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 begins, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.” The vineyard is a familiar biblical image for God’s people (Psalm 80:9–17; Isaiah 5:1–7; Jeremiah 12:10–11). The landowner repeatedly goes out during the day looking for workers. Some begin at dawn, others at nine, noon, or three, and still others are called about five o’clock, when perhaps only an hour of work remains. Those hired last have not refused to work. When asked why they have been standing there, they answer simply, “Because no one has hired us” (v. 7).
At the end of the day, the landowner does something unexpected. He orders that the workers be paid beginning with those hired last. They each receive the usual daily wage. When those hired at dawn see this, they begin to calculate that they should receive more. But they too receive exactly the wage to which they had agreed. Their disappointment turns into complaint: “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).
Their complaint sounds reasonable if the parable is treated simply as a lesson about wages. But Jesus has told us that He is teaching about the kingdom of heaven. The landowner has not wronged those who worked all day. He reminds one of them, “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?” (v. 13). Justice has been satisfied. The question is whether the landowner may also be generous to someone else with his money.
Jesus brings the issue into focus with the landowner’s question: “Are you envious because I am generous?” (v. 15). The first workers have not received too little. Their resentment begins when they compare what they received with what was given to others. What they had accepted as fair now seems inadequate because, by their calculation, someone else has received more.
This is where God’s generosity exceeds human calculation. Human beings naturally think in terms of proportion: more work should produce more reward. Jesus does not deny justice. Rather, He reveals that God’s goodness is not confined to what strict calculation would require. Scripture repeatedly presents God as generous beyond what human beings can claim as their due: “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23), and salvation itself is described as a gift of grace rather than something of which we can boast (Ephesians 2:8–9).
The parable can also be understood within the larger context of the history of salvation. Israel had been called long before the Gentiles, yet through Jesus Christ those who had once been “strangers to the covenants of promise” were brought near and made members of God’s household (Ephesians 2:11–19). The inclusion of the Gentiles did not take anything away from Israel. It revealed how widely God intended to extend His saving mercy.
Christian tradition has also seen in the different hours of the day the different stages of life at which people may answer God’s call. Some respond early; others much later. Scripture itself assures the sinner who turns back to God that repentance opens the way to life (Ezekiel 18:21–23). The workers hired late therefore remind us of the thief on the cross beside Jesus, who turned to Him in his final hours, and of the truth that no one should conclude that it is too late to respond when God calls (Luke 23:39–43).
The saying that closes the parable, “the last will be first, and the first will be last,” recalls Jesus’ words immediately before it in Matthew 19:30. The context is important. Peter has just asked what those who have left everything to follow Jesus will receive (Matthew 19:27). Jesus promises them a reward, but the parable that follows warns disciples against turning that promise into a claim of superiority or entitlement. Even those who have followed Christ for a long time can begin measuring what they think God owes them.
Everything we receive from God ultimately begins with His generosity. “What do you possess that you have not received?” Paul asks the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 4:7). That question exposes the danger of comparison. If what we have is first received from God, another person’s blessing does not diminish ours. God does not become less generous to us because He is generous to someone else.
The challenge of the parable, then, is not merely to accept God’s generosity toward ourselves. It is also to rejoice when He is generous toward others. Human calculation asks who has earned more. Jesus directs our attention instead to the goodness of God, who is just in what He gives and free to give beyond what anyone could demand.
Lord Jesus, free us from measuring Your mercy by human standards. Give us grateful hearts that recognize all we receive as gift and that rejoice in Your goodness toward others. Help us to answer Your call faithfully whenever You come seeking us and to labor with gratitude in Your vineyard. Amen.
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. 42–43.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. 115–116.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 663, para. 120.
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. 253–256.
- 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. Third Fully Revised Edition. London: T&T Clark, 2022. 1213.
Comments