WHERE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUTH HAVE MET

“And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they [c]complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’” Matthew 20:9-15

So the words come to us in one of the most remarkable parables Jesus ever spoke. We call it the Parable of the Vineyard Workers. It is remarkable for two reasons. First, because embedded in this parable is a clear and glorious message of the gospel. No parable expresses its mystery and beauty quite like this one. Remarkable in the second place because it reminds us of the difficulty we have in understanding the grace of God. This story beckons us to return to this theme over and over again in order to remind us of the mystery of God’s free grace which we so easily forget. On either side of the parable are stories that demonstrate the necessity of this parable. In the nineteenth chapter of Matthew in verses 23-30 we have the disciples’ response to the Jesus’ comment that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. This statement comes on the heels of that ‘rich, young, ruler’ who departs from Jesus in great sorrow when hearing the demands of discipleship. Peter, who speaks for the group, now begins to feel empowered by the whole scene and reminds Jesus that he (and the others) have done exactly what the rich man did not do (vs 27). They have left everything to follow Him. Jesus’ response is a bit deflating. In essence Jesus says, “Yes, Peter, God has not forgotten you. There will be rewards for those who have followed me but those rewards won’t come until the ‘regeneration’ of the new heavens and new earth. As for now, you must labor in a fallen world like everyone else and you shall suffer indignities and discouragements that will probably exceed other men” (vss. 28-29). He closes with the encouragement that for those who suffer for Him now, the last, will be rewarded later as the first. Subsequent to the parable we have that story of James and John and their overbearing mother wishing to receive the vice presidency and secretary of state positions in the kingdom Christ is about to establish. As with Peter they want their reward now. But again Jesus answers with a tone of disparagement saying He is not going to Jerusalem to set up that kind of kingdom but He is going up to die (see 20:19). As for James and John? They will share in that same humiliation and will suffer for Jesus’ name’s sake. Special rewards come later and only at the Father’s design. Both of these stories surrounding the parable are aimed to show that the kingdom of heaven is not earned by one’s performance neither are special perks given to those who seem to deserve them. God is not a respecter of persons. He gives to whomsoever He will. That does not mean God is unjust to any. Neither does it mean God gives special perks to those who ‘earn’ it. The parable deals with these two points which are so often misunderstood.

So we come now to the parable. The parable responds to that previous comment by Peter. It is also aimed indirectly at the religious leaders who viewed the Kingdom of Heaven as a country club affair rooted in privilege. Both the apostles and the Pharisees were smitten with the same disease. They did not understand grace. So Jesus purposely tells a story about grace that makes men - all men - feel uncomfortable. Those who seem to deserve nothing get everything. Those who seem to deserve extra get the same as others. These truths rankle all men no matter who they are.

The story is well known. A landowner needs help picking his grapes. He goes to the employment office at the city square and finds day laborers to work for him. They agree on a salary. As the day progresses the landowner goes back out and hires more and more men, till at last, an hour before the workday is over he hires some stragglers. Nothing seems strange about this parable until payday comes. It is then we learn that all the men, those who work 9 hours in the sweltering sun, and those who worked one hour in the cool of the evening, were paid the same. The immediate response of most of us reading this parable is ‘that’s not fair!’ This, then, is the tension of the story - and we must all grapple with it. We feel the uneasy union that exists between justice and mercy and we don’t know how to bring them together in a rational way. Does justice negate mercy? For one to be merciful must He be unjust? What exactly is the relationship between the two?

Now we have to say that many things in this world are in some respect related to one another. Think of players in a softball game and people in the stands. The two groups are totally separate from each other yet they are connected. The crowd reacts to the game and in some ways even influences it. The players are aware of the crowd which may impact the way they play. Justice and mercy are not like softball players and the crowds in the stands. They have no relationship to each other. God is not more just because He shows mercy to someone. God is not unmerciful because He is just to someone. Speaking like this demonstrates that we don’t understand the two - and thus we are mystified, even angered by the parable.

Justice and mercy are more like color and music. Both are realities yet neither influences the other on any level. The key of B flat is neither green or blue. The color pink is not more like a sonata than chamber music. It makes no difference to a symphony if the lighting is orange or yellow. It affects not the color red if someone plays a waltz or jazz. Both realities stay true to themselves in their own sphere and do not influences each other.

So it is with God’s justice and mercy. They are both true. Neither contradicts or negates the other. Yet there is that tension. The parable highlights this.

So let us meditate a bit on God’s attributes of justice and mercy Justice is governed by the sphere of law. It demands that one must always does what is right or justice is violated. God therefore MUST render justice at all time to everyone in His creation. Mercy is governed by one’s free inclination to give what is not deserved. Mercy is one of those attributes that God CHOOSES to do. Mercy is not forced, not governed by law, not found in the sphere of right or wrong. Mercy never violates justice and justice never violates mercy. God is not compelled to give mercy, He must always give justice. Mercy speaks of God’s inclination to give of Himself that which is underserved. Justice speaks of that which God is bound to give by His nature and He has no option to do otherwise. Mercy combines God’s compassion with His freedom. Justice is the outflow of His compelling necessity to do what is right. Justice is universal and for reasons locked up in the heart of God, mercy is not universal. The Bible clearly shows that God showers forth His mercy to some but not all. The reason for this is locked up in His eternal, inscrutable counsel. God favored Israel over the nations, Abraham over Nahor, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, David over Eliab, and on it goes. God must be just to all, He is merciful to those to whom He gives mercy. His justice is never merciful; His mercy is never rooted in justice. They exists in two totally independent spheres like color and music. To say it another way, justice is ‘non mercy’ and mercy is ‘non justice.’ Non justice is anything that has no relationship to justice at all. Non mercy has to do with anything that has nothing to do with mercy. Notice I didn’t say that mercy is unjust and justice is unmerciful. They have no connection to each other at all, complementary or antithetical.

