This parable explains why the last will become first. It begins with a well known scene but then introduces surprising elements to make a powerful point.
"Jesus deliberately and cleverly led the listeners along by degrees until they understood that if God's generosity was to be represented by a man, such a man would be different from any man ever encountered."741
20:1-2 Jesus introduced this parable as He did the other kingdom parables in chapter 13 (cf. 13:24, 31, 33, et al.). This is how conditions will be in the messianic kingdom. One denarius was the normal day's wage for a day laborer in Jesus' day (cf. 18:28). The vineyard is a common figure for Israel in the Old Testament (Isa. 3:14; 5:1-2; Jer. 12:10; et al.).
20:3-7 The third hour would be about 9:00 a.m., the sixth hour about noon, and the eleventh hour about 5:00 p.m. The market place would have been the central square of the town where day laborers obtained work and pay. The landowner did not promise a particular wage, only that He would deal justly with the laborers. Jesus did not explain why the landowner kept hiring more workers throughout the day. That was an irrelevant detail in His story. All the workers trusted the landowner to give them what was fair at the end of the day.
20:8-12 The evening was the time of reckoning for the workers (cf. Lev. 19:13). The order in which the landowner's foreman paid the workers created a problem. In view of what he paid those hired late in the day, those who began working earlier expected to receive more than they had hoped for. They grumbled against him because he had been generous to the latecomers and only just with them. They cited their hard working conditions as justification for their grievance.
20:13-15 "Friend"is only a mild term of rebuke in this context. The landowner pointed out that he had not cheated those whom he hired earlier in the day. He had paid the wage they agreed to. It was his business if he wanted to pay the latecomers more than they deserved. The evil or envious eye (v. 15) was an idiom depicting jealousy (cf. 6:23; Deut. 15:9; 1 Sam. 18:9).
The landowner's rhetorical questions explained that he had distributed the wages as he had because he was gracious and generous as well as just.
20:16 The point of the parable was that God will graciously do more for some of those who work for Him than His justice demands.
In view of the context, the 12 disciples correspond to the workers hired at the beginning of the day, the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Those hired later correspond to other people who became Jesus' disciples later in His ministry. One of these people might have been the rich young man if he had become a disciple (vv. 16-22). Peter's question about what the Twelve would receive (v. 27) had implied that they should receive a greater reward since their sacrifice had been greater. This parable taught him that God would give him a just reward for his sacrificial labor for Jesus. Nonetheless God had the right to give just as great reward to those whose service was not as long. This parable taught the disciples not to think of heavenly rewards in terms of justice, getting in proportion to what they deserved. They should think of them in terms of grace, any reward being an act of God's grace. Even those hired early in the day received a reward, and the landowner had been gracious and generous in hiring them and not others.
Modern disciples of Jesus should view heavenly rewards the same way. The only reason we will receive any reward is that God has called us to be His workers. We can count on God dealing with us justly, graciously, and generously whether we serve God all our lives or only a short time having become His disciples later in life.
This parable does not teach that God will reward all His disciples equally. Other parables teach that He will not (e.g., 25:14-30). The point of this one is that God will reward all His disciples justly, graciously, and generously. In some cases the last called will be among the first in rank of blessing. Conversely in some cases those whom God called early in their lives may not receive as much reward as those called later in life if their commitment to Jesus was inferior.
Jesus was probably hinting at more in this parable. Disciples in Jesus' day would not necessarily receive more reward than disciples whom God calls to serve Him just before the day of laboring ends, before His second coming. Neither would Jewish disciples necessarily receive more than Gentile disciples whom God calls later in His program of preparation for the kingdom (cf. 1 Cor. 6:2; Rev. 2:26).
