There are two parables in Matthew 21 and 22 which occupy a very important place in the Bible. Chapter twenty-one speaks of the work in the vineyard, and chapter twenty-two mentions the wedding feast. The vineyard is a matter of work, while the wedding feast is a matter of enjoyment. The first parable is about God’s sending His slaves to work, and the second parable is about God’s calling his people to enjoy. While work requires man to pay a price, enjoyment is free. We have to fully grasp the principle of these two parables. The first parable portrays how God requires man to pay a price, to labor. God demands that man bear fruit. Yet the second parable tells us that God simply wants man to enjoy. Here, man is not required to pay any price because all things are ready. In this parable, if we say that God demands something of man, it is only to enjoy what God has prepared. In the first parable God demands something of man, while in the second parable man receives everything from God.
What do these two parables refer to? All Bible readers should realize that the first parable refers to the dispensation of law, while the second parable refers to the dispensation of grace. In the dispensation of law God dealt with man according to the law, demanding man to do everything, but in the dispensation of grace God deals with man by means of grace, desiring man to enjoy everything He has done. When God dealt with man according to the law, during the dispensation of the law, there was a particular situation with a particular result. In the following dispensation, when God deals with man according to grace, there is a different situation with a different result.
In the dispensation of law God required man to labor, to have good behavior, to pay a price, and to sweat. When man was under the law of the Old Testament, God never supplied man but always demanded things of man. In Matthew 21 there is a vineyard in which much work needed to be done and in which man was required to labor. The entire vineyard required man to spend his time and pay a price. But what was the result? The result was that man did not bear fruit for God—man did not accomplish anything. It is not that the law was wrong, but that owing to the weakness and wickedness of man, man could not do anything good. Hence, the Lord shows us in the first parable that although God repeatedly asked man for fruit, He did not receive any fruit. This indicates that under the law, if man wants to satisfy God’s demand by his own behavior and righteousness, the results are vain and empty, because man is unable to do it. This parable does not say that man gave too little fruit but that man did not have any fruit at all. Under the law, if man tries to fulfill God’s demand, he will definitely fail to accomplish anything. Thus, the first parable is clearly referring to the dispensation of law.
The second parable refers to the dispensation of grace. The dispensation of grace is not likened to a vineyard but to a wedding feast. Do we need to pay a price when someone invites us to a wedding feast? No one needs to pay any price to attend a wedding feast. This shows us that in the dispensation of grace, God deals with man according to grace. Everything is prepared by God, and we are those who are called simply to enjoy. We have to look to God to show us the principle of grace that we may see that everything is ready and has been prepared by God. We are those who are called simply to enjoy and do not need to pay any price.
The law requires us to work, whereas grace requires us to receive. The law is for us to labor, while grace is for us to enjoy. There are two pictures here: one is the picture of the vineyard where everyone is laboring, and the other one is the picture of the wedding feast where everyone is enjoying. In the dispensation of law it was man who worked, labored, and toiled. In the dispensation of grace it is God who makes everything ready and prepares everything; man simply needs to enjoy.
What is the significance of these two parables? We already know that a person who wants to grow in life before God must confess his sins and deal with his sins and conscience. But some people may say that this word is too high and wonder who can do it. Or they may ask, “Who can deal with his sins and conscience so thoroughly? In the New Testament God requires us to deal with our sins, to confess our sins, to deal with our conscience, and to consecrate ourselves to Him in a thorough way. Are these requirements of the law or of grace?” If we carefully read the New Testament, we find that there are some definite places in the New Testament which require us to confess our sins and deal with our conscience. For example, Matthew 5:26 says, “You shall by no means come out from there until you pay the last quadrans.” Also, Hebrews 9:14 tells us that we have to deal with our sins in order that we may serve the living God with a pure conscience. Outwardly, all these words seem to be laws, but in the New Testament all these words are actually grace.
Here is the problem. Did we not say that only the law demands things of people and that grace is all about enjoyment without any demand? Since confessing our sins, dealing with our sins, and dealing with our conscience are obviously demands, how can we say that they are related to grace? On the surface it seems that all these matters are demands, but in fact, in the New Testament everything is grace, absolutely grace. In the Old Testament we see that God spoke many demanding words to man. For instance, Deuteronomy 6:5 clearly says, “And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” The New Testament also has this requirement and tells us that we should leave everything to love the Lord (Luke 10:27; Matt. 19:29; Luke 14:26). These two commandments—one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament—are apparently the same, but actually they are not.