For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Matthew 20:1-16
The Kingdom of God is not fair. That is one conclusion from the parable of the landowner. Fairness would dictate that people who worked harder and longer at the same task would be paid more than those who worked for a very short time. The landowner in this parable would be in big trouble with the local labor union.
This parable is a simile; this is like that. The” this” is the Kingdom of God. The” that” is the story of unequal pay if you calculate it hourly. Or, it is equal pay if you figure it out based on what was promised. Everybody got what they were promised.
What does this tell us about the Kingdom of God? It tells us what the Kingdom is like and what it is not like.
First, what the Kingdom of God is not like. The” rewards” of the Kingdom are not based on work or labor. At the end of the day, the reward of salvation is not based on how long or how hard we worked for the King. The most recent laborer receives the same eternal life as the one who has served the King for decades.
What the Kingdom is like is grace. This is salvation by grace alone and not by works. The apostle Paul expounds on this at length in his letters.
The parable reveals the heart condition of those who work for their salvation. “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came, and each received a denarius. So when those first hired came, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”
How is your heart? When another person who has recently joined the Kingdom appears to be gifted in a greater way than you, what happens in your heart? Are you jealous? Do you feel stepped over? Do you feel like you have paid your dues and should be rewarded?
God is generous with his grace. The landowner chose to give the short-timers the same as the all-day workers. As an employer, he didn’t have to do that. In fact, it was unusual, which is why the all-day workers assumed they would be paid more. Other landowners (religions) are not so generous. They only dispense what has been earned.
