No Preferential Treatment in the Kingdom

February 26

In Matthew 20, we see two instances where people expected preferential treatment in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus told a parable in which people were hired to work in a man’s vineyard. He hired five groups of workers in the morning, at nine o’clock, noon, three, and five, promising a day’s wage to each group. Each agreed to the financial arrangements. At the end of the day, the vineyard’s owner called the workers together to distribute their pay, beginning with the workers hired at five o’clock, then three, noon, nine, and earlier.

When he got to the workers who began first in the day, the workers were upset that they weren’t paid more. They expected more because they had worked the entire day. But hadn’t they all agreed with a denarius—a day’s salary—just as the workers who only worked a few hours? The owner received no response when he pointed out that all of them had agreed on the wages when they were hired. Then he asked those workers if he, as the vineyard owner, didn’t have the right to do what he wanted with his own vineyard.

Note that the nation of Israel is often referred to as a vineyard (see Genesis 49:22; Is 5:1–7; Psalm 80:8–9), hence Jesus’ contrasting claim of being the True Vine in John 15. Could this parable and Jesus’ comments have been a slight against the Jewish leaders who had led the people for centuries? Might they be expecting preferential treatment in the Kingdom of Heaven when it was revealed?

Moments later, Matthew tells us that Mrs. Zebedee approached Jesus, asking for special positions for her sons on Jesus’ left and right hands when the Kingdom of Heaven was fulfilled. Jesus rebuked her for asking for preferential treatment for her sons, James and John, saying that she didn’t know what she was asking. She was expecting preferential treatment, but Jesus said that they would suffer for Jesus as He would suffer for them.

When the other ten disciples heard of Mrs. Zebedee’s request, they were indignant. Jesus told all of the disciples that their positions were servants—not lords. All of them were, and would remain on equal footing in the Kingdom. Later, we’ll see how this mutual submission plays out as we read through the book of Acts.

Application

James, not Zebedee’s son, but Jesus’ half-brother, wrote in his letter that believers should not give preferential treatment to rich people. “Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him?” James asked. The apostle offered a further bit of wisdom here as well, noting that favoring the rich did not result in reciprocity but the exact opposite. (James 2:1–7)

Instead of giving preferential treatment to some, believers are to love everyone equally. After all, didn’t Jesus say that love for each other would be a distinguishing factor of His disciples? (John 13:35)

© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman