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The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out
early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed
to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing
in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and
work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5So
they went.
6"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour
and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and
found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you
been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his
foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with
the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and
each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first,
they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received
a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against
the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one
hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne
the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair
to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay
and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I
gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own
money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Explanation: Reversal of Fortunes (19:30-20:16)
The parable in 20:1-16 explicitly illustrates the point that the
first will be last and the last . . . first (19:30; 20:16); Matthew
uses this principle to frame the parable and hence summarize its
primary point. The principle appears at the same point in Mark,
though Matthew alone includes this parable of laborers in the vineyard.
Jesus may have defended outcasts in this parable. Whether one thinks
of Gentiles or of other excluded classes, recognizing the exaltation
of the socially, ethnically or morally excluded fits Jesus' emphasis
elsewhere (as in 22:1-14; 23:12; Lk 14:11; compare 1 Cor 1:26-31).
In Matthew's context the emphasis is probably on disciples who humble
themselves and sacrifice much but are amply rewarded, in contrast
to those who only pretend to follow without sacrifice (19:21-30;
23:2-12). Jesus speaks of rank in the day of judgment (5:19).
Jesus' hearers could relate to the story he told. Rich landowners
(Jas 5:1-5), vineyards (Song 8:11; m. Kil'ayim 4:1-8:1) and hirelings
(Jn 10:12) were important features of Galilean life in this period.
Other Palestinian texts support the plausibility of various details
of the text (such as the way idle workers are hired). Other Jewish
teachers also could portray God as the master of one's labor, who
would pay the reward of one's work (m. 'Abot 2:14). Many Galileans
seem to have owned small homes and worked their own fields or crafts
(Goodman 1983:34), but many others were peasants working the estates
of a handful of well-to-do absentee landlords (see Horsley and Hanson
1985:59). Sometimes workers hired themselves out to work for others
for a period of time up to six years (Klausner 1979:180), but temporary
help was cheaper for employers. Harvest required an influx of extra
workers-most to harvest, and some to guard crops in the fields and
gathered sheaves against thieves and animals. A few lesser-paid
donkey drivers, sometimes boys, were often required as well (N.
Lewis 1983:122-23). Landowners typically drew from the ranks of
the landless-sometimes homeless-poor for such brief and urgent tasks
(Goodman 1983:38-39).A day officially began at sunset, but Jewish
people reckoned hours from sunrise at about 6:00 a.m. (Jeremias
1972:136 n. 21); the third hour was thus between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m.
and the eleventh hour (v. 6) between 4:00 and 5:00. Twelve-hour
workdays were customary only during harvest time. In Jesus' story
the landowner finds extra workers sitting idle in the marketplace
because they have not been hired.
God rewards his servants according to grace. As in verse 8, employers
paid wages in the evening (Lev 19:13; Deut 24:14-15; Jeremias 1972:136;
Goodman 1983:39). The landowner pays equal wages to all the workers,
a full day's work for each. Those who have worked all day lose nothing;
justice is served, but mercy is added. Jewish hearers would consider
it pious to give wages even to those not expecting it (Test. Job
12:3-4; p. Baba Mesi`a 6:1, 2; compare Jos. Ant. 20.219-20).
Those who treat God's grace as his obligation are evil. Nevertheless,
those who have labored all day complain (Mt 20:11; compare Lk 15:2);
Jesus' hearers may have been shocked that workers would openly react
so negatively to a benevolent landowner from whom they might need
future favors. But the landowner puts them in their place, politely
shaming them by reminding them that they are objecting not to injustice
but to generosity. In verse 15 he is generous (literally "good";
compare 19:17); they are envious (literally, have an "evil
eye"-are stingy; see comment on 6:23). In verse 13 he singles
out one, perhaps the primary murmurer (Jeremias 1972:137), but whereas
the workers have neglected to greet him with the requisite title
(20:12; compare Lk 15:29), he offers a polite title, Friend (Mt
20:13)-which Matthew always uses to shame one who has arrogantly
presumed on another's grace (22:13; 26:50).
In later rabbinic parables a landowner provides one who labored
two hours with pay equal to that of others who labored all day because
he accomplished more in his two hours than they had all day; or
he pays a hard worker, symbolizing Israel, much extra. By contrast,
the image in Jesus' parable is of unmerited grace; the owner realizes
that an hour's fraction of a day's wage would not sustain a family
(Jeremias 1972:37; France 1985:289). But a parable of grace also
challenges those who operate only on a principle of merit, despising
the showing of mercy because they feel it unfairly raises others
to their own standing (Jeremias 1972:38, comparing Lk 15:25-32).
