The usual daily wage was one denai, the same pay for a
Roman soldier.
2. Matthew 20:3-7; “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5 So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’
“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’
The 3rd hour was 9 am.
The 6th hour was 3pm.
The 11th hour was 5pm.
The New Testament word for market was agora. This was a civic center where people gathered
for recreation, commerce, and where unemployed people came to look for
work. It was also where people would go
to boast about their accomplishments or wealth.
The market also served as a courtroom and place for religious and
political forums. The marketplace was an
urban multipurpose center.
3. Matthew 20:8-12; “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’
According to the Law of Moses workers had to be paid at
the end of the day. This was because
most farm workers were very poor. Based on human standards do you think the landowner was
fair in how he paid his workers?
4. Matthew 20:13-15; “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’
This parable is not about rewards or the fair wages of
employees. Jesus was not making a
political or social stand on the injustice of worker compensation. This parable is not meant to be used to make
labor laws. This parable is about grace
and salvation.
God is generous and we shouldn’t be upset because of who
God chooses to show grace. It is very
possible that when we get to heaven, there will be people there we might be
surprised to see and others we will be surprised not to see. Jesus showed mercy and grace to the criminal
on the cross. We must be careful not to
be jealous, envious, or angry for whom God chooses to bless and show
grace. When we act in this way we become
the “other son” from the parable “The Prodigal Son.”
This parable is about God’s kingdom. God is the landowner. Believers are the workers. This parable is a warning to “old” or
“mature” Christian to not be proud, because we’ve been following Christ for a
long time.
The parable is also meant to reassure “new” or “young”
believers that God’s salvation will shine on them not because of how much they
do, but because of God’s grace.
Romans 9:14-15 says,
"What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,
'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I
have compassion.' "
References: Archaeological Study Bible form Zondervan, Life
Application Study Bible NLT from Tyndale House, www.biblegateway.com; NLT
