The Heat of the Day

One of my favorite parables of Jesus is the story of the vineyard and the workers:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ ”

So the story is told about this landowner who hires different groups of people throughout the day to work his vineyard. Some of them are hired early and work all day, while others are hired late and barely have a chance to start. It comes time to pay and the owner instructs the ones paying the wages to pay the ones who have worked the least first.

Now first, even though we know how this story ends, don’t race past the immediate assumptions we make about the story. They are worth wrestling with.

But then, ask more questions about this story. For instance, why would the owner START with the ones who worked the least? If he started with the ones hired first, isn’t there a better chance that he could have avoided this entire mess? Why would he do that?

No, really. Wrestle with that.

And then, Jesus delivers the end of the story:

“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Now, this story is loaded with incredible implications on the p’shat level. God is inviting those who are closest to Him to learn the lesson that allows them to experience a heart change.

P’SHAT CONCLUSION: God loves to be generous and He loves to give to people who don’t deserve it.

P’SHAT CONCLUSION: God apparently wants us to have to wrestle with this and let it transform our selfishness by inviting us to join Him in celebrating His generosity, rather than getting angry.

P’SHAT CONCLUSION: The Kingdom of Heaven isn’t fair — it’s incredibly benevolent and generous.

P’SHAT CONCLUSION: It is (and will be) this way for people who we think don’t deserve it.

Now, we are still missing a large contextual piece to the “p’shat puzzle.” The phrase “borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day” is used throughout Jewish thought to express the relationship between Jew and Gentile. The Jews have carried the burden of Torah for centuries and centuries on behalf of the world, in order to show the world what God is like. It should go without saying they would expect to reap a more generous reward for their work.

And Jesus has the nerve to suggest the Gentiles might get the same blessing from God — just because He loves to be generous.

All of this is p’shat.

And the remez? Check out Isaiah 61, Jesus’s staple passage when talking about his ministry:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.And you will be called priests of the Lord,
    you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
    and in their riches you will boast.

Instead of your shame
    you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy will be yours.

Wow.

Jesus just insinuated this generosity to the Gentiles is what God has been up to since the beginning. Not only this, but the “double portion” the Jews will receive for all their work — the special blessing that is due them — is going to be the fact that God’s favor is poured out on the foreigners.

Now, for most of my readers (Gentiles), I invite you to rejoice in that amazing plan of God.

And then, I invite us all — Jew and Gentile — to consider what there is left to learn in the teaching of this parable. What do I think I’m entitled to? What are the rewards I am expecting to receive? Am I prepared to join God in handing out generosity to ALL people? And what if my “double portion” is actually going to be the blessing of my enemies?

Those who have ears, let them hear.