Matthew’s gospel records nine parables of the kingdom, parables that Jesus began with the words, “The kingdom of heaven is like . . .” In this post, we’ll look at the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16).

It comes immediately after the story of the rich young ruler and Peter’s response. And it has bookends. The last verse of chapter 19 says (in NIV), “But many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first.” The parable ends, “So the last will be first and the first will be last.”

Wealth, envy, and reward

As Jesus was on his final journey to Jerusalem, a man (not otherwise described in Matthew’s account) asked Jesus, “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” Any Christian should know that we can’t possibly earn eternal life. We attain it by grace through faith or not at all. But when people asked Jesus question, he never gave theological answers.

He told the man to keep the commandments; the man replied that he always had. Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. In exchange, he would have treasure in heaven. The man walked away, sad, because he evidently cared more about his stuff than for the reward Jesus promised for letting go of it.

Jesus told the disciples that it is very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. They had trouble grasping that idea. If not the rich, then who could enter? Jesus answered that it is impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom without the working of God’s grace.

Whenever we see someone fail, it’s easy to feel superior. Peter reminded Jesus that all the disciples had left everything to follow him. He wanted to know what was in that sacrifice for him and the others. Somehow, it appears, he had not grasped the part about reward in heaven.

Jesus answered that they would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Before the end of the chapter, James and John put their mother up to asking that their thrones be as close to Jesus’ as possible. Of course, that offended the other disciples.

And so they went from astonishment that it was hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven to thinking they deserved the best status in it. How very human! And they missed the entire point of the intervening parable.

The parable: workers in the vineyard

“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner.” That opening tells us not to look for an illustration of the kingdom either in the vineyard or the men hired to work in it.

Early one morning, he hired workers to work in his vineyard and agreed to pay them a denarius—in other words, a coin equivalent to a standard day’s wages.

Don’t try to figure out what that is in modern money. In 1856, James Buchanan, campaigning for President, commented that ten cents a day ought to be enough for any working man. Today in the US, some people are trying to establish a $15 per hour minimum wage. Given an eight-hour work week, a denarius at that rate would amount to $120. In most of the rest of the world, a day’s wages are somewhere between those two figures, but probably closer to Buchanan’s dime.

The workers agreed to that amount. Three hours later (the third hour) the landowner noticed other men standing around and sent them to his vineyard, offering to pay them what was right. He hired more workers at the sixth hour, ninth hour, and eleventh hour. (Remember—the concept of an eight-hour work day is less than a century old.) He said nothing at all about pay to the last three groups.

When it was time to quit work for the day, the landowner told his foreman to pay the last workers first. And they each received a denarius. The ones who had worked all day expected to receive more, but they had agreed to work for a denarius, and that is what they received. They had no claim on more. Does that seem fair?

The landlord

Remember, Jesus said the kingdom of God is like the landlord in the story, not the vineyard or the workers. But let’s look at two other passages about vineyards that can reinforce the point.

In Isaiah 5, God is disappointed with the vineyard he planted (Israel) and destroys it. Isaiah 27 uses a well-tended vineyard as a picture of God’s deliverance of Israel—but not the contemporary Israel, which was still as rebellious as described in Isaiah 5. “In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit:” (Isaiah 27:6, emphasis added). In either case, God owns the vineyard. As owner, he has the sole right to decide when to nurture it and when to dig it up.

The landlord, who represents God, simply asserted that he had a right to do what he wanted with his money, and he wanted to be generous. In fact, he seems more concerned about taking care of the unemployed than taking care of his vineyard.

Problems with some interpretations of the parable

Perhaps the majority of commentators point out that some people come to Christ as young children and never depart from faith all their lives. Others accept Christ only on their deathbeds. Most Christians probably come somewhere between these two extremes. We all receive the same salvation.

On another view, God made astounding promises to Abraham and repeated them to Isaac and Jacob. Jacob’s sons became God’s chosen nation. Only Jacob’s offspring received the Mosaic covenant, with its astounding promises of the outcome of godly living in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.

In this case, God became displeased with their disobedience. As described symbolically in Isaiah 5, he uprooted them with the Babylonian captivity—and then again with the banishment that followed the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

The death of Christ brought a new covenant with better promises, and all Gentiles are welcomed to participate. The first (Jews) and the last (Gentiles) receive the same salvation.

The trouble with both of these interpretations is that no one earns salvation. Therefore, the wages in the parable cannot represent salvation.

The point of the parable is grace

The parable concerns pure grace, people receiving benefits they did not deserve. Those hired first agreed to work for a specific wage. They were not hired based on their own merit. The landlord did not treat them unfairly by choosing to give the later hires –likewise not chosen on merit—the same wage.

In the parable, all the workers received the same wages in the form of a silver coin. In everyday reality, we don’t all appear to receive the same thing, but what God chooses to give can offend our sense of fairness just as much.

God gives gifts and favors to everyone according to his pleasure, not according to what people seem to deserve by human standards.

Humanly speaking, the way God operates makes no sense. None of us earns anything from him. We receive every good thing by grace and therefore have no right to appeal to our own sense of fairness.

God is under no obligation to explain himself to us, although sometimes he does. Believers, on the other hand, have an obligation to receive from him with gratitude.

Some people seem to be first in this world. Perhaps they’re rich. Perhaps they rise to positions of power and influence. Perhaps they have great talent. It’s not their various advantages that make them last in the kingdom. It’s pride and complacency of thinking themselves special. Jesus said it’s hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, not impossible.

Some people seem to be last in this world. For any number of reasons, other people despise and reject them. They might be first in the kingdom of heaven—but not because of their rejection, and especially not if they become embittered over their status. Only the humble and grateful will be first.

Related posts:

Small parables of the kingdom of heaven with large meaning
Three parables of the kingdom of heaven—and its troubles
Understanding the parable of the four soils in the Bible
The unforgiving servant and the king: parables of the kingdom