The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Part 1: When Grace Doesn’t Seem Fair

In 2017, at a Garth Brooks concert in Oklahoma City, a commotion broke out in the crowd, and Garth stopped singing. It turns out a guy was proposing during the song “Unanswered Prayers.” Garth stopped the whole concert to talk to the couple and told them that if they went on a honeymoon in Hawaii, he would pay for it. The arena went wild! How awesome for that couple!

But I know people, and I’m sure there were plenty of folks there who were thinking, “Wait, I’ve bought every album, I’ve been to five concerts, I’m the president of the fan club, how did this couple get this incredible gift and I didn’t? It’s so unfair!”

“Unfair” seems to be one of the earliest words we learn. We become masters of the phrase “That’s not fair!” early on. Our middle child couldn’t quite say the phrase correctly; she’d say, “It isn’t any fair!”

Of all Jesus’ parables, there’s one that leaves more people perturbed than probably any other. We see in this story something unfair, and we don’t like “unfair.”

Before we jump into the parable, let’s set the stage. Jesus had just finished a conversation with the Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19:16-30), ending with the challenge, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). Sadly, the guy walked away.

Right after this, Peter, true to form, said to Jesus, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?” Sometimes I wonder how Jesus had such patience with Peter. Part of his reply was, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (19:30). This sets up the moment: it’s as if Jesus said, “Peter, because it’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking you should get a reward based on what you do for me, let me tell you this story.” And Jesus told the story of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), which begins like this:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” (Matthew 20:1)

This landowner needed workers to help with the harvest, so he went to the marketplace early in the morning, at 6 am, and hired a group of men to work. He agreed with the men to pay them one denarius for a full day’s work of twelve hours, which was the normal amount. Everyone agreed on this price.

Then at 9 am, the master realized he needed more workers, so he went back to the market and hired another group, saying, “Whatever is right I will give you” (v 4). This group doesn’t agree on a price; they trust the owner, thinking that whatever is right is what he’ll do. They assume that their wage would be the appropriate percentage of a denarius based on the hours they worked, so, since they’re working nine hours of a twelve-hour day, ¾ of a denarius.

The landowner then hired more workers at noon and 3 pm, with the same understanding to pay whatever is right. Then, at 5 pm, with only an hour left in the workday, he went back and hired one last group of workers to finish out the last hour of the day, again with no mention of wages.

Then the quitting bill rings at 6 pm.

The workers line up to get their pay, but the owner tells his foreman to pay the men starting with the last group hired and ending with the group that worked the entire day. In other words, the ones “who are first will be last, and the last first.” He specifically wanted the first group to see how much he paid the others, because he wanted all the workers to know how generous he was.

This is where things get crazy. The last group hired, who only worked an hour, got a full denarius each, a whole day’s pay! For one hour of work!

By the time it’s the first group’s turn, they’re thinking, if that last group worked only an hour and got a whole denarius, he must be going to pay us like 12 denarii! After all, we did twelve times the work they did!

Then they stepped up to get their pay…and they each got one denarius. The exact amount they agreed to at the start of the day.

Well, the first group is mad. And honestly, I would be, too. This isn’t fair, not at all. They say to the owner:

“These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” (Matthew 20:12)

Would you not have said the same thing? I’m afraid I would. “I’ve worked a hard 12-hour day in this vineyard, and these guys sat around in the market, goofed off for eleven hours, and they get paid as much as me?” As Craig Blomberg says, “Little seems more unequal than the equal treatment of unequals!”

Notice these workers didn’t say, “You have made us equal to the last group!” Instead, they said, “You have made them equal to us! You’ve made the ones who hardly broke a sweat equal to us who did almost all the work!” They weren’t just upset at how much they received in payment; they were upset at what had been given to the others. Based on an hourly rate, the first group got .08 denarii per hour, and the last group got 1 denarius per hour. That’s why they were mad: others, though last, became first, and they, though first, became last.

And I think most people in the audience that day agreed with that first group. Those who work more should be paid more.

Here’s how the owner responded:

“Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” (Matthew 20:13-15)

What was the landowner saying here? More importantly, what was Jesus saying to his disciples, and by extension to us, in this parable? For answers to those questions, stay tuned for the exciting Part 2 of “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard”!