25th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?

Mt 20:1-16

Matthew inserts a parable at this point to illustrate the teaching about rewads in the kingdom which is also the subject of the previous paragraph (19:23-30).

The parable is the story of an owner of a vineyard who employed men at different times of the day and at the end of the day paid them all the same wage. Matthew understands the owner as being God and the payments as his reward, which is eternal life.

He also relates the parable to the saying about the last and the first which precedes (19:30) and follows (20:16) it. The men who are employed first are paid last and those who are employed last are paid first.

The parable came to Matthew from a non-Marcan source and so it probably came to him without any context in the teaching and ministry of Jesus. And so it was Matthew who chose this to be the context of the parable.

The order of paying the workmen is of no real significance in the story. It merely permits those who worked first to see how much those who worked after them received. This gives them reason to suppose that they would get more in wages.

Secondly, as all the workmen received the same payment, the parable does not illustrate the meaning of the saying about first and the last which according to Matthew was the different rewards that God would give to different people.

The original emphasis of the parable probably may be found in the saying of the owner: “I chose to give to this last as I give to you” (v. 14). God is not answerable to man for what he does with his rewards. He can do as he pleases with his gifts and his generosity is not something that men can complain about.

If we would interpret the parable in light of the ministry of Jesus, the setting would probably be the controversy of Jesus with the Pharisees over his treatment of tax collectors and sinners. He welcomes them. He eats and drinks with them. He invites them to the kingdom because God who sent him is generous with his forgiveness and mercy. Those who complain are the Pharisees who, like the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son, claim more from the Father because of their good works (Lk 15:11ff).

On the other hand, Matthew and the church has taken this parable to teach about the judgment at the end of this age.

v.1. The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.

The formula does not mean that the kingdom is like a landowner, but that it is like the reckoning which the landowner makes at the end of the day.

For the idea of the judgment as a time of reckoning of accounts, see 18:23 and 25:14ff.

At dawn = early. About 6am.

v. 2. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.

Usual daily wage. A denarius a day was ‘a workman’s average daily wage’.

v. 3. Going out about nine o'clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace….

Nine o’clock = third hour. That is between 8 and 9 am.

Standing idle. Perhaps “sit about idly gossiping”.

v. 4. And he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off.

It is important to notice that the sum of money to be paid for the work done is only fixed beforehand with the first group of workers (v. 2). The landowner is silent regarding the wage of the other groups. This accounts for the situation at the end of the parable.

v. 5. And he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise.

Noon = sixth hour. Between 11 am and noon.

Three o’clock = ninth hour. Between 2 and 3 pm.

v. 6. Going out about five o'clock, the landowner found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?'

Five o’clock = eleventh hour. Between 4 and 5 pm. The work was urgent if the owner took on more laborers so late in the day. It was vintage and the work must be done before the rains came.

Why do you stand here idle all day?. Note the commentary on v. 3. Perhaps the landowner intended this to be a reproach. There would be plenty of work at this time of the year.

v. 7. They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'

This may be an excuse to cover up their laziness, rather than tell the truth.

v. 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.'

The owner of the vineyard. The word translated “owner” is the Greek word often used for God (kyrios = Lord).

Their pay (ton misthon). Perhaps the usual daily wage (denarius) mentioned in vv. 2 and 9f. The same word is translated as “reward” in 5:12.

Beginning with the last and ending with the first. This may mean no more than “Pay them all, including the last”. In any case the order of payment has no special importance except that it allowed the situation which follows to develop. Matthew has related it to the sayings in 19:30 and 20:16.

vv. 11-12. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, 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.'

If the parable originally referred to the Pharisees and their grumbling at Jesus’ treatment of the sinners, then this will mean that Jesus is treating sinners with the same mercy as that which he has for those who have “borne the burden” of the Law.

For the idea of the Law as a burden, see Acts 15:28 and 11:28.

v. 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?”

Friend (hetaire). The word as used in Matthew implies reproach. See 22:12 and 26:50.

v. 14. Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?

There may be a contrast here between “what belongs to you” (that is, what you have earned and is therefore now yours) and the gift of the vineyard owner (to give to this last). The denarius was paid as a wage to the first group, but was given as a gift to the last group.

The same as you. The emphasis is on the choice of the owner: “I wish to give and there is no appeal against my decision because I am the master of my own property.”

v. 15. Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?'

God’s mercy revealed in Jesus welcoming sinners is inexplicable to the Phari-sees, but it is undeniable that God is free to do as he wishes. See Rom 9”14ff.

“Are you envious because I am generous?”. Literally, “Is your eye evil because I am good?” An evil eye is “one that looks with envy or jealousy upon other people.” Mark had used it for envy in Mk 7:22.

v. 16. Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.

The verse repeats in the reverse order of members the saying in 19:30.