Today's Gospel in Art - The last will be first, and the first, last

Landscape with peasants harvesting grapes and wine-making. Marten van Valckenborch I late 16th C, © Christie's London, painting sold for £50,000

Gospel of 21st August 2019 - Matthew 20: 1-16

Jesus said to his disciples: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them, "You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage." So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, "Why have you been standing here idle all day?" "Because no one has hired us" they answered. He said to them, "You go into my vineyard too."

In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, "Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first." So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner. "The men who came last" they said "have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day's work in all the heat." He answered one of them and said, "My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?" Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.'

Reflection on the Painting

Reading this parable, our contemporary mindset kicks in where we feel that people should get paid justly for the work they do: if you work more, you should get paid more; you do less hours, then you get less pay. That would feel right, no? In this parable we hear Jesus going beyond this strict interpretation of justice. To Him, respect, compassion and solidarity are more important. Maybe by giving the worker who did less hours not as much pay, it might have left his family hungry? For Jesus, compassion for the person who may have worked less, is the most important. Compassion trumps justice.

The painting we are looking at dates from the late 16th century and shows workers in a vineyard, and the whole circle of winemaking: from harvesting the grapes (bottom left), to pressing the grapes and barrelling the wine (bottom right), to transporting the barrels on boats to the cities (middle), etc… the left quarter also shows apples being picked and gathered....

To read on see: www.christianart.today/daily-gospel-reading/149