The Last Will Be First

The parable of the labourers in the vineyard seems to insult our sense of justice and fairness. Labourers came to work at different hours. And at the end of the day, they all received the same wage. Those who came first complained about this ‘injustice.’ They believed they were unjustly treated; they believed they deserved more.  We may share the sentiments of the first labourers. We too believe that those who do more should receive more and those who do less should receive less. Jesus employs this parable to challenge our notion of merit, time and superiority.


Eternal Life is a Gratuitous Gift

In human affairs, a wage is based on merit. It is something that can be earned. The amount of work can determine the size of a wage. Huge amount of work can translate into huge amount of wage. A wage is never a gift (Rom 4:4). It is a right. But this idea of a wage is not applicable to eternal life.

Eternal life is not a ‘wage’ or a ‘reward’ for our labours or efforts. Eternal life is absolutely gratuitous. There is nothing we can do to ‘merit’ it. Strictly speaking nobody can merit heaven by his efforts, labour, even his good works alone. Eternal life will always remain a free gift from God. Our prayers, devotions and good works are necessary but not sufficient to win for us eternal life. It is only by the grace of God that we can receive it. We cannot earn it by our efforts. But we can receive it as an underserved and unmerited gift of God.


A Day Like A Thousand Years

We exist in time. We use time. We need time to make sense of our lives. We see almost everything from the perspective of time. For us, time can be long or short; time can be more or less. Time is a quantity. Again this idea of time is not applicable to eternal life.

God existed before time began. God created time. God reckons ‘time’ from the perspective of eternity. For God a day or an hour does not exist.  From divine perspective, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day (2Pet 3:8). God cannot be too early or too late. If God gives the same reward to those who came early and those who came late, it is because He does not operate with earthly time. God is not bound to reckon time the way we do.


The Last Will Be First

We refer to those who come first as seniors and those who come last as juniors. And we believe that the seniors deserve more and that the juniors deserve less. The senior should enjoy some privileges and leverage. There is no equality between seniors and juniors.

God does not subscribe to our notion of superiority and inferiority.  Jesus says "the last will be first and the first will be last" (Matt 20:16). God rewards as He pleases, as His generosity dictates. God does not owe us anything. All his gifts are gratuitous. We should be grateful for whatever we receive. There is no justification for envy. Those who receive more should not boast and those who receive less should not complain.