1 “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.” (Matt 20:1-16)
BAD BUSINESS PRACTICE?
“So when the first came, they thought that they would each receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage” (Matt 20:10). Who of us, reading the parable of Jesus, thought the same thing? Imagine those who were toiling the whole day, enduring the heat of the sun, bucking hunger and fatigue and finally receiving their day’s pay. Yes, the laborers who toiled the whole day rightly received their daily wage… and so did those who worked from nine in the morning, noon, three in the afternoon and even five in the afternoon—they received the daily wage! Businessmen who read this parable, apart from the message that it gives, would consider this as bad business practice.
But this is a parable after all, and as the other parables, it jolts us, because it brings about something unexpected. The key to understanding this parable lies in the response of the last hour laborers to the question why they were standing idle: “Because no one has hired us.” The laborers were thus in various situations that reflected the reality of the times. Not all were fortunate enough to be hired from the beginning. Those who came at the last hour were still hoping to get work to be able to feed their families. Then came their savior, the landowner who was searching for extra hands. Their dependents could thus eat, not crumbs bought from an hour’s work, but what is fitting for the dignity of a human beings because somebody saw not only what a person can do but for whom he toils.
The last statement from the landowner affirms this: “Are you envious because I am generous?” The parable is not so much a lesson on justice and fairness for a single person. It is a lesson on social justice, when one has to look at the whole picture. Beyond the person who toils daily there are those who may not even be able to work.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. How do I feel about the generosity of the landowner in the parable?
2. Do I look around my neighborhood and see people who need help?
Lord, teach me to be generous like you.
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