Matthew 20:1-16

Life in the Kingdom is Unmerited

Jesus’ enigmatic final comment (above - the many who are first will be last, and last will be first) would soon be repeated in a quite different context [20:16].

The story that follows was unique to Matthew’s Gospel.  Its conclusion may have been Matthew’s own.

Matthews 20:1-16      Labourers in the Vineyard

1The kingdom of the heavens is like this:
An employer went first thing in the morning to hire workers to go into his vineyard.

With the ongoing social dislocation in Galilee, landless day-labourers were numerous.  It was unusual for landowners, however, to engage labour – that was the task of their managers.  The departure from the norm was included to set up the final scene.

2 Having agreed with the workers on a denarius a day,
he sent them to his vineyard.

The usual daily wage, the denarius, favoured the wealthy.  It was sufficient to meet the costs of the average family for the day; but, given the reality of widespread unemployment, it did not meet a family’s ongoing needs.  At least, for these labourers, their denarius was assured.

He went out at the third hour
and saw others standing in the marketplace unemployed,
4 and he said to them, “You too go to my vineyard,
and I shall give you whatever is just.”  
They went off.  
5 Going out again around the sixth hour and the ninth hour,
he did the same thing.  
6 Again at the eleventh hour he went out
and found others standing there,
and he said to them,
“Why are you standing here all day doing nothing?”  
7 They told him, “Because no one gave us work.”  
He said to them, “You go to my vineyard too.”

The pool of waiting labourers reflected the social conditions of the time.  No fixed amount was agreed with these labourers.  They had only the landowner’s assurance that their wage would be just.

When evening came, the master of the vineyard said to the steward,
“Call the workers and pay them their wage,
starting with the last ones through to the first.”  
9 The ones employed at the eleventh hour came along
and each received a denarius.  
10 When the first ones came up,
they thought that they would receive more.  
They too each received one denarius.

Though the manager made the payments, the landowner was also present.  All received the same amount – the usual daily wage, the denarius.  Those hired between the first and the last groups dropped from the scene because the story no longer required them.

Interestingly, at this point, the original Greek word translated here as master of the vineyard could perhaps more accurately be translated lord of the vineyard: already Matthew’s allegorical interpretation, which saw the employer as God, coloured the story.

Jesus’ original parable may have stopped there, leaving the questions hanging and the hearers wondering.  Without context, it is impossible to know what Jesus may have intended originally. 

11 They took it but complained to the employer,
12 “These last ones worked for only one hour and you have treated them
the same as us who have carried the burden of the day and the heat.”

The labourers’ comment was not unexpected.  The story was constructed precisely to suggest that reaction: had the first been paid first and the last paid last, perhaps the story would have been seen as an indication of the landowner’s unexpected generosity.

13 He replied to one of them “Friend, I am not doing you an injustice.  
Did we not agree on a denarius?  
14 Take what you have and go.  
I want to give to this last one the same as I gave to you.  
15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Do you want to harm me because of my goodness?”
 

The original Greek makes some finer points not obvious in the present translation:

  • Am I not allowed is “Do I not have the power”: the phrase seems to speak of the arbitrary power exercised by the landed class over their employees;
  • Do you want to harm me is rather Is your eye evil (evil eye); evil contrasts with good (as the landowner would categorise himself);
  • the word good connects the parable with Jesus’ comment to the rich young man that there is only one who is good (God).

If Matthew intended to interpret the parable allegorically and regard God as symbolised by the employer, he would seem to be suggesting that the labourers could be understood as disciples, given that the overall context was still that of relationships within the Christian community.  The question, then, would be to determine whom he saw as those first employed who have carried the burden of the day and the heat  and who were the last ones.  He may have been comparing the Jewish Christians, who carried a long and rich history, with the Gentile converts newly arrived on the scene.  Perhaps some Jewish Christians expected a degree of honour or privilege

Whatever the particular details, Matthew would seem to have suggested that with God everything is gift – nothing is really earned.  Without God’s gift, salvation is not only beyond the reach of the rich – it is beyond the reach of everyone.

16 In this way the last will be first and the first last.”

Matthew’s repetition of Jesus’ comment [19.30] served to connect this parable with his previous observations about the hundredfold (and eternal life) that would be the lot of all faithful disciples.  In some ways the remark reflects the reality of conversion.  True conversion calls for a questioning of all assumptions – a new and surprising look at life.  The values of earthly kingdoms are not the values found in the Kingdom of God.


Envy in the Christian Community

The spontaneous reaction of the labourers “who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat” seems at first sight to be natural.  It is the reaction of the unredeemed mind. 

Relative honour has no place within the community of believers, nor has a spirit of competition.  The authentic response of believers is to see everyone as wonderfully, undeservedly and equally loved by God.  God has forgiven all unconditionally.  No one deserves eternal life.

When disciples have learned to love, they rejoice to see the lost (and undeserving) sheep rescued, the little ones welcomed, women respected, children accepted, the sinner forgiven.  No one is a threat to anyone else. Nor is God the God of Christians only.   God loves everyone equally and unconditionally.

When all is seen as gift, living the Christian lifestyle with all its difficulties is not understood as work unwillingly undertaken.  To regard life in the Kingdom as burden points to incomplete conversion.  

Matthew had already given Jesus’ gentle invitation:

Come to me, all you who are worn out and burdened
and I shall refresh you.  
Take my yoke on you and learn from me
for I am gentle and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for your spirits.  
For my yoke is good and my burden is light. [11:28-30].

 


Next >> Matthew 20:17-34