WHAT IS FAIR - by Rev Gilbert Wong
Text:
Matthew
20:1-16
18 September 2005
THE CONTEXT
The second half of chapter 19 (verses 16-30) provides the context necessary to understand the first half of chapter 20 (verses 1-16). Both passages stress that the kingdom of heaven operates very different from this world. Both passages have to do with rewards for sacrificial discipleship.
On Matthew 19:16-30
In 19:16-22, a rich young man comes to Jesus asking, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" When Jesus tells him to sell his possessions and give them to the poor, the man goes away sorrowfully, because he has many possessions.
"Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" (19:27). Peter, observing this exchange between the rich young man and Jesus, notes that the disciples have already given up everything to follow Jesus. What will their reward be? Jesus' answer is quite generous -- the Twelve will sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. But rewards will not be limited to the Twelve. "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life." This does not diminish rewards for the Twelve, but it extends them to other deserving people. It must come as a surprise to the Twelve to hear that so many others will share in the rewards.
Jesus says, "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (19:30). He then gives the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard to explain by what he meant by that paradoxical statement.
"What then will we have?" (19:27). This is not the last that we will hear of the disciples' ambition. Shortly after the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, the mother of James and John comes to Jesus to request a special place in the kingdom for her sons, a request that Jesus says is not his to give (20:20-23).
And, of course, the request of the mother of James and John was not the end of ecclesiastical ambition. Is there a clergy whose heart longs for a larger church or promotion to the next ecclesiastical office? How many laypeople hope to be known as chairperson or deacon -- to control church policy and practice -- to have their name emblazoned above the door? Personal ambition is still the name of the game in too many Christian hearts.
Jesus turns such ambitions upside down. After reading the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, we will not dare to look down our noses at those who have no ecclesiastical titles -- or those more recently come to Christ -- or those whose understanding is less refined -- or those whose denominations are less influential -- or those whose congregations are smaller -- or those whose music is less inspired -- or those who give less money. Have we achieved high position or accomplished much for Christ? Do we have good reason for a bit of pride? Jesus warns, "The last will be first, and the first will be last."
Let us now look at the text in depth.
VERSES 1-16: THE PARABLE OF THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD
This parable "is offensive to us; (because) it challenges our sense of justice" (Hare, 231). "In a vivid and even abrasive story, the radical and offensive nature of grace is depicted, inevitably leaving the reader with the questions, Was the owner really fair? Don't the labourers who worked all day have a legitimate beef?" (Brueggemann, 494).
This parable is similar to the Parable of the Prodigal Son/ Elder Brother (Luke 15). In both parables, the grace shown to the undeserving person offends those who think of themselves as deserving. However, the prodigal son is so winsome that he steals our hearts. When we read that parable, we are glad for the mercy shown to the returned prodigal and are offended at the elder brother's outrage.
Not so with the Parable of the Labourers. We share the offense of the all-day workers. "Divine grace is a great equalizer which rips away presumed privilege and puts all recipients on a par" (Brueggemann, 495). We don't want to be on a par! We want to be on top! We don't want mercy (what God gives freely) but justice (what we have earned) PLUS mercy. If God distributes mercy evenly, we who worked all day will get ahead of those who arrived at the last hour. We will receive what we have earned plus a generous bonus. The irony, of course, is that the little bit that we have earned is of no consequence when compared to the bonus of God's grace.
1. VERSES 1-7: FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS LIKE...
1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage (Greek: denariou ten hemeran -- a denarius for the day), he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine o'clock (Greek: triten horan -- the third hour), he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4and he said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. 5When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock (Greek: hekten kai enaten horan -- the sixth and ninth hour), he did the same. 6And about five o'clock (Greek: ten hendekaten -- the eleventh) he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?' 7They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.'
This parable starts wonderfully well. A landowner goes out early in the morning to find labourers for his vineyard (v. 1). Even though he has a manager (vs. 8), he goes personally to the marketplace. He hires those who are available for work after securing their agreement to a fair wage (a denarius), and they go to work (v. 2).
