Equal pay for unequal work! The parable of the labourers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16) is puzzling and seems to contradict our basic understanding of economic justice. Ask any group of bystanders and they are likely to give you this opinion. ‘If this is the kingdom of heaven, how can this God be just?’, some may ask following Isaac the Syrian. The parable recounted by Matthew has to be placed in context, for Jesus has just congratulated the disciples who have followed him by promising them their reward in the kingdom, where they will exercise the authority that was formerly exercised by the judges over the tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:27-30).
But, as always with Jesus, there can be no rewards for complacency. If, as seems likely, this is a parable illustrating the last judgement rather than contemporary social conditions, then we are warned against human reckoning and human presumption: the judgement rests with God alone, who may choose to reward the apparently less deserving as well as those who are confident in their deserts yet who are also warned against envy: ‘are you envious because I am generous?’ Just as judgement comes in God’s time, not man’s, so too the nature of the judgement will be God’s and not man’s. Each of the workers in the vineyard received the same wage. Our sole concern is not with how God reaches his judgement, but the promise of the same reward, which is admission to the kingdom. In that sense it matters not whether we are first or last. The important point is to arrive at the right destination!
St Guthlac's Church blog. Welcome to your community church in South Knighton
