Daily Word: Matthew 20:1-16 – The Last Will Be First | Sunday, Sept 20

Scripture Reference: Matthew 20:1-16a (25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A)
First Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm: 145 (144)
Second Reading: Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a

“When those who had been hired first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’” (Matthew 20:10-12)

The parable is deliberately offensive. That is the point. Jesus does not tell it to comfort the comfortable; He tells it to shake the self-righteous awake. He tells it to people who believe they have earned their place in the Kingdom — and He tells it to show them that the Kingdom is not a payroll. It is a gift.

The workers hired at dawn had a contract. They agreed with the landowner for denarion — a denarius, the standard day's wage. They shook hands. They knew the terms. They went to work.

The workers hired at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours had no contract at all. The landowner simply said: “You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.” They did not know what they would receive. They simply trusted.

And when the reckoning comes, the landowner does something shocking. He pays the last first. He gives them a full day's wage for one hour of work. And the first-hired workers — who received exactly what was promised — grumble.

The Complaint of the Righteous: Gongyzō and Bastazō (v. 11-12)

The Greek verb for “grumbled” is gongyzō — a word loaded with history. It is the same verb used in the Septuagint for Israel's murmuring in the desert (Exodus 16:7-8). It is the sound of a people who have received grace and cannot recognize it because they are too busy comparing.

They say: “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.”

The Greek verb for “bore” is bastazō — to carry, to endure, to sustain a weight. The Greek word for “burden” is baros — heaviness, pressure. The Greek for “heat” is kausōn — the scorching heat of the midday sun.

Their complaint sounds reasonable. They are right about the facts. They did work longer. They did endure more. But their error lies deeper: they have turned the Kingdom into a ledger. They are not angry about injustice; they are angry about generosity to someone else. Their eyes are fixed on their neighbor's payment, not on the Father's heart.

The Evil Eye: Ophthalmos Ponēros (v. 15)

The landowner responds with a question that pierces the heart:

“Are you envious because I am generous?”

The Greek phrase is ophthalmos ponēros — literally, “an evil eye.” It is the ancient idiom for envy, jealousy, and grudging stinginess. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used the same image: “If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6:23).

The landowner asks another question: “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?”

The Greek verb for “choose” is thelō — to will, to desire, to determine. The landowner is sovereign. He has the right to be generous. His generosity is not an injustice to the first workers — they received exactly what was agreed. His generosity is an overflow to the last.

Notice: the landowner never calls the first workers lazy. He calls them “friend” (hetairos) — a term of address, not hostility. He simply reveals the state of their hearts. They were not wronged. They were envious.

The Great Reversal: Prōtos and Eschatos (v. 16)

The parable ends with the words that summarize the entire Kingdom:

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

The Greek words are prōtos (first) and eschatos (last). This is not a promise that everyone will be equal in heaven — the Church teaches that there are degrees of glory. It is a warning against presumption and a promise of hope.

• The first — those who believe they have earned their place — may find themselves last.

• The last — those who know they have received everything as a gift — may find themselves first.

• Those who worked only one hour received the same wage because the wage is not a wage. It is grace.

The First Reading: "My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts"

The First Reading from Isaiah (55:6-9) is the perfect companion to this parable:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

The Greek word for “thoughts” in the Septuagint is boulē — counsel, plan, deliberate intention. God's plan is not our plan. God's arithmetic is not our arithmetic. Our logic says: more work, more pay; less work, less pay. God's logic says: I am the Father, and I give as a Father gives.

The landowner in the parable is a portrait of God's thoughts. His generosity is not a violation of justice; it is a revelation of mercy. And when we are confronted with it, we are faced with a choice: grumble at the goodness of God, or rejoice that mercy is available to all.

The Psalm: "The Lord Is Near to All Who Call Upon Him"

The Responsorial Psalm (145:18) gives us the response: “The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.”

This is the answer to the grumblers. The last-hired workers called upon the landowner in trust. They had no contract, no leverage, no rights. They had only need. And the Lord was near to them.

The Psalm continues: “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all, and compassionate toward all his works.” This is the God the parable reveals — good to all, not merely to the deserving.

The Second Reading: Paul's Indifference to Accounting

The Second Reading from Philippians (1:20c-24, 27a) gives us a saint who has fully absorbed this Gospel:

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain… Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.”

St. Paul is not calculating his wages. He is not comparing himself to other apostles. He is not demanding that God settle accounts. He is entirely indifferent to the ledger — because Christ is his treasure, and Christ is his wage.

Paul has learned the secret of the parable: when you have Christ, you have everything. The workers who grumbled had their denarius — but they did not have the joy of the landowner's generosity. They had what was agreed — but they did not have what was given.

What This Means for Your Sunday

Today, the Gospel asks a piercing question: Do you have an evil eye, or a good eye?

• Do you compare? Do you measure your faithfulness against someone else's? Do you resent God's mercy shown to those you consider less deserving — the late convert, the prodigal son, the prisoner who repents on his deathbed?

• Do you see the Kingdom as a wage or a gift? If you think you have earned your place, you will be bitter. If you know you have received everything freely, you will be grateful.

• Can you rejoice in another's grace? This is one of the highest forms of holiness — to celebrate the mercy shown to someone else, even when you have labored long and they have labored little.

• Do you trust the Father's heart? The last-hired workers had no contract. They simply went and trusted. That is the posture of the Kingdom.

And if you are the last — if you have come late, if you have wasted years, if you feel unworthy — rejoice. The landowner is still going out to the marketplace at the eleventh hour. There is still room in the vineyard. The wage is still full. He is still generous.

A Short Prayer

Lord Jesus, You are the Landowner who goes out at dawn, at noon, and at the eleventh hour. Thank You for calling me into Your vineyard, not because I deserved it, but because You are good. Forgive me for the times I have grumbled — for the evil eye of envy, for measuring Your mercy against another's. Purify my vision, so that I may rejoice in every soul You save. Teach me the freedom of St. Paul, who had no ledger because he had Christ. And let me never forget that the wage I receive is not a payment — it is a gift. The last will be first, and the first will be last. Let me be among those who are simply grateful. Amen.

Connect

Join our community for uplifting worship content

Contact

Subscribe

apocrifo1815@gmail.com

© 2026. All rights reserved.

About Us |Privacy Policy |Contact |
Terms and Conditions | Refund Policy