I sometimes miss the richness of this passage because of its familiar repetition. “Everything in Heaven is turned upside-down and backwards from everything on Earth. The first shall be last and the last first.” But they are soon heading to Jerusalem and the cross. And Peter asked a few paragraphs ‘prior’ to this one a common human being sort of question. “We’ve been loyal followers. What’s in this for us?”
The passage could easily be about all these events. Jesus could be chastising Peter for his question. He could be warning them against being jealous of late-comers. He could be warning the Jewish people that the Lord Father holds all His created people in esteem. Much of the parable seems to be about the workers. The harvest will rot if the rains come before its picked, getting the crop harvested is urgent— an ‘all hands on deck’ sort of crisis.
That the master continually checks the hiring pool for more workers and hire them makes perfect sense. And that they should want to work is also logical. Food requires money which needs to be earned. Perhaps this parable is about the dignity of work. And one could certainly draw parallels between the rains coming and destroying the crops to the end times. Perhaps the parable’s eschatological undertones are meant to create in us a metanoia.
Knowing Jesus a bit, as we do, He probably meant all these things. But I wonder if I was not giving His disciples a gift via the character sketch of the Landowner.
Not only is the Landowner generous at the end of the day, when pay is handed out. He gives of His time and energy by seeking the workers out; He stops by the labor pool throughout the day, multiple times. He is actively, diligently searching for them. Payment aside, who doesn’t want to work for a boss like that!?
Journal Prompt
Spend a bit of time in your imagination with this Landowner. Let the scene develop in your mind. He picks you up at the Labor Pool. You get chatting. He says to you, eventually, “Hey, I have something special I need you to do.” Let the conversation develop and jot down all you can remember afterwards.
Writing to Pray 