“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.”    (Matthew 20:1)        

Jesus didn’t name his parables, so what title should we give this one?  When we name parables we  draw attention to one of the characters, but to which character do we want to draw attention?  For instance, in naming the Parable of the Prodigal Son, some editor of the Bible has drawn our attention to the younger son, but is he really what the parable is all about?  Could the parable be named the Parable of the Older Brother?  This might draw our attention to a different character, and lead to some more profitable insights into ourselves.  If, however, we were to name it the Parable of the Father and the Two Lost Sons, might we not come closer to what Jesus was actually getting at?

The parable we began with has usually been called, the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, but are they really what the parable is all about?  Could it not also be called, the Parable of the Compassionate Employer?  Is it about him or is it about the labourers?  In either case, the parable raises still more questions:

Who are these labourers?  Are they loafers, standing idle all day in the marketplace, or are they dispossessed peasants who have lost their small land-holdings through taxation by the occupying Roman government? If they are loafers, then why are they not sitting but standing (like Palestine labourers today at the Damascus Gate in Jersusalen), eager to be hired?

Why is the landowner hiring more men?  Is it a seasonal need–is it the pruning season or perhaps harvest time?

And why is the manager or steward not doing the hiring instead of the owner?  Would the manager not have hired only as many men as were needed and no more? 

Why does the owner return again to the market place (five times in all), and why does he hire more men than he really needs?  If it’s out of compassion for their lack of employment, why doesn’t he just give them each a day’s wage and send them home to their wives and children?  Does he hire them to preserve their dignity so important in the Middle East), not wanting to treat them like beggars?

Why are the last labourers paid first?  Is it simply provoke the first crew, or is it to educate them? 

And why is Jesus telling this parable in the first place?  Is it to teach the disciples (we’re told that it’s addressed to them) that, in the Kingdom, all will be equal?  Was it really addressed to the disciples, or was it originally aimed at those stricter Pharisees (there were actually two groups of Pharisees), the ones who were often so critical of Jesus?

If the vineyard traditionally represents Israel, then does the landowner represent God, or does he represent Jesus himself?  The first crew of labourers complains that they have borne the heat of the day, but has not the owner also borne the heat of the day, walking back and forth to the marketplace five times?  They expect to be paid more than the agreed wage, they want to become richer, but has not Jesus, like the owner, made himself poorer by emptying himself of his divinity in order to come and walk among the poor of the earth?

Finally, are we able to find ourselves in the parable?  Do we sometimes feel that life is unfair (a favourite word among children), or are we aware that there is a wider world out there, a world of terrible injustice?  Are we aware that the Spirit of Jesus is still at work in this world of ours, calling us to labour with him, and giving grace upon grace upon grace?