to leave all and follow the Lord. But what He will give them as a reward is more than they deserve. It is not according to the principle of commerce but according to the Lord’s good pleasure. This is an incentive to His followers.
In Matthew 21:33-45 we see the transfer of the kingdom of God from Israel to the church. In verse 33 the householder is God, the vineyard is the city of Jerusalem (Isa. 5:1), and the husbandmen are the leaders of the Israelites. The slaves in verses 34 through 36 are the Old Testament prophets, and the son in verses 37 and 38 is Christ. Verse 38 indicates that the Jewish leaders were jealous of Christ’s rights, wanting to maintain their false position. As a result, Christ was killed outside the city of Jerusalem (v. 39; Heb. 13:12). The stone in verse 42 is Christ for God’s building (Isa. 28:16; Zech. 3:9; 1 Pet. 2:4), and the builders are the Jewish leaders, who were supposed to work on God’s building. In verse 43 the Lord Jesus says, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.” This nation is the church. Therefore, the Lord reveals the transfer of the kingdom from Israel to the church.
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