Dear friends,

Jesus lived most of his life in Galilee, where agriculture was and still is a major occupation. Many workers were hired by the day, in keeping with the employer’s needs. During harvest time landowners needed a great deal of help, while at other times a prospective worker could stand around all day and not be hired.

That a landowner should hire people to work for the day in his vineyard is not surprising.

That he should hire them at such different times of the day: dawn, 9 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m.—is mildly surprising.

But obviously he wants to finish the work that day, so he keeps on hiring workers.

What is startling is that he pays all the workers the same salary.

Those hired late in the day, we can be sure, were pleasantly surprised, and so they marvel at the landowner’s generosity.

But those hired at dawn become angry and grumble about what they regard as the landowner’s injustice. The landowner defends his practice by reminding the grumblers that he has given them what they agreed to. He ends the controversy with a question intended to silence the grumblers: “Are you envious because I am generous?” (Mt 20:15).

One of the persistent complaints against Jesus by his opponents was that he reached out to marginal persons, proclaiming to them the mercy of God and promising them entrance into God’s kingdom.

The tax collectors and sinners were like those hired at 5:00 p.m, whereas the religiously observant (the scribes and Pharisees) were like those hired at dawn.

The opponents reasoned that according to their vision of God’s justice, they should receive a greater reward than the latecomers.

We might find this parable disturbing because we identify ourselves with those “who bore the day’s burden and the heat.”

Perhaps we are understanding the story from the wrong perspective. If we identify with the undeserving ones, we will be thrilled with the divine generosity.

No one deserves the generosity of God. It is a free gift, given to all who will accept it. If we think we deserve it, we will resent those who in our judgment do not.

Appeal to God's generosity and you will be flooded with joy. Appeal to what you deserve, and you will receive it God is al­ways just. When you get what you deserve, however, you probably won't like it.