The householder is Christ, to whom the heavens and the earth are like a single house; the family is as it were the multitude of creatures both angelic and earthly. It is as if he built a three-storied house: hell, heaven and earth, so that those struggling may live upon the earth, those conquered below the earth, those conquering in heaven. We too, set in the middle, should strive not to descend to those who are in hell but ascend to those who are in heaven. And in case perhaps you do not know which one you ought to shun or which one you ought to aspire to, he has given you as it were a little taste of both while you live between light and darkness: night as a taste of hell, daylight as a taste of heaven.

To hire laborers for his vineyard. What is the vineyard of God here? Not men, as elsewhere; for men are called the cultivators of the vineyard. The vineyard is justice and in it different kinds of virtues are placed like vines. For example, gentleness, chastity, patience, high-mindedness, and countless other good qualities which are all in general called virtues. So let us note how earnestly we should cultivate the heavenly vineyard. Adam was put in paradise to cultivate it and work it, but because he neglected it he was thrown out of it. We have been put here to cultivate justice; if we neglect it, we will be cast out, just as the Jews also were cast out, of whom it was written: Add iniquity to their iniquity, that they may not enter thy justice.^[1] The fall of those going before should be a warning for those following. But if we the followers have also fallen into ruin, those who were the first to fall deserve pardon more than we who follow. . . . A hired hand placed in the vineyard will not only lose his pay if he neglects it, but he will also be charged with the loss of the abandoned vineyard. So we too, if we neglect the justice committed to us, will not only have no reward, but we will also be charged for the justice that has been abolished. For God’s vineyard is not outside us but has been planted inside our very selves. So anyone who commits sin destroys the justice of God within himself; but anyone who does good works cultivates it in himself. The well-cultivated justice of God within you brings forth grapes, that is, Christ. For those who do just deeds form Christ in themselves, as is written: My little children, with whom I am again in travail, until Christ be formed in you.^[2]

Anyone who consigns a vineyard to another to work consigns it not so much for the other’s benefit as for his own; but God, giving his justice to our understanding, gave it not for his own benefit but for ours. God does not need our labor, but we who do just work may live because of it. The owner who consigned the vineyard to someone else for his own benefit expects to receive it back in the same condition as he handed it over. How then will justice not be demanded back from us in as immaculate a condition as he created it in us, particularly as he gave it not for his own benefit but for our salvation?

Be aware that we have been hired as laborers. If we have been hired as laborers, we ought to know what our tasks are, for a hired laborer cannot be without a task. Our tasks are the works of justice, not to till our fields and vineyards; not to amass riches and pile up honors but to benefit our neighbors. And though we can do this tilling and amassing without sin, yet they are not our tasks but our daily occupations.

No one hires a laborer to work only so that the laborer may eat. So we too have been called by Christ to do not merely what pertains to our own benefit but to do what pertains to the glory of God. The hired hand, who only works so that he may fill his belly, wanders purposelessly about the house. So we too, if we do only what pertains to our benefit, live without reason on the earth. And just as the hired hand first looks to his work and then to his wages, so we too are Christ’s hired hands and first ought to look at what pertains to God’s glory and to the benefit of our neighbors. . . . Charity and true love toward God does not insist on its own way^[3] but desires to perform everything to the wish of the beloved—then to what pertains to our own benefit.

What then does the parable mean? For it is necessary first to make this clear; then we will unravel the other point. By the vineyard he means the commandments of God, and the time of working refers to the present life. The workers—those called to the task at different times: early, at the third hour, at the sixth, at the ninth, at the eleventh—are those who have come forward at different ages and lived justly.

He gives to all their single denarius, which is the grace of the Spirit, perfecting the saints in conformity with God and impressing the heavenly stamp on their souls and leading them to life and immortality.

