Jesus told the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in to people who believed they had earned something.
A landowner hires workers at dawn, then again at nine, noon, three, and five. At the end of the day, he pays everyone the same wage—starting with those who worked only an hour. The workers who started at dawn expect more. They receive exactly what was agreed. And they are furious.
Why would the landowner do this?
The Expositor's Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition), available with Bible Gateway Plus, names what the parable is actually doing:
13-15 The landowner insists, in a mild rebuke, that he is not cheating anyone. He has paid the agreed wage. Should he want to pay others more, that is his business. Provided he has been just in all his dealings, does he not have the right to do what he wants with his money? These rhetorical questions (vv.13b-15) show that God's great gifts, simply because they are God's, are distributed, not because they are earned, but because he is gracious. In the kingdom of God, the driving force is not merit and ability (as in the world) but grace.
The workers who started at dawn weren't shortchanged. They received everything they were promised. What they couldn't bear was grace given freely to someone else.
Ask yourself: When do I struggle to rejoice in God's generosity toward someone else? How might this parable invite me to receive grace as a gift rather than a reward?
Read the full parable: Matthew 20:1–16.
