The Laborers in the Vineyard is the parable of a master who hired workers from dawn to the eleventh hour and paid them all the same.
Those hired first grumbled.
These last worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us.
Friend, I am doing you no wrong.
Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or do you begrudge my generosity?
So the last will be first, and the first last.
Matthew sets the story after a rich man walked away and Peter said, See, we have left everything. Jesus promised a hundredfold, and then added that many who are first will be last. Then the vineyard. A master goes out early, at the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and still at the eleventh, and finds men standing idle because no one has hired them. He sends them too. At evening the steward pays, beginning with the last. One hour’s work receives a denarius. The all-day men expect more and receive the same wage they agreed to at dawn. Their eye is evil because the master is good.
The vineyard is the Lord’s work. The denarius is what He promised. The scandal is grace that will not rank the clock the way men rank it. Late-called Gentiles, last-hour penitents, workers who thought seniority was a claim on extra glory—all stand in this field. The master is not unjust to the first. He is free with what is His. Envy dressed as fairness is the sin the story names. The last first and the first last is not a slogan to erase labor. It is the warning that the Owner’s generosity will rearrange the line.
- The first were not cheated. They received the contract they signed at dawn.
- The last were not lucky thieves. They were hired because the master kept going out.
- Idle is not always lazy. No one had hired them.
- An evil eye is envy of another’s gift, not a defense of justice.
- What belongs to the master is His to give.
- First and last language follows Peter’s claim and the rich man’s refusal.
- Grace can look unfair to the person who has been working since six.
- The Owner – He goes out again and again to hire.
- The Hours – Dawn, third, sixth, ninth, eleventh.
- The Agreement – A denarius with the first; “whatever is right” with the rest.
- The Line – Last paid first, so the first will see it.
- The Grumble – You made them equal to us.
- The Answer – Friend, I do you no wrong. Must your eye be evil because I am good?
- The Saying – The last first, and the first last.
- Matthew 20:1-7 – “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. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard… And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’”
- Matthew 20:8-12 – “And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘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 those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘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 20:13-16 – “But he replied to one of them, ‘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?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
- Matthew 19:27-30 – Peter said, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus promised thrones and a hundredfold, then said, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
- Matthew 19:16-22 – The rich young man went away sorrowful.
- Jonah 4:1-4 – Jonah was angry that God had mercy on Nineveh. “Do you do well to be angry?”
- Luke 15:28-32 – The older brother would not go in; you never gave me a young goat; son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
- Romans 9:14-16 – Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.
- Romans 11:6 – If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
- Ephesians 2:8-9 – By grace you have been saved through faith; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
- Titus 3:5 – He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy.
- Matthew 23:11-12 – The greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled.
- Luke 17:10 – When you have done all that you were commanded, say, We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 – The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel.
- John 4:35-38 – One sows, another reaps; I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor.
- 1 Corinthians 3:8 – He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
- Matthew 9:37-38 – The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.
He went out early, and at the third hour, and the sixth, and the ninth, and the eleventh.
Why do you stand idle? No one has hired us. You go into the vineyard too.
Beginning with the last, each received a denarius.
You have made them equal to us who bore the burden and the heat.
Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to Me? Must your eye be evil because I am good?
The last will be first, and the first last. Take what is yours and go. Do not begrudge the Owner His generosity. Enter the field when He calls. Leave the payroll to Him.
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