1
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out
early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After
agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them
into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw
others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, "You
also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So
they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three
o'clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o'clock he went out and
found others standing around; and he said to them, "Why are you
standing here idle all day?' 7 They said to him, "Because no one
has hired us.' He said to them, "You also go into the vineyard.'
8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager,
"Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the
last and then going to the first.' 9 When those hired about five
o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when
the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of
them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received
it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, "These last
worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have
borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' 13 But he
replied to one of them, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did
you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs
to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to
you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or are you envious because I am generous?' 16 So the last will be
first, and the first will be last."
Am
I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you
envious because I am generous?
- This parable should make us uncomfortable and itchy. If it doesn't, we might not be hearing it right.
- Many of you might agree that this is no way to run a farm, is it? The payment schedule is markedly unfair and I'm pretty sure that things would be tough around the farm next time workers might be needed. After all, who would take a job on a farm where those who have worked all day are paid the same as those who worked only one hour? It surely isn't fair.
- If we step into the parable, we realize of course that this is not a lesson on how to run the farm or the business. If we take it as a discussion of the life of a Christian and the live of the entire church, we will still find it uncomfortable. So those who have been faithful from childhood and who have worked and given generously will be treated the same as a bunch of Johnnie-come-latelys? How is that fair?
- So this parable is not simply about the great generosity of God. If it were – as one commentator said – than all the workers would be paid much more. Everybody would get three denarii rather than one!
- So it's got to be about something else. It's about God and the Kingdom of God, of course. It's also about those who are called to be part of it.
- The parable, which is often called the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, is more about the landowner than it is about the workers, in just the same way that the parable of the Prodigal Son is more about the father than the son. At its heart, the parable highlights the sovereignty of God. It is not about justice or fairness as we understand them. To comprehend the parable at its best, we would have to look at things through the eyes of God, and I don't think I can do that yet. I don't know about you.
- Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? In truth, we are. We want God to play by our rules and to see things our way. We've all heard the old saying: God created us in his image and we've been returning the compliment ever since. God does not see as we see or judge as we judge. And thank God for that.
- Now what about the other characters in the parable, the workers? Of course, the main focus is on those workers who toiled throughout the whole day and who received no more than the agreed-upon wage.
- The landowner says “Are you envious because I am generous?” This is how it is rendered in English and the original Greek says something more like “Is your eye evil because I am good?” Some commentators say the workers are giving the landowner the “evil eye” because he is paying them less. In German, it is called "böser Blick." This “evil eye” is sort of a visual curse that many cultures engage in and the gesture might have been thrown at him to express their disappointment.
- There is another possibility as well, one that suggests a deeper problem than is seen at first glance. Earlier in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus calls the eye “the lamp of the body.” He goes on: So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! The evil eye then shows the darkness of the person's soul. There is a call to conversion here in this parable if we realize that the evil lies in the heart shows itself in the actions of the whole person. Here the jealousy, greed, and disappointment of the workers shown in their grumbling mirrors the selfish and self centred inclination of their spirit. They will not be happy or satisfied with the agreed-upon wage and they will complain about the generosity of the landowner.
- This parable is another parable of the Kingdom of God where expectations are overthrown and turned upside-down. We may count on our own faithfulness and energy to earn a reward from God. This parable lays waste to such expectations and returns us to the most basic of understandings of our Christian faith – that we are saved by grace and not by the works of the Law or any other work of ours.
- If this parable appears to cut the legs out from under us, it may be for the best. Once again, we are left with only the grace of God to depend on. Once again, we learn that the grace of God is the only sure thing we can depend upon.
- Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? It is this generosity of God on which we depend. Why? No less than this... Because it has been promised to us.
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