Saying, These last have worked but one hour, and you have made them equal unto us, who have borne the burden and heat of the day.
All Commentaries on Matthew 20:12 Go To Matthew 20
John Chrysostom
AD 407
What does this parable wish us to understand? For what is said at the beginning does not agree with what is said at the end but appears totally at odds. For in the first part he shows all enjoying the same rewards and not some being thrown out and some being brought in. And yet he himself, both before the parable and after the parable, said the opposite, that “the first will be last and the last first,” that is, first before the original first; [those who worked all day] do not stay first but become last. To show what this means, Jesus adds, “For many are called, but few are chosen”; so in a double way he criticizes one group and encourages and consoles the other. The parable does not say this, but it says that they will be equal with the just and those who have toiled much. “You have made them equal to us,” it says, “who have carried the burden and the heat of the day.” The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
