The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ 5 So they went off. [And] he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. 6 Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ 8 When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ 9 When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. 10 So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ 13 He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? 15 [Or] am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Jesus tells this parable immediately after Peter asks what the disciples will receive for having left everything to follow Him. Jesus promises them a reward and eternal life, but then adds, “many who are first will be last, and the last will be first” (Matthew 19:27–30). The parable explains that warning and ends with the same teaching in reverse order: “the last will be first, and the first will be last” (v. 16).
The landowner goes repeatedly into the marketplace to hire workers for his vineyard. He hires some at dawn and others at about nine o’clock, noon, three o’clock, and finally five o’clock, only about an hour before the working day ends. Those still waiting late in the day have not refused to work. They explain, “Because no one has hired us” (v. 7). Each time the landowner finds people who are available, he calls them into his vineyard.
The workers hired first agree to the usual daily wage. Those hired later are simply promised, “I will give you what is just” (v. 4). At the end of the day, the landowner orders that the workers be paid beginning with those hired last. This allows the first workers to see that those who worked only one hour receive the full daily wage.
When their turn comes, the first workers expect to receive more. Instead, they receive exactly what they had agreed upon. Their disappointment turns into resentment: “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat” (v. 12).
The landowner answers, “My friend, I am not cheating you” (v. 13). He has acted justly toward the first workers because he gives them everything he promised. In this passage, justice means giving a person what is rightly due. His decision to give the same wage to those hired later does not take anything away from the first workers. Justice has been satisfied, and the additional payment to the later workers comes from his generosity.
Jesus therefore brings the parable to its central question: “Are you envious because I am generous?” (v. 15). The first workers have received what is rightfully theirs, yet they are troubled because the landowner is generous to others. Their problem is no longer the amount of their own wage. They resent the good that has been given to someone else.
The parable points beyond wages to the kingdom of heaven. Eternal life is God’s gift. It cannot be treated simply as payment calculated according to the number of years a person has followed Christ. Some respond to God early in life, while others turn to Him much later. The repentant thief crucified beside Jesus is a striking example. After acknowledging his guilt and asking Jesus to remember him, he hears the extraordinary promise, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). The Gospels record no other person receiving this exact promise from Jesus. His conversion at the end of his life shows the abundance of God’s mercy and His generosity toward those who turn to Him in faith and repentance, even in their last moments of earthly life.
The image also fits the broader history of salvation. Israel had served God through many generations before the coming of Christ, while the Gentiles were later brought into the New Covenant and made members of the same people of God. St. Paul tells Gentile Christians that although they had once been “strangers to the covenants of promise,” they had now been “brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12–13). God’s generosity toward those who come later does not diminish His faithfulness toward those who came before.
Yet Jesus’ words are directed first to His own disciples. They have sacrificed much to follow Him, but their faithful service cannot become a reason to consider themselves more deserving than others whom God also calls. In God’s kingdom, each disciple receives from His generosity, and the salvation of another person is a reason for joy.
The parable therefore asks each disciple to examine how he responds to God’s goodness toward others. Gratitude rejoices both in what God has given us and in the mercy He gives to another person. The generosity of God should deepen our gratitude and teach us to rejoice in the good He gives to others.
Lord Jesus, teach us to receive Your gifts with gratitude and to rejoice in the mercy You show to others. Keep us faithful to Your call and free us from envy, so that we may serve You with generous hearts. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Matthew 19:30 and 20:1–16.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. 42.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. 115–16.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 663, par. 120.
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. 253–56.
- Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. 949.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. 3rd fully rev. ed. London: T&T Clark, 2022. 1213.
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