“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; 4 and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ 9 When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. 10 When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last.” — Matthew 20:1-16, NASB

The parable appears in Matthew and takes place as Jesus and the disciples are making their way south through Judea on their way to Jerusalem. The rich young ruler has just gone away aggrieved, and Peter points out that unlike him, they agreed to part with everything to follow the Lord. Then he asks, more or less, what’s in it for us? Jesus
patiently outlines their future heavenly positions and explains that everyone who follows Him will receive many blessings, which by the way include life eternal. He follows that up with the parable, the purpose of which is to illustrate the equitable manner in which God always deals with people and His absolute sovereignty in dispensing grace however He pleases.

In comparing the “kingdom of heaven” with the events of the parable, Matthew is using the term to describe the redeemed church, the full cohort of true believers. The landowner who goes out to hire laborers for his vineyard signifies God. Those who are standing around idle in the marketplace represent unsaved man, and the hired laborers represent saved believers. The laborers who are hired in the first, third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours do not symbolize any particular groups of believers; the only distinction is the length of their service. The work in the vineyard represents serving God’s kingdom on earth, and the workday a man’s lifespan.

The jobless folk hanging around the marketplace available for hire as day laborers would be considered the bottom of the professional barrel, as they would most likely be unskilled and indigent. It is notable that this is the group from which the landowner selects. These characters seemingly have no opportunity to earn unless someone selects them and offers them a job. Such is the nature of salvation, which can only be provided by God and offered through His grace alone.

The multiple trips the landowner makes to the marketplace simply paint a picture of compassion. The text does not indicate that he had repeatedly misjudged the workload or that the vineyard was overflowing and the harvesting operation couldn’t keep up. He goes back several times during the day, for no other apparent reason than to provide work and wage to those who will accept his offer.

This intent is most obvious in his exchange with the eleventh hour hires; He gives them purpose because no one else has. God offers redemption freely out of love for humanity, extending saving grace because no one else can. He likewise is patient, not wishing for any to perish, and will save people in the eleventh hour despite their inability to provide a long life of service. The thief on the cross who asked Jesus to remember him and put his trust in the Lord at the eleventh hour is no less saved than a longtime saint with decades of service to God. The same reward is provided for all who are saved: eternal life and fellowship with God.

The evening rendering of wages represents the believers’ final reckoning. The landowner pays all of the workers a denarius for the day’s work, the agreed-on amount. A Roman denarius was the standard daily wage for unskilled laborers, which made it an extremely generous payment for those who signed on later in the day, but that is the landowner’s prerogative.

His response to the grumbling workers hired at the start of the day serves as Jesus’s rebuke to Peter for questioning what the disciples, who joined Him unconditionally at the onset of His ministry, were going to get for their eternal reward. Human nature dictates that the disciples might feel slighted like the workers hired in the first hour of the day, but God pays every true believer the same wage when it comes to salvation.

The parable is bookended at verses 19:30 and 20:16 with Jesus’s remark that the first will be last, and the last will be first. While He uses the phrase to different purpose elsewhere, here it is a way of saying that salvation is administered and quantified in the same way to every believer. No one is first or last; all of the redeemed in Christ gain the same salvation.

As Christians, we should avoid counting the hours spent working in the vineyard because it may lead to the flawed conclusion that God is somehow unjust and inequitable. Should we start to feel entitled and perhaps more deserving of heavenly rewards than others, it would be best for us to remember that the only thing God owes us is His unmitigated wrath. Despite this, He offers all believers full redemption and life everlasting through Christ Jesus. What more could one expect?

Image:
Luyken, Jan (1649-1712); The Eleventh Hour Laborers; Medhurst, Phillip (attribution)