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1 For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them each a silver coin for a day’s work and sent them out into the vineyard. 3 He went out again at midmorning and saw laborers standing idle in the marketplace. 4 He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is just.’ 5 So they went. He again went out at noon and midafternoon and did likewise. 6 Just before sunset, he went out and found other men, and he said to them, ‘Why have you stood here idle the whole day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and you will receive whatever is just.’ 8 At sunset, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, starting with the last and going to the first.’ 9 Those who came only for the last hour received a silver coin each. 10 When the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but they also each received one silver coin. 11 When they received their pay, they grumbled against the owner, 12 saying, ‘These latecomers worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have done a full day’s work in the hot sun.’ 13 He answered and said to one of them, ‘My friend, I did not cheat you. Did you not agree with me to work for one silver coin? 14 Take what is yours and go. I wish to pay these latecomers the same as you. 15 Am I not permitted to do what I want with my own money? Are you resentful because I am generous?’ 16 Thus the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Comments

The theme of ch. 20 is perception. In ch. 19, the disciples were amazed when Jesus told them it was difficult for rich people to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, because in their culture, wealth was often viewed as a sign of divine blessing. Jesus wants them to understand that God’s way of seeing things does not always match human sensibilities, and so he tells them a parable about a vineyard. (In the OT, vineyards were used as a metaphor for Israel (e.g. Is 5.1-7, Jer 12.10, Ps 80.9-20). Likewise, Jesus will tell two parables comparing the Kingdom of God to a vineyard (Mt 20.1-16, Mt 21.33-41).) In the story, even though the laborers worked different amounts of time, the vineyard owner pays them all the same wage, one silver coin (i.e. one denarius, a Roman coin that was the standard pay for one day’s worth of unskilled labor). This might seem unfair, but Jesus’ point is that God’s mercy and blessings fall on people that society does not always deem worthy. This is why Jesus has spent his ministry associating with tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes, Gentiles, the destitute, the handicapped, the demon-possessed and mentally ill, and little children, while at the same time calling to account the rich, the powerful, and the religiously respectable.