From our Sunday service on September 21, 2025, Luke 15, Matthew 20 and Luke 7. This is part 6 of our Parables of Christ series. Watch the full message: Jealous of Grace – The Parables of Christ #6 on YouTube.
This is part two of our topic on salvation. Last week we looked at three parables that showed us how God searches for the lost and how much he rejoices when the lost are found. Those parables helped us see salvation from God’s perspective. Today we flip the lens back onto ourselves and look at salvation from a human perspective.
We’re going to be honest about how we sometimes struggle with God’s grace, and how, if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves upset when God forgives and restores people we don’t think deserve it. A lot of us would like to think we’re never this way. We’d like to say, “Me, jealous of the grace God gives other people? No, I want everybody to be saved.” But let me tell you the truth. There are a lot of people in this world that, if they came to Christ, we would be skeptical. We’d say, “What, them? A Christian? I don’t believe it. It’s got to be fake. God couldn’t use them.” We wouldn’t say it in those words, but in our hearts that’s the way we feel. So don’t think, “That’s not me. I can zone out today.” Maybe we’re not totally out there with it, but there might be a root of that attitude in our hearts. And if we have that attitude, it will surely hurt our ability to share the gospel with others.
God wants you to know that you should always rejoice at the salvation of others.
The Older Brother
Before we get into verse 25, a quick review. Last week we looked at the first half of the parable of the two sons, the prodigal. A father had two sons. The younger asked for his share of the inheritance early. He wanted to live it up while he was young rather than wait for his father to die. The father gave it to him, and he went to another country and wasted it all on reckless living. When a famine hit, he found himself feeding pigs, starving, and looking at their slop and wishing he could eat it. In that moment he realized his father’s servants were better off than he was, and he headed home. While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and ran to meet him. Before the son could even ask to be a servant, the father put his best robe on him, gave him a ring, and told his servants to kill the fattened calf and throw a banquet to celebrate his return. Today we pick up with the response of the older son.
Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
Luke 15:25–28
We have to put ourselves in the perspective of this older son. He has been out in the field all day doing hard physical labor. He is exhausted, sweaty and dirty. He walks home and sees they’re throwing a party and he’s not invited. “I’ve been out working all day. Why didn’t anybody come and get me?” And the servant fills him in: “Your brother’s home.” Imagine being this man. “My brother, the one who took half of our household wealth, left us to scrape for ourselves, went to a foreign country and wasted all his money. We thought he was dead. We wrote him off. And you’re throwing a party for him? You killed the most valuable piece of property we have for him?” So he’s angry, he refuses to go in, and he sits outside and pouts. Because he wouldn’t go in, his father comes out to comfort him. Here is what the son says, in verses 29 to 32.
And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Luke 15:29–32
The older son has two main grievances. First, he was never rewarded for treating his father well. “I have worked for you all these years. I never disobeyed you once. I picked up my brother’s work when he left. And you never gave me a party. You never celebrated my faithfulness. But you’re rewarding my brother for just being alive after he wasted half of all that our family has. How is this fair?”
His second complaint is that his brother harmed the family and lived in sin, yet he’s celebrated with the best they have. He “devoured thy living with harlots.” That isn’t light sin. It’s a sinful lifestyle. “My brother dragged our family’s name through the mud, and you gave him the best we have to offer.”
How does the father answer? First, “Son, thou art ever with me.” We don’t need to celebrate every day. Some kids, in school, argue that there’s a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day but no Son’s or Daughter’s Day, and the parents say, “It’s always son or daughter day.” I’m putting food on your plate every day, giving you attention every day, celebrating you being here every day. Second, “All that I have is thine.” The fattened calf was the most valuable thing they owned, but do you understand that when I die your brother gets nothing? The house, the property, the fields, the cattle, everything I own belongs to you. You’re jealous of one cow, but I’ve given you everything. Third, it’s good to celebrate your brother because he was lost, and we thought he was dead, and he is alive and we are together again. It’s not wrong to celebrate the lost being found. We might as well have held a funeral for him. Now we find out he’s alive. Isn’t that a reason to celebrate?
What’s the spiritual application? Sometimes God’s grace toward others is going to feel unfair. Sometimes we’ll feel like the older brother, upset that God is gracious to those we don’t think deserve it. We are human, and we often want more grace for ourselves than for others. But God tells us two things through this parable. First, God is giving us everything good. Everything good you ever receive is a gift from him. So why should we complain that others can have good too? Isn’t it better that both of you have good than that one has it and the other doesn’t? Second, we should always be ready to celebrate when even the worst of the worst come to know Christ. “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again.” Shouldn’t we celebrate when the spiritually dead, who we think are long gone and never going to repent, come to our Savior, turn their lives around and want to be active for Christ? Of course we should. But when it happens, we’re not always so quick to jump into the party.
The Workers in the Vineyard
Let’s look at another parable in Matthew 20, the parable of the workers. It talks about how all believers share in the same reward. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea that everybody in heaven gets the exact same reward. There are more rewards for the faithful, crowns that you get to lay at Jesus’s feet, and those aren’t given to everybody. But this parable is talking about one reward, eternal life, the payment of eternal life for salvation.
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Matthew 20:1–2
A householder is somebody who owns a big plot of land. This owner is looking for workers for his vineyard. We’re not sure exactly what kind of vineyard it is. It might be grapes or olives. At sunrise, roughly 6:00 to 6:30 a.m., he goes to the marketplace, hires workers, and agrees with them that at the end of the day he’ll give them a “penny.” The penny here would be the Roman denarius, worth exactly one day’s wage. That’s standard pay for a standard day’s work, and in the parable it represents the reward that the righteous expect for choosing to live a good moral life. How many people do you know who think you get to heaven by doing good works? That’s not how it works, and the parable is going to show us that. These workers see the payment as a reward for their work, but as we go through the parable we’ll learn that’s not what the payment was about.
And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
Matthew 20:3–5
About three hours later, around 9:00 a.m., the owner needs more workers. He goes to the marketplace again and finds new workers who weren’t there in the morning. They weren’t as proactive. Some might call them lazy. But he says, “Maybe you weren’t here in the morning, but I could still use the help. I will pay you a fair wage. What is right, I will give you.” Assuming the wage is the Roman standard, they say, “Okay, we’ll work for you.” He does likewise at noon and again at 3:00 p.m.
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
Matthew 20:6–7
Finally, he goes out around 5:00 p.m. People had to quit around 6:00 because they had to leave before sundown to make it home, so these men would get only one hour of work. “Why have you been sitting here all day? I’ve been here since 6:30 hiring people all day.” They answer, “Nobody’s hired us. Nobody’s offered us a position today.” This landowner has mercy. He thinks, “They have families to feed. It’s too late in the day for anybody else to hire them. Best they can do is come tomorrow, but maybe they need to put food on the table tonight.” So rather than shaming them for not getting a job, the kind owner lets them work the last hour. He promises them a fair wage, which they assume will be a fraction of a denarius. But look at verses 8 to 12.
So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
Matthew 20:8–12
When it comes time for everyone to be paid, they start with those hired last, who worked only an hour. The good man gives them a whole day’s wage. Those hired earlier get excited: “If they got a whole day’s pay for one hour, imagine what we’re going to get. If I work two hours, I’m getting double that.” But one by one, he gives them all the same. They look around at each other: “What’s going on here? I was in the heat all day, suffering in your vineyard since 6:30 this morning. These people got here an hour ago and you gave them the same as me. How is that fair? I deserve more. I’ve been more faithful to you.” The owner’s response is in verses 13 to 16.
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, 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? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Matthew 20:13–16
The owner reminds the man that he got exactly what he agreed to. He made a contract and the owner kept it. The problem wasn’t that the owner was evil or unfair. The problem was that the workers were jealous of him being a generous man, jealous that he cared about the people who hadn’t been hired and wanted to feed their families. “Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” Then the landowner tells him the hard truth: it’s his money and he can do what he wants with it. If I want to give it to somebody who has done no work at all, that’s my right. I can pay you a hundred dollars today, and I can also give a homeless man a hundred dollars. Does that make me evil? No. What is evil is being jealous of the person who receives grace.