Avoiding ambition, the Lord speaks about another householder, being himself the householder and the regulator of the kingdom of heaven. By day he means the whole age during which at different moments since the transgression of Adam he calls just individuals to their pious work, defining rewards for them for their actions. And so around the first hour are those at the time of Adam and Enoch; at the third hour those in the time of Noah and Shem and the righteous descending from them, for the second time is also the second calling, when the laws were also different. The workers called at the sixth hour are those in the time of Abraham, the time of the institution of the circumcision; those at the eleventh hour are those just before Christ’s advent. In their time alone the question is asked, What are you doing standing the whole day idle? for they do not have the hope of the Lord. They were godless in the world and idle in every good work; they are like those standing idle in the market place, not groping in search of anything at all but running through their whole life to no purpose. The Lord admonishes them, Why do you stand idle? They answer, No one has hired us; for neither Moses nor any of the holy men spoke to the Gentiles but to Jerusalem alone. Nevertheless the lord sends them too into the vineyard. There are five callings so that he may show that at each time there were sensible people and aimless ones, like the five wise virgins and the five foolish ones, according to their particular times.^[1] Some were found worthy, and some in their folly thought little of the coming age. At the end of life, which is evening (for the time after Christ’s sojourn until the consummation is the time after the eleventh hour, as John says: It is the last hour),^[2] the householder orders their wages to be given, beginning with the last. The householder should be considered the Father using the Son as manager, not as a subsidiary but as colleague; for he orders and regulates everything through him, whatever he wishes.

And just as the hired hand spends the whole day in his lord’s work and only one hour feeding himself, so we too ought to spend every hour of our life in the work of God’s glory and only a fraction in our own earthly interests. And just as the hired hand is ashamed to enter the house and ask for bread on a day when he has not worked, how will you not be ashamed to enter church and stand before God’s gaze when you have done nothing good in God’s sight? He went out early and summoned Adam and those who were with him; at the third hour Noah and those who were with him; at the sixth hour Abraham and those who were with him; at the ninth hour Moses and those who were with him, or David and those who were with him,^[1] for to these he gave the testaments. At the eleventh hour understand the Gentiles, because now we stand on the very edge of the world, as John testifies in his letter, saying: Children, it is the last hour.^[2] According to the apostle some part of the twelfth hour has now passed, for he says, Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.^[3] That was the eleventh hour. Now, in our time, the twelfth hour is not yet complete, but without a doubt little time remains. We are in the twelfth hour.

The last ones, receiving the generosity of the Master instead of troubles, are first to receive their reward, since all those after the Lord’s coming have become—through baptism and the union with the Spirit—sharers in God’s nature and are called sons of God. . . . For the prophets too have become sharers in the Spirit, but not in the same way as the faithful, since the Holy Spirit is in some way like a leaven for the souls of the faithful and changes the entire man to another condition of life. And so we have become participants in God’s nature, and openly we cry Abba, Father. The more ancient peoples did not receive the same grace. So Paul too says, For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.^[1] The ancients then received a spirit of slavery without the honor of adoption. Since therefore we really are first to receive a denarius, we must of necessity be said to be honored above the rest.

So what was the point of this parable and what does it want to accomplish? To make those who convert in their extreme old age more earnest and to make them better and not to let them think they have less. He introduces others who are angry over the rewards of these elders, not so as to show them pining or eaten with envy—far from it—but to show that the elders enjoy such great honor as even to cause envy in others. This we too often do when we say, The fellow criticized me because I thought you worthy of such great honor, when we have not been criticized and do not really wish to abuse him but just to show him how large a gift the other enjoyed. But why did he not hire them all at once? As far as concerned him, he did hire all. But if all did not listen at the same time, the time difference was caused by the inclinations of those called. And so some are called early, some at the third hour, some at the sixth, some at the ninth hour and some at the eleventh when they were about to obey. Paul also makes this same point when he says, When it pleased him, separating me from my mother’s womb.^[1] When did it please him? When Paul was ready to obey. For God wished it even from the beginning, but Paul would not yield; then it pleased him when he too was ready to obey. In this way too Christ called the thief, though he was able to call him even earlier, but he would not have obeyed.^[2] For if Paul at the beginning would not obey, how much less would the thief have obeyed. Some may say, No one hired us. As I said, we should not busy ourselves too much about every detail in the parables. But here it is not the master of the house who said this but those workers; he does not contradict them, not so as to perplex them but to draw them