Catholic Commentary on Matthew 20

"So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Matthew 20:16)

The Workers in the Vineyard

A landowner hires workers at dawn, at nine, at noon, at three, and at five in the afternoon. At the end of the day those hired last are paid first, receiving a full denarius. Those hired at dawn, who expected more, receive the same denarius. They grumble. The landowner responds: Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous? The parable is not about labour economics. It is about the scandalous generosity of the Kingdom of God. The latecomers, the deathbed converts, the prodigals who return at the last hour, receive the same full inheritance as those who have laboured a lifetime. This offends the human sense of proportionality. It reveals the nature of grace: not earned, not proportional to effort, not a calculation. It is the free gift of a generous God who owes nothing to anyone and gives everything to those who trust him.

The Third Passion Prediction

Jesus takes the Twelve aside and speaks plainly: We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life! Immediately after this, the mother of James and John approaches to ask that her sons may sit at his right and left in his Kingdom. The disciples have not understood at all. The Cross is before them and they are negotiating seating arrangements. Jesus answers: you do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink? They say yes without knowing what they are agreeing to. Most of the Twelve will indeed drink it.

Servant of All

Jesus calls the Twelve and says: Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. The Kingdom's entire leadership structure is inverted. Greatness is defined by service. Authority is exercised as slavery. The model is the one who came not to be served but to give his life. St. Augustine wrote that this is the constitution of the Church: all authority in it is service, and any exercise of authority that is not simultaneously an act of service has departed from the mind of Christ.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the workers who grumbled were comparing their reward to others' rather than receiving what they had been promised. This is the source of most spiritual bitterness: comparison with those who seem to have received more grace, more gifts, more recognition. Grace is not a competition. What God gives you is given freely, fully, and personally. Stop looking at what is given to the workers hired at five o'clock.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you came not to be served but to serve, and to give your life as a ransom for many. Deliver us from the ambition that negotiates for seats of honour. Give us instead the ambition of the servant: to be last, to be slave of all, to give our lives as you gave yours. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

20
The Parable of the Workers
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius * 20:2 A denarius was customarily a day’s wage for a laborer; similarly in verses 9, 10, and 13. for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
 
3 About the third hour † 20:3 That is, about nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 ‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
 
He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour ‡ 20:5 That is, about noon and again about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.
 
6 About the eleventh hour § 20:6 That is, about five in the afternoon; also in verse 9 he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.
 
7 ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
 
So he told them, ‘You also go into my vineyard.’* 20:7 BYZ and TR include and whatever is right, you shall receive.
 
8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.’
 
9 The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when the original workers came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.
 
11 On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’
 
13 But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15 Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
 
16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”† 20:16 BYZ and TR include For many are called, but few are chosen.
The Third Prediction of the Passion
(Mark 10:32–34; Luke 18:31–34)
 
17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside and said, 18 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death 19 and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”
A Mother’s Request
(Mark 10:35–45)
 
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.
 
21 “What do you want?” He inquired.
 
She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”
 
22 “You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”‡ 20:22 BYZ includes or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. TR is similar.
 
“We can,” the brothers answered.
 
23 “You will indeed drink My cup,”§ 20:23 BYZ and TR include and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”
 
24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
The Blind Men by the Road
(Mark 10:46–52; Luke 18:35–43)
 
29 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. 30 And there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
 
31 The crowd admonished them to be silent, but they cried out all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
 
32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked.
 
33 “Lord,” they answered, “let our eyes be opened.”
 
34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and at once they received their sight and followed Him.

*20:2 20:2 A denarius was customarily a day’s wage for a laborer; similarly in verses 9, 10, and 13.

†20:3 20:3 That is, about nine in the morning

‡20:5 20:5 That is, about noon and again about three in the afternoon

§20:6 20:6 That is, about five in the afternoon; also in verse 9

*20:7 20:7 BYZ and TR include and whatever is right, you shall receive.

†20:16 20:16 BYZ and TR include For many are called, but few are chosen.

‡20:22 20:22 BYZ includes or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. TR is similar.

§20:23 20:23 BYZ and TR include and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.

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