Lastly, the first and the last. The first to work are the last to receive. They have to wait the longest. Salvation is the same way. Those saved early in life have a long wait for the eternal reward, and God calls them to work hard all their life, regardless of when they get saved. And “many be called, but few chosen.” Many are invited to believe and receive salvation, but only a few will actually choose to respond to that call.
What’s the spiritual application? Don’t sin in jealousy, because God is good. Jealousy is a wicked, sinful thing. God’s grace is perfect and unchanging. Working for Christ should be a pleasure, not a burden. I was saved at the age of five, so I have had my entire life to serve the Lord, and that’s what God expects. When he offers you salvation, he expects you to follow him with all your heart, soul and mind, to serve him all your days, to represent him to everyone you meet, to show his love to every stranger, and to live the life he intends. Being saved at five, I think God expects a lot more out of me than out of somebody who gets saved at eighty-seven. There are people who have lived horribly wicked lives who are in the hospital, and someone witnesses to them the day before they die, and they repent and receive the same reward that I received for serving Christ my entire life. Some would say, “That man did me wrong for thirty years. He gets saved on his deathbed, and now I have to see him in heaven. I was faithful to God my entire life. I served in Sunday school. I put work into the kingdom of heaven, and this man who did nothing for God gets the same gift of eternal life as me. That just doesn’t seem fair.” And God says, “Friend, why are you jealous? Didn’t I agree with you on what I would give you when you were saved? You knew exactly what you were asking of me when you said, ‘Lord, I want you to be my Savior.’ And that man you despise knew the same thing. I offered him the same gift. Why should your eye be evil? Because I am good, because I am generous, because I give salvation to those who don’t deserve it.” Just because somebody barely worked for Christ doesn’t mean you are being cheated out of your eternal reward.
The Two Debtors
Our last section is the parable of the two debtors in Luke 7. Start with verses 36 to 39.
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
Luke 7:36–39
Once again a parable comes up while Jesus is at a Pharisee’s house eating a meal. This is not the same account as the woman who washes Jesus’s feet in the other Gospels. It is a separate account with a separate woman. He’s at the house of Simon the Pharisee when an infamously sinful woman hears that Jesus is there. She seeks him out, knowing that he offers forgiveness, and she breaks open this expensive box of ointment on his feet to humble herself before him and ask for forgiveness. Meanwhile the Pharisee, who hasn’t decided what he thinks of Jesus, invited him over to decide whether he is the Messiah, a prophet, or a crazy man. He sees this sinful woman washing Jesus’s feet and thinks, “If he were a prophet, he’d know how wicked and sinful this woman is and what her reputation is. He’d cast her out and rebuke her.” Contrast the two. The woman who sees Jesus as the Messiah is humble. The Pharisee, who doubts Jesus because of his grace, condemns him. In verse 40, Jesus turns to him.
And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
Luke 7:40–43
Once again we’re dealing with the Roman denarius. A man loans money to two people, one for a year and a third’s worth of wages, the other for fifty days’ worth. Both lose all the money, and when the bill is due they have no way to repay it. A year and a third of debt is no joke. In that culture, if you owed money, you could be taken into indentured servitude, forced labor until you worked off the debt. They’d stamp a mark in your ear and say, “You’re a debt slave. Once you pay yourself out, you can be free again.” That was the prison system of the day, and it would not look good for you to be an indentured servant. So the lender had every right to say, “Work for me fifty days, or work for me a year and a third, and then you’re off the hook. Forget about your family. You’re going to live in my household and work from daylight till dusk every day.” Does he do that? No. “He frankly forgave them both.” You can also translate that word as “pardoned.” He released them from the debt. That was a huge favor to them in society.