As the day progresses, the landowner makes four additional trips to the marketplace to hire workers. I shall not go into how the Jewish people calculate their hours. Suffice to say, the landowner makes his second trip at nine o'clock (Greek: peri triten horan -- the third hour) (v. 3). The third hour corresponds roughly to 9:00 a.m. our time. He makes additional trips at the sixth (which is noon) and ninth hours (which is 3:00 p.m.), and makes his final trip at the eleventh hour (which 5:00 p.m.).
The landlord's focus seems to be less on the urgency of the harvest than on the need of the labourers. On his final trip, he asks the out-of-work labourers, "Why are you standing here idle all day?" (v. 6). When they answer that nobody has hired them, he sends them into his vineyard (v. 7). Some suggest that he is trying to speed the harvest to prevent spoilage, but there is no mention of that in this text. Perhaps the landowner intervenes because, in his mind's eye, he sees children who will go without food if their father fails to find employment.
Presumably, the more motivated labourers go to the marketplace early to find employment, and those who go later are less ambitious. Most employers would avoid latecomers unless desperate. This landowner, however, hires everyone in sight -- a grace-filled moment.
Those hired early have a clear contract. They are to be paid a denarius, the usual wage for a day's work (v. 2). For those hired at nine o'clock, noon and three o'clock, the landowner promises only to pay what is right (v. 4). For those hired at five o'clock, there is no mention of money (v. 7).
2. VERSES 8-12: THE FIRST THOUGHT THEY WOULD RECEIVE MORE
8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.' " 9When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12saying, '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.' "
"When evening came" (v. 8). The Torah (Lev. 19:13 and Deut. 24:15) requires that the labourer be paid at the end of the day.
"Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first" (v. 8). Jesus has said that the last will be first (19:30) and will say it again (20:16). Here, in this parable, we see it happen.
"When those hired about five o'clock came" (v. 9). The last are given a denarius, a full day's wages, even though they worked only one hour. "These 'last' ones...are analogous to the tax collectors and the harlots invited into the kingdom by Jesus (see 21:31)" (Hagner).
We hear no complaint from the other workers. They smell generosity, and can hardly wait to see their pay check. Jesus makes no mention of the wages received by those hired at 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m., but presumably each receives a denarius. If so, they all enjoy a bonus, but the bonus becomes progressively smaller as the manager moves to the earlier groups.
"Now when the first came" (v. 10). When their time comes, the all-day workers also receive a denarius, one day's wages exactly as contracted with no bonus added. At that point, they complain (vv. 11-12). Their complaint is not that they should receive more money but that "you have made (the latecomers) equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat" (v. 12). The early risers competed hard in a competitive world, and expected to end up ahead of those who didn't. They got in line early and worked through the heat of the day, and are upset to find themselves lumped in with the five o'clock scum. I suspect for many of us we would agree with this first group of hired workers!
"The parable is upsetting because it functions to challenge and reverse conventional values, including the sense of justice and fairness among Matthew's religious readership, and this is one reason why Matthew chooses to preserve it and insert it here" (Boring, 393). The religious elite (including Peter and the Twelve -- see 19:27) must learn that ordinary disciples will also receive a full measure of grace. They must also understand themselves as recipients of grace rather than as workers who have earned a great reward. "Man is expected to give himself over unreservedly to God's will, and God on his part lavishes grace on man to a degree that cannot be merited" (Johnson, 493). But "how hard the doctrine of merit dies! How proud we are of our 'works'! How blindly we offer our legalities in protest against God's free grace! How loveless we are toward the sinner!" (Buttrick, 493). We are a society governed by meritocracy – rewarding those deserving rewards.
But perhaps Jesus' story is fairer than it seems at first. And so we must ask whether it is better to live most of one's life without Christ -- without faith -- without prayer -- without hope -- and to pay the cost of discipleship only in one's last days? To imagine that those who find Christ on their deathbed have struck a better "deal" suggests that we do not really value our relationship to Christ -- that we value the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow rather than the joy of knowing Jesus. Such discipleship is like valuing great art only for its price tag -- failing to appreciate the way that it enriches life! The person with that attitude lives a shrunken life!