Jesus Again Predicts His Death
17Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples
aside and said to them, 18"We are going up to Jerusalem, and
the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers
of the law. They will condemn him to death 19and will turn him over
to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third
day he will be raised to life!"
A Mother's Request
20Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons
and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21"What is it you want?" he asked.
She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit
at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."
22"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to
them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?"
"We can," they answered.
23Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but
to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places
belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
24When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two
brothers. 25Jesus called them together and said, "You know
that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their high
officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead,
whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and
whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28just as the Son
of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his
life as a ransom for many."
Explanation: The Price of Jesus' Mission (20:17-21:16)
After encountering another prediction of Jesus' imminent death (20:17-19),
the reader of Matthew learns the relationship between his death
and his mission (20:28). Shortly after this, Jesus shames the authorities
with such deliberate provocation that they must eventually arrest
him or lose face (21:12-13).Suffering for the Kingdom (20:17-19)
As in Mark, Matthew's repeated passion predictions (16:21; 17:22-23)
keep the reader focused on where the story of Jesus is heading.
Disciples may sacrifice much and be rewarded (19:21-20:16), but
the ultimate sacrifice is martyrdom, the price paid by Jesus and
many who would follow him all the way (20:17-19).
The placement of this prediction exposes the disciples' selfish
conception of the kingdom in verses 20-22, 24: for them the kingdom
is about reigning, but Jesus recognizes that reigning first requires
suffering (vv. 22-28). Significantly, this passion prediction adds
the notion of mocking by Gentiles, a horrifying image in a culture
emphasizing shame (as in Epict. Disc. 1.4.10) and diametrically
opposed to the picture of a militant Messiah triumphing over the
nations.
The disciples had managed to ignore Jesus' warnings that did not
make sense on their cultural and theological presuppositions; undoubtedly
they felt that other sayings confirmed their predispositions (19:28).
In this respect they were not unlike most Christians today.
The Reign of a Suffering Servant (20:20-28)
This passage shows us that the disciples had misunderstood both
the preceding passion predictions and Jesus' teaching concerning
the kingdom's nature. Hearing Jesus' promise of a special place
for the Twelve (19:28), James and John wanted to establish a special
place among the Twelve. While each of us is special to the Lord,
we must not fail to recognize, as the sons of Zebedee did, that
all other disciples are special to him as well. To accomplish their
petition they enlisted their mother; Jewish tradition accorded aged
women a special place of respect that younger women did not hold
(compare Judg 5:7; 2 Sam 14:2; 20:16-22; Tit 2:4). Further, women
could get away with asking requests men dare not ask, both in Jewish
(Lk 18:2-5; 2 Sam 14:1-21; 20:16-22; 1 Kings 1:11-16; 2:17; Bailey
1980:134) and broader Greco-Roman culture (Dixon 1988:179).
To the disciples, recognizing that Jesus was Messiah and would soon
reign was an expression of faith (16:17); unfortunately, they failed
to grasp the seriousness of the sacrifice that constituted the prerequisite
for his kingdom (16:21-27). Outsiders recognized Jesus' Davidic
rule in truth (15:22; 20:30-31), but here James and John function
more like the crowds that recognize Jesus' Davidic role when it
is popular (21:9). Those crowds never became disciples who submitted
to Jesus' rule; they preferred a revolutionary (27:17-25).The Lord
Evaluates the Motivation for Our Prayers (20:20-21)
The context of this passage explicitly contrasts this prayer for
costless glory with a desperate prayer of true need in verses 29-34.
Both groups recognized Jesus as the coming King, but the first group
sought Jesus for personal advancement, the latter out of genuine
need.
Only Those Who Suffer with Jesus Will Reign
with Him (20:22-23)
This principle became a standard teaching of early Christians (Rom
8:17; 2 Thess 1:5; 2 Tim 2:12). The cup disciples must share is
his death (26:27-28, 39), borrowed from one image of God's wrath
in the Prophets (Ps 11:6; Is 51:17; Jer 25:15-17; 51:7; Hab 2:16;
Zech 12:2). Jesus later tells them as much at the Last Supper (Mt
26:27-28). As R. A. Cole notes, "This price they will in any
case pay, for this is not the price of Christian greatness but the
price of following Christ at all" (Cole 1961:170).
The Greatest Role Belongs to the Self-Sacrificial
Servant (20:24-28)
James and John were not the only ones with a problem; the other
disciples were angry with them because they too wanted a high position.
Competition for status among peers was important in their culture
(v. 24; see Derrett 1973:54; Malina 1993:133). But the world's models
for status differ from those in God's kingdom; because honor ultimately
belongs to God alone, we should humble ourselves and serve, allowing
God to exalt us. Rank in the day of judgment (5:19) will confound
many of our expectations (18:4; 23:11): it will expose the pride
of many who are respected in today's church, while conversely, God's
revelation of the lives of many humble and unknown servants of Christ
will bring him much honor.
Jesus argues his point by means of both negative and positive example.
Negatively, one should not be like the pagans (20:25; compare 5:47;
6:7; 18:17). Not only those in Jesus' day but all the tyrants and
empires of history confirm his point: absolute power always corrupts
precisely because the desire for power over others, to whatever
extent we may achieve it, shows that we ourselves are slaves to
self-centeredness.Positively, Jesus himself was a suffering servant
who laid down his life for us (compare Jn 13:13-15, 31-35). This
is a typical Jewish "how much more" argument: if our Master
was a servant, how much more should we humble ourselves! Matthew
sees in this an allusion to the suffering servant of Isaiah (Mt
12:18), particularly in offering his "soul" or "life"
as "a ransom" or redemption price on behalf of "many"
("the many"; Is 53:10-12; compare Mt 26:28; Rom 5:15;
see Cullmann 1959:64-65; pace Hooker 1959:74-79).
The language here is that of substitutionary atonement (see especially
Morris 1965:34; Gundry 1982:404; compare Ladd 1974b:187-88). As
in Philippians 2:1-11, however, the Evangelists treat us to this
summary of Jesus' mission not to rehearse the doctrine of salvation
but to provide an active model for Christian living. To what extent
would Jesus serve? Fulfilling the servant's mission, he would lay
down his life on behalf of his people; of disciples he expects no
less.
Two Blind Men Receive Sight
29As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd
followed him. 30Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and
when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord,
Son of David, have mercy on us!"
31The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted
all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
32Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do
for you?" he asked.
33"Lord," they answered, "we want our sight."
34Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately
they received their sight and followed him.
Explanation: Persistent Prayer (20:29-34)
Despite the notorious dangers of roads like the one from Jericho
to Jerusalem (v. 29; compare Lk 10:30), many beggars would have
sought alms from Passover pilgrims there in this season (Lane 1974:387).
Although Matthew, abbreviating Mark's account, omits the label "faith"
here (Mk 10:52), he illustrates the same principle (Mt 9:29). While
this text does not promote selfish prayers like the one illustrated
in 20:20-21, it does provide principles for one with a desperate
need (vv. 32-33). Like many other passages, this one provides a
model for how to approach our risen Lord today.
These Suppliants Recognize Jesus' Identity
(20:29-30)
They could entreat Jesus in faith because they recognized his authority.
They recognized that he was Son of David-rightful ruler in God's
coming kingdom (1:1; 15:22; 21:9). They also acknowledged their
need of mercy (5:7; compare 6:2-4-"alms" originally literally
meant "acts of mercy"), humbly depending on his favor
rather than their own merit or formulas.
They Refuse to Let Others' Priorities Deter
Them (20:31)
The crowd already "following" Jesus (vv. 29, 31; compare
8:1; 19:2) did not want a figure of Jesus' caliber to be interrupted
by a beggar. Many probably wanted him to get on with the business
of setting up the kingdom they hoped he would establish (21:9).
It is easy for us to want to get on with "ministry," with
what we suppose are the agendas of the kingdom, and forget that
God's agendas demand that we serve people in need (20:28; compare
19:13). We must exercise sufficient faith in our Lord's authority
and concern so that no one else's impatient dismissal of our need
will hinder our dependence on God (compare 8:7; 15:24-26).
Compassion Is Jesus' Ultimate Motivation (20:32-34)
Although the men's need for sight was obvious, Jesus allowed them
to voice their need (vv. 32-33); then he acted from his compassion
(v. 34). God knows the pain in his people's lives. Whether he gives
us the strength to endure pain or (quite often) heals us in response
to persistent prayer, it is not because we have mastered formulas
of prayer. It is because he cares for us intimately (6:8; compare
9:36; 14:14; 15:32).
Recipients of Jesus' Gifts Should Follow Him (20:34)
Responding to Jesus' compassionate healing, the formerly blind men
now choose to follow him, becoming models of discipleship. We who
have seen both Jesus' power and his compassion best show our love
by following him as disciples (Matthew's primary sense of "follow"-8:19,
22; 19:21). We should remember, however, that following Jesus means
following to the cross (20:17-28).
