25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

(Mt 20:1–16)

Matthew 20:1 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at daybreak to hire labourers for his vineyard.

Matthew 20:2 He agreed to pay them a denarius a day and sent them into his vineyard.

Matthew 20:3 Going out again about nine o’clock in the morning, he saw others standing in the market square with nothing to do

Matthew 20:4 and said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard; I will pay you whatever is fair.’ So they went.

Matthew 20:5 He went out again at midday and at three o’clock and did the same.

Matthew 20:6 Going out again at five o’clock, he saw others standing there and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’

Matthew 20:7 They replied, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ And he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’

Matthew 20:8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the labourers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

Matthew 20:9 When those hired at five o’clock in the afternoon came, they each received a denarius.

Matthew 20:10 When the first came, they thought they would receive more. But they too received a denarius each.

Matthew 20:11 As they received it, however, they grumbled against the owner, saying:

Matthew 20:12 ‘These last ones have only worked for one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.’

Matthew 20:13 But the master replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me for one denarius?

Matthew 20:14 Take what is yours and go; but I want to give this last one as much as I gave you.

Matthew 20:15 Am I not free to do what I wish with my own? Or are you envious because I am generous?

Matthew 20:16 Thus the last will be first, and the first last.’

Two points must be borne in mind: a) the Gospels were written primarily, if not exclusively, for the communities of believers, and were a response to the problems and needs of these communities. Their purpose, therefore, was purely pastoral; b) the fact that only Matthew records this parable means that it was intended to address a problem within his community. It is not difficult to understand who these ‘first’ people were—those who did not get on with the ‘last’ and who refused to be treated as their equals, because they were already in the vineyard when the latter arrived. Matthew is speaking of the difficult and often strained relations that existed between Jewish Christians and pagans converts from paganism. Such is the historical context.

The master of the house, the owner of the vineyard, is described as ‘going out at dawn’ in search of labourers. It is therefore the master who takes the initiative; it is he who goes out in search of them. The temporal expression (“at daybreak”) evokes the beginnings of the relationship between God and his people, with whom he establishes a Covenant—a fact alluded to, in a way, by the fact that the master agrees on the pay for having accepted his offer of work. The opening verses thus narrate, with masterful skill, the essential elements of the beginnings of Israel’s history, through which Matthew highlights the historical primacy of that people over others: they were the first to be called and the first to respond to the call. But the ‘day’, which represents the time of salvation history, did not end with them, for the householder’s initiative continues throughout the day, right up to the eleventh hour—the final moment of this time of salvation—characterised by a continuous and constant call open to all.

The history of salvation, which began with Israel, continues over time, gradually extending to the whole of humanity. However, the difference between the ‘before’ (the Old Testament) and the ‘after’ (the New Testament) is indicated by the difference in the householder’s attitude towards those called: whilst there is no dialogue between the master and the labourers – it is merely emphasised that he made a contract (Covenant) with them – in the subsequent calls, on the other hand, the master himself initiates a dialogue with those he calls, addressing them regarding their idleness and urging them to accept his call. He does not promise them an agreed sum of money; he promises something else: ‘I will give you what is fair’. What is fair for those who come later? This is not stated, but we shall come to understand what God’s justice is.

These new labourers, called to work in the vineyard alongside the first ones, are described, at the moment of their call, as ‘unemployed’ and ‘idle’—people, therefore, without work or a trade—whom only their acceptance of the call will transform into ‘labourers in the vineyard’, placing them on an equal footing with the first ones. There is therefore no difference between the first and the others, since they all work in the same vineyard, they have all been equally called by the one Master, and they have all, in the same way, responded to the call. Arriving first is merely a matter of timing, which has nothing to do with the Father’s plan of salvation, the aim of which is to ensure that people respond to his call, which gives them a new identity, transforming them into new creatures. Human rules, which reward those who arrive first, are therefore completely overturned, to make way for the willingness of the human heart to respond to God’s call.

In fact, what matters to the master of the vineyard is not the amount of work done or the length of time the labourer has spent working, but rather the fact that they were there, that they worked for him by offering him the gift of their lives.

The reaction of the first labourers is one of indignation, not least because the disproportion and injustice in the treatment of the last compared to the first is glaringly obvious. However, this is not a news story about social injustice, but a parable dealing with a new reality that came into being with the coming of Jesus. We must, therefore, set aside feelings of indignation and human reasoning in order to see, behind the apparent injustice, the new principles of the Kingdom, which clash with the sectarianism and individualism of the Jewish world, which conceived of God and his salvation as the exclusive property of Israel.

The grumbling of the first labourers over the treatment they received—which seemed unjust—is not so much a demand for wages as it is a protest at having been treated as the last; this is what is unbearable and unacceptable: ‘These last ones […] you have treated them as us […]’. Herein lies the problem of the first labourers, a metaphor for Judaism, but also for the majority of Jewish Christians, who considered it unacceptable to be placed on the same level as the pagans. They had long been familiar with the ways of God; they were the first to enter into the Covenant; they were the first to shape their lives according to God’s requirements; they were the first to be called a holy people and a kingdom of priests; they are the heirs of the promise and the descendants of Abraham. None of this could be overlooked in the face of these recent upstarts; nor could they bear to be treated as equals with the new believers coming from paganism. Jewish pride was deeply wounded by this.

The master’s response aims to emphasise the righteousness of his actions: the relationship between the master and the workers of the first hour is governed by a Covenant, a gift to Israel—the people called from the very beginning—bound to God through their acceptance of the Covenant. But there is also an order to leave (v. 14): ‘Take what is yours and go’. In other words, the master makes it clear that in the new reality he has created, there is no place for recriminations, because these clash with the master’s intentions: he has decided to extend the salvation given to the first to all people who make themselves available to the call. In this plan of universal salvation, there is no room for a hierarchy, because salvation is not linked to ‘whoever arrives first’, but to a person’s response to the proclamation. For this reason, insisting on criteria of seniority and religious pride means failing to understand the divine plan, which, having begun with Israel, was now being extended, through Jesus, to all humanity; it meant standing in the way of the realisation of this plan of universal salvation. Here, then, is the meaning of the command: ‘Take what is yours and go’. In other words, if the Jewish Christian is unable to adapt to the new reality inaugurated in Jesus, it is best that he return to where he came from, to the Mosaic Covenant. Let him, therefore, take what is his (the Mosaic Law) and go. Whoever wants a just God will have a just God and nothing more. Do you want from God only what is rightfully yours? Well, take it and go; you will not have His grace and His friendship.

‘Thus the last shall be first and the first last.’ No one knows why they are called first and no one knows why they are called last. Everyone, however, must respond promptly to the Lord and go to work in His vineyard.

We can apply this parable to ourselves. God is the master who hires the labourers—that is, people—and sends them to work in his vineyard, that is, in his Church. The different hours of the day symbolise the different stages of life, during which God calls people to his service. Evening signifies the end of the world—that is, the Last Judgement—or even the end of a person’s life. The money represents eternal life. The master’s generous conduct towards the workers of the eleventh hour shows that no one should despair of their own salvation, for at any time they may turn to God with the certainty of being welcomed. Furthermore, the fact that he gave everyone the same wage shows how God does not distinguish between one who was called first and another called later, nor between one who worked for a short time and another for a long time. God is the master of the grace He bestows, and He bestows it as He wills: and to the convert of the last hour He may grant enough to make him equal in merit to the one who, from the very dawn of life, had placed himself at His service. No one, therefore, has any reason to boast or to consider themselves superior to others for having served the Lord for a longer time, or for having done or suffered more for Him.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, in the mystery of the Trinity

Jesus’ prophetic discourse (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)