A part of our problem in accepting the grace of this parable stems from our experience in a world where scarcity prevails. While some would argue that there is no scarcity (if we would just distribute goods equitably, there would be plenty for all) that fails to meet the test of our experience. While it might be possible to ensure that everyone can enjoy a daily bowl of rice, it is not possible to give everyone a luxury car -- or a waterfront home. At some point life is a zero-sum game. There is only so much waterfront land, and you and I cannot own the same waterfront lot. Either it is mine or it is yours. Knowing that some of our desires will go unmet, it is difficult for us (1) to rejoice at our neighbour’s good fortune and (2) to shift from this-world-thinking to kingdom-thinking.
But Jesus has just said, "everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life" (19:29). The ultimate reward of faithful discipleship is eternal life and of that there is no scarcity. The kingdom of heaven is not a zero-sum game. When Jesus offers eternal life to the less deserving, he takes nothing from the more deserving. In God's kingdom, we can all have "a mansion just over the hilltop," as the old song says. There is no need for spiritual competition, because our reward is as good as it can possibly get. That is a hard lesson for competitive people to learn.
3. VERSES 13-15: ARE YOU ENVIOUS BECAUSE I AM GENEROUS?
13But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' " (Greek: ho ophthalmos sou poneros estin hoti ego agathos eimi -- Is your eye evil because I am good?)
"Friend, I am doing you no wrong" (v. 13). The landowner calls the complainers "Friend." While they might be ungrateful, he does not call them ingrates. He has shown grace to latecomers, and now he shows grace to those who came early as well.
"Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?" (v. 13). They contracted for the usual wage, and received exactly that. The landowner has not short-changed them, but has paid them fully in accordance with their agreement.
"Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you" (v. 14). There is no harsh judgment here -- only grace. The landowner does not punish the early workers for complaining, but acknowledges that the denarius that they received is their property. They are free to take it and leave. What they are not free to do is to dictate what the landowner will do with the rest of his money. If he chooses to be especially generous to the eleventh hour workers, he will do so -- and he does.
Then the landowner asks, "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?" (v. 15). These two questions go to the heart of this parable. The answers are obvious. First, the landowner is clearly allowed to do what he wants with his money. Second, the all-day workers are envious. They paid the price to get ahead. They got up at the crack of dawn and worked through the heat of the day, but the landowner refused to acknowledge their diligence by elevating them above the latecomers. They were playing by the world's rules, but the landowner was playing by kingdom rules. That was Jonah's complaint -- and the elder brother's -- and the Pharisees.
IThat is our complaint too. We, too, want to bargain with God -- to tell God what we need -- to negotiate a favourable deal. If you don't believe that, examine the content of your prayers. By spelling out details, we hope to persuade God to give us what we want. However, while bargaining with God, " we short-circuit God's grace, so that we only get what we bargain for. We live by trying to strike merit-pay bargains with God, ...and in the dealings... we thwart the richness of God's grace" (Soards -- see also Rom 4:4-5).
"Suddenly we see plainly the true poverty of the first-hour workers. Everybody in the parable is tendered with the wealth of the kingdom.... (but) there these first-hour workers stand, drenched in God's mercy, an ocean of peace running down their faces, clutching their little contracts and whining that they deserve more rain" (Long, 226). If we look carefully, we might see our own faces in that unhappy little crowd.
"The significance of this parable can scarcely be overestimated. Luke 12:47-48 teaches that there are degrees of punishment in hell; Matt 20:1-16, that there are no degrees of reward in heaven. Neither of these facts is commonly known or understood in Christian circles.... But we are fools if we appeal to God for justice rather than grace, for in that case we'd all be damned" (Blomberg).
4. VERSE 16: THE FIRST WILL BE LAST
16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Jesus ends the parable as he began it (19:30). This is the Grand Reversal. "Lasts become firsts by grace; firsts become lasts by hubris (arrogant pride)" (Bruner, 726).
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