Equal At The Last Hour

According to Jesus, some will be rewarded equally to us even though they came at the last hour whereas we served for a lifetime (Matthew 20:1–16).

Jesus’ parable about the landowner and his laborers in Matthew 20 stuns us. It captures well what is in our hearts as well as that which is in the heart of Christ, and these are not always the same. What do I mean?

A landowner hired workers early in the morning to work for what was considered a fair day’s wages. Let’s say it was for $170. They agreed to work all day for that price, which they deemed fair. However, the landowner would go to the market throughout the day and hire new workers. In fact, at 5 p.m., when the day was almost over for working, the landowner hired more individuals in the market who were looking to work but had yet to find employment for the day.

When it came time to pay the workers, the landowner informed the individual handing out the paychecks to first pay those who did not begin their work until 5 p.m. They, too, were to be paid $170, except it was for only an hour’s work.

Those all-day laborers who observed the amount of money the last-hour individuals received for working just an hour concluded that they would be paid far more than the original $170 they had first been offered and had agreed to. Their hearts surged with excitement. Surely, if the landowner were that generous with the last-hour workers, he would be even more generous with those who labored all day in the hot sun. Or so they thought . . .

However, when those who had worked all day in the fields finally received their paychecks, they were in shock—$170 for them too! They grumbled, complained, and protested. They were anything but happy.

Ironically, had the Lord not been gracious as He was with the last-hour workers, the first-hour workers would not have been bothered. After all, the landowner was not unjust to them, for he still paid them the amount to which they had happily agreed. Instead, he was only guilty of being exceedingly generous to the others. Yet the first-hour workers fixated on what felt unfair to them rather than on the landowner’s generosity.

This story shows something profound in many of our hearts. We grumble, complain, and protest when the Lord is generous with those we feel are less deserving. We turn envious and jealous, even though the Lord is not unkind to us.

Many of us need to confess that we have a real problem when people are rewarded with the same reward we receive, yet we work and suffer longer.

For instance, a wife has been following Jesus for thirty years, whereas her husband has lived a carnal life. Discovering that he has cancer, he turns his heart over to Jesus Christ in the last year of his life. He changes. The change is so significant that God uses him in many people’s lives. The church community surrounds him and sings his praises, and even the pastor honors him publicly for the transformation that took place in his life. 

However, this begins to bother his wife, not because he’s come to Jesus Christ, but because she has sought to be faithful all these years and suffered from having to live with him but did not experience people honoring and blessing her. Furthermore, the pastor encouraged her to forgive her husband as the Lord had forgiven him. Jesus Himself spoke to her heart to forgive him as He had forgiven him and her. But in her heart, she grumbled, “This is unfair. Why does he receive such accolades while everyone, including God, turns a blind eye to all I had to endure because of him?”

Yes, we get it. Technically we can argue this is unfair. Yet, is it really? Should this be about the Lord’s (perceived) unfairness to the wife or His incredible generosity and graciousness to the husband?

Should not our focus be on the Lord’s grace and mercy that He offers to those who turn to Him even in the last hour?

Besides, had not this wife received the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ for thirty years? Did she not agree that God had been good to her? Had she not prayed for her husband’s salvation? So, should the Lord not extend grace and mercy to her husband at the last hour? Is it wrong for her husband to receive from the Lord what she had received herself? Should the Lord not be generous with her husband? Why is this unfair to her?

Jesus’ parable in Matthew 20 is a classic illustration about how we tend to focus on what we feel is unfair to us rather than looking at the Lord’s generosity.

But some protest. “My spouse lived a carnal life, indulging their selfish appetites, while I had to walk with Jesus alone and suffer in a Christless marriage.”

These feelings are real. It’s true that the other person doesn’t deserve this grace, mercy, and reward. But neither do you. Neither do I! That’s precisely what grace and mercy are all about. Grace is receiving something we don’t deserve (blessing and rewards). Mercy is not receiving what we do deserve (condemnation). 

But when we think a person has their cake and can eat it too, we go through the roof. We are angry because we focus on what we feel is unfair to us, and ignore what the Lord declares: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong… Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:13–15).

These early-bird workers chose to grumble, complain, and protest. Will we?