Perspective

I was an active participant in one of Jesus’ parables. In Matthew 20: 1-16, He gave the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’
“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? 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 chosen.”

I say I was a living participant because a similar thing happened to me. On Christmas Eve, my job allowed all workers to leave at 3:00pm. Though some came in at 9 and other at 11:00, we each left at 3:00 yet were paid for a full day. To those like me, who came in at 8:00am, it might seem unfair that those who came in at 11:00 got the same privileges and pay. In fact, the thought has originally passed through my mind. Then, the Lord brought this passage to my mind. He helped me to understand its true meaning.

The passage is not about how much who gets paid for what work. Instead it is about grace. When we read the passage, we look at it from the same standpoint as the Pharisees did, from the perspective of the workers. However, Jesus meant for the passage to be looked at from the perspective of the landowner. As the landowner pointed out, the workers were not cheated because they got what was agreed upon. Because he paid the same to those who did less work was not an affront to the workers, but actually to the landowner. He paid the same wage for less work. In fairness to himself, he should have paid the workers who came in later on a sliding scale. Instead, he paid them all equally. The landowner lost out not the workers. The first workers would have gotten paid the same regardless because it the agreement. The other being paid the same was only grace on the part of the landowner.

Jesus spoke this parable to stress to the Jews that though the Gentiles (us) came (or will come) into a relationship with God late, we will receive the same reward as they would. This is not a slight to the Jews who followed God earnestly all their lives, but grace to the Gentiles. It is God who takes the loss of rewarding equally those who did not serve Him as He does those who did.

Things look different when you see them through another’s eyes. It’s all a matter of perspective.