Jesus is showing us a picture of what we’ve just seen in real life. The debtors are the sinful woman and Simon the Pharisee. The woman has an abundance of sin debt that Christ needs to pay for, and the Pharisee only a little. Yet both are in debt, guilty of judgment and unable to pay. Let’s continue in verses 44 to 47.
And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Luke 7:44–47
Jesus says those he forgives the most will love him the most. I think we can all think of someone who inspires us by how much God transformed their life. I’ve met a pastor who got saved in prison, turned his life around and became an assistant pastor, and he never saw it coming. He’s always grateful for what God did for him, always humble, always giving God the glory instead of taking it himself. Why? Because he knows how far Christ brought him out of the depths of the lowest of the lows to be his humble servant. But we’ve also met preachers who have always lived their lives well and think so highly of themselves that they don’t give God the glory. They take it for themselves and point to themselves. How much more of an inspiration is a broken life transformed than that?
This Pharisee thought so little of the woman because she came to Jesus for repentance, while he himself wasn’t even sure who Jesus was. He didn’t humble himself and wash his guest’s feet as the culture of the day would have you do. If he had washed Jesus’s feet, he would have had to humble himself and say, “I am less than you.” He wasn’t willing to put Jesus on a pedestal. Yet this woman, who had nothing but hurt, hardship and difficulty, came and gave Jesus an expensive gift, cried over her forgiveness, praised the Lord for who he was, put herself under him, and loved him the most.
What’s the application? Our past brokenness should not discourage us from wanting to serve the Lord. It should inspire us to serve him even more. It doesn’t matter how bad your life was before you were saved. God can use each of us to do great and mighty things for the kingdom. If you had a rough life before you were saved, I have good news: you have the opportunity to love God more and do more for God. Think of the apostle Paul. He was murdering and persecuting the church, and God took him to do great things that no one else could have done. Believer who has wasted most of their life, don’t let that be a discouragement. Let it be an encouragement that you can love him so much more genuinely because you know exactly what he has done for you.
On the other hand, our lack of sin should not make us think we don’t owe the Lord as much. The Pharisee thought that because he was righteous he didn’t owe Jesus the respect Jesus deserved. He didn’t think he needed to humble himself or needed the Messiah. He thought his righteousness was good enough. But Jesus says that whether you owe a year and a third’s worth of money or fifty days’ worth, you still owe money and you’re still guilty in the court. Whether you have fifty sins or five hundred thousand, you are still in debt to God, and he will still find you guilty if you don’t go to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. Both the great sinner and the small sinner are guilty and in need of the Savior.
Rejoice With the Father
Today we looked at three examples of how believers can become jealous of God’s grace. I hope and pray none of us replicate these attitudes. If we’re honest with ourselves, we can see how we could fall into this trap and become judgmental.
First, in the parable of the two sons, an older brother struggled with jealousy because he worked hard, stayed home and did the right things, yet his foolish brother who wasted everything was celebrated. But Jesus shows us that this is how God’s heart works. God rejoices when the lost are found. His generosity is not diminished by how long or how faithfully we have served, and he doesn’t become less gracious because we had less of our life to give to him. Whether we receive the opportunity for salvation early or late, God will be just as gracious to the one as to the other. Not everybody gets the opportunity to respond to Jesus at the same time in their life. For some it’s early and for some it’s late, but both have their reward.
Second, in the parable of the vineyard, God’s reward is the same for all who follow him, whether they come to faith as a child or repent on their deathbed. We are not being cheated by God being kind. We are being given exactly what we were promised, eternal life with Christ.
Third, the parable of the two debtors reminds us that the more we recognize how much we’ve been forgiven, the more we will love to follow Jesus. Rather than resenting the grace shown to others, we should rejoice that God is in the business of forgiving sinners, even the sinners that we struggle to forgive.
So let’s examine our own hearts. Are we jealous when God is generous to others? Do we secretly wish that sinners would get what they deserve instead of grace? Or do we share the Father’s heart? Are we ready to celebrate when anybody comes home to the Father? God wants you to always rejoice at the salvation of others. So will you choose to rejoice at the salvation of others today?
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