A Disgusting Parable
And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, "Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first." And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder. Matt. 20:8-11, RSV.
Some of Jesus' parables are more disgusting than others. Near the top of the list in this category is the one about the farmer in Matthew 20:1-16. It tells about a householder (God) who goes out to hire day laborers for his vineyard. (Scripture often refers to Israel as God's vineyard--see Isa. 5:1-7). At the beginning of the 12-hour workday the landlord makes a formal agreement with the available workers to pay a denarius for a full day's labor.
But the farmer is desperate because when grapes ripen they must be harvested immediately or many of them will spoil. So he returns repeatedly to hire more laborers. His last trip is at the eleventh hour, when the day is almost over. The implication is that the later workers can't be too ambitious or they would have been employed earlier. But they must eat, so they show up for work anyway.
The story's irritating aspect begins in verse 8 when at the end of the day the landlord lines the workers up in the reverse order from which he hired them. Thus the last get paid first. Then, in plain view of the others, he pays those one-hour laborers one denarius--a full day's pay.
Now what do you think is going on in the minds of those who spent all day in the vineyard? Arithmetic! "If those guys got a full day's pay for one hour's work," the logic runs, "we deserve 12 days' pay--that is two weeks' earnings, if you subtract the Sabbaths. At last," they rejoice, "we have discovered an employer who will allow us to get ahead."
Then comes the bombshell. Everyone gets exactly the same pay! No wonder they complain. I was a young construction worker when I first read Matthew 20, and I grumbled with them. To me, it was a travesty of justice.
And Peter undoubtedly had the same reaction. We need to remember that Jesus gave the parable in response to his question of Matthew 19:27: "What do we get?" His mind had been on extra-special honors. He liked the first part of Christ's answer in which he and the other disciples were to have thrones and riches. That is what he wanted to hear. But in Matthew 20 he gets what he needs to hear. And that wasn't so pleasant.
And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, "Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first." And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder. Matt. 20:8-11, RSV.
Some of Jesus' parables are more disgusting than others. Near the top of the list in this category is the one about the farmer in Matthew 20:1-16. It tells about a householder (God) who goes out to hire day laborers for his vineyard. (Scripture often refers to Israel as God's vineyard--see Isa. 5:1-7). At the beginning of the 12-hour workday the landlord makes a formal agreement with the available workers to pay a denarius for a full day's labor.
But the farmer is desperate because when grapes ripen they must be harvested immediately or many of them will spoil. So he returns repeatedly to hire more laborers. His last trip is at the eleventh hour, when the day is almost over. The implication is that the later workers can't be too ambitious or they would have been employed earlier. But they must eat, so they show up for work anyway.
The story's irritating aspect begins in verse 8 when at the end of the day the landlord lines the workers up in the reverse order from which he hired them. Thus the last get paid first. Then, in plain view of the others, he pays those one-hour laborers one denarius--a full day's pay.
Now what do you think is going on in the minds of those who spent all day in the vineyard? Arithmetic! "If those guys got a full day's pay for one hour's work," the logic runs, "we deserve 12 days' pay--that is two weeks' earnings, if you subtract the Sabbaths. At last," they rejoice, "we have discovered an employer who will allow us to get ahead."
Then comes the bombshell. Everyone gets exactly the same pay! No wonder they complain. I was a young construction worker when I first read Matthew 20, and I grumbled with them. To me, it was a travesty of justice.
And Peter undoubtedly had the same reaction. We need to remember that Jesus gave the parable in response to his question of Matthew 19:27: "What do we get?" His mind had been on extra-special honors. He liked the first part of Christ's answer in which he and the other disciples were to have thrones and riches. That is what he wanted to hear. But in Matthew 20 he gets what he needs to hear. And that wasn't so pleasant.
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