NOTES for Mat 20:1-16

There are many "financial" parables in the Gospel that speak of reward in heaven, of acquiring the Kingdom of God like a field with treasure, or of capital that must be multiplied. Today's parable reveals another side of "heavenly accounting": those who have labored for God all their lives will receive the same reward as the idlers who barely managed to jump onto the departing train.

The paradox of this approach may cool the zeal of some "acquirers of the Kingdom" who are ready to labor for the sake of reward. But in reality this parable simply transfers the idea of value and reward from the result to the process itself. The result, the final outcome, may be the same for all: "God all in all" (1 Cor 15:28), especially since it cannot be earned, but can only be received as a gift. The special reward for those who are ready to labor is that they are already cooperating with God now, while others are still only waiting for an invitation.