The parable at hand is a brilliant commentary on both divine attributes (the vineyard owner is clearly God). In one fell swoop Jesus is teaching that God is both just and merciful. In this parable He is speaking to two separate groups. On the one hand the parable is a corrective to those like Peter in 19:27 and the Pharisees who are listening who think that their diligent service to God should merit them extra perks. Jesus’ response to that is simple; all men receive perfect justice from God and can expect no more. God will be just to men and is never compelled to give them mercy. The men who labored for nine hours in the sweltering heat were given the agreed upon wage. The landowner (God) was perfectly just. But the story is also designed to show that God gives mercy to some apart from any legal necessity on His part. The men who labored for only an hour deserved nothing from the landowner and received everything. The landowner was not being unjust to them. He promised them nothing and violated no aspect of law. Yet He showed them compassion by giving them the same wage as those who labored all day long. This he didn’t have to do but it was what He was inclined to do. The landowner was not unjust to anyone. At the same time the landowner without violating His word was merciful to some. He was perfectly just and abundantly merciful.

This then unfolds this great mystery of God’s justice and mercy. His salvation is one that upholds His justice while bedazzling the world with His mercy. These truths, however, create tension in our souls. The reason for this is because there a lingering question left to be answered. How can God extend mercy to sinners who have violated His law? By definition God MUST give justice to all mankind because ALL are guilty before Him. This being so, how then can God be merciful to man? Certainly He cannot extend mercy to those who merit eternal punishment. This is the question to parable poses but does not answer. This is the question that Psalm 85:9-10 raises as well. The psalm is a song of salvation. The author notes what salvation essentially means.

‘Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed’ (vss 9-10).

The psalmist states what seems to be impossible. He defines salvation as the coming together of that which God MUST do, truth and righteousness, and that which God CHOOSES to do, mercy and peace. We cry out, “How can these things be?” This reminds us that the Old Covenant writers see the beauty of God’s salvation but do not understand how God could accomplish it.

But then comes God in the flesh. Man has sinned and merits justice. God was bound to punish the race according to His justice, “The soul that sins it MUST die” (Ezekiel 18:3). But rather than punish the human race as He did once at the flood, God sends His Son, the very image of the invisible God, to endure justice by willingly becoming the object of the Father’s wrath. In sending Jesus, God did the unthinkable. “He spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all” (Rom 8:32). It’s impossible for us to imagine what happened on that dreary day outside the walls of Jerusalem. The Lord hid from our eyes the transaction where justice was being levelled on the Son so that mercy could be given. What happened in those three hours was the horror of the flood without boundaries. This was no mere man dying on a cross to suffer the temporal punishment for some trumped up charges. No, no. This was God’s great, final display of His justice against a world that hated Him as its Creator. The Father abandoned the Son and the Son cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Mt 27:46). Here we find all the pent up wrath of God against His people cascading down on one human object. If ever there was injustice, and here we shut our mouths at such a sublime theme, could it be here? The perfect God-man, who did always please the Father, and earned life eternal, now was to die for ruined sinners. And when that man cried out in that stunning shout of victory, “It is finished” (John 19:30), every last gram of justice that hovered over the collective heads of God’s people was instantly satisfied. Yes, the horrendous, hideous, unspeakable eternal pain endured by that one Man completely placated the wrath of God so that He might be merciful to His people.

Yes, this is where mercy enters. The death of the Son means the justice of God has been satisfied. And now God is free to grant mercy to all for whom the innocent Man died. Here the psalm finds its ultimate fulfillment. Here mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have met. Stand back and be in awe of that which you cannot comprehend. The parable teaches us that God is always just to all and merciful to some. And here at the cross that story is fulfilled. God been just to every purchased sinner by punishing his sins in the perfect body of Christ. And God has been merciful to them, giving them what they do not deserve. Justice? Satisfied. Mercy? Given.

Many years after the psalmist, the apostle Paul grappling with this same mystery told the Romans,

“God has set forth Jesus as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness because in His forbearance God has passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:25-26).

Did you catch that? At the cross God was both just and the justifier, both the righteous Judge and the merciful Savior, both the truthful lawgiver and the loving Father granting peace. At the cross God both honored His law and was gracious to the undeserving. This is the mystery of the gospel. The cross is the only place where justice and mercy smile at one another. This is the message of our parable. God gave justice to the men who worked the entire day. And He was gracious to those who came at day’s end. Now, at the cross, both truths are found in perfect harmony on an old Roman Cross and they apply to every penitent sinner. Can we comprehend this mystery? Our response can only be to praise the God who justly forgave us of all our sins and brought us into His eternal abode forever. May that cross ever be the theme of our song! “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” Amen.