“When
those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 20:9-16
Matthew 20 [7.] “They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
“He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’
Matthew 20 [9.] “When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’
Matthew 20 [13.] “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 20 [17.] As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
Meaning:
The master of the vineyard had hired workers at dawn, at nine, at noon, at three and finally at five o’clock. At evening he told his manager to pay them, “beginning from the last to the first” (Matthew 20:1-8). Now comes the surprise of the parable, and its lesson about God’s grace.
- “They each received a denarius”
The men who had worked one hour received a full day’s wage. It was enough to feed their families that night. The master did not pay them for what they had earned, but for what they needed. Their pay was a gift.
- “They supposed that they would receive more”
The first workers watched and did their sums. If one hour earned a denarius, surely twelve hours would earn far more. When they also received one denarius, they “murmured against the master.” Their complaint was not that they had been cheated, but “you have made them equal to us.” What hurt was not their own wage but the generosity shown to others.
This is the attitude of the elder brother in Jesus’ parable of the lost son, who protested to his father, “Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours” (Luke 15:29-30). The faithful worker resents the mercy shown to the latecomer.
- “Friend, I am doing you no wrong”
The master answers kindly, calling the man “Friend.” In Matthew this word is used gently but as a rebuke, as when Jesus said to Judas, “Friend, why are you here?” (Matthew 26:50). The master reminds him of the agreement: “Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius?” Justice was done. Then he states his right: “Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own?”
God said the same to Moses: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19). No one is wronged by God’s generosity to someone else.
- “Or is your eye evil, because I am good?”
An “evil eye” was a Hebrew way of speaking of envy and stinginess. Jesus taught, “But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6:23). The master’s goodness exposed the envy in the hearts of the first workers.
- “So the last will be first, and the first last”
The parable ends with the saying that began it in reverse (Mark 10:31). Those who think they deserve first place, like Peter asking “What then will we have?” are warned not to measure the Kingdom by merit. Tax collectors and sinners who came late would share the same salvation as those who had served long. “For many are called, but few are chosen” warns that many hear God’s invitation, but not all receive it with a right heart.
The Significance of Matthew 20:9-16
- Grace, not wages
Eternal life is not payment for hours worked. Everyone who enters the Kingdom receives the same gift from the same generous Lord.
- Rejoice in others’ blessing
Envy turns God’s kindness to others into a grievance. Disciples are called to rejoice when God is generous to latecomers, new believers and those once far away.
- Serving is itself a privilege
The first workers had spent the whole day in the master’s vineyard and had the certainty of their pay. Long service with God is not a burden to be compensated but a joy in itself.
Cross-References:
Luke 15:29: "Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours," The elder brother’s complaint.
Exodus 33:19: "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious," God’s freedom to show mercy.
Matthew 6:23: "But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness." Envy darkens the heart.
Conclusion: At evening every worker in the vineyard received a denarius, from the last hired to the first. The first workers grumbled that the latecomers had been made equal to them, but the master answered that he had done them no wrong and was free to be generous. The passage teaches that God’s salvation is a gift of grace, not a wage for merit; it warns against envy at his goodness to others, and it reminds us that the last will be first, and the first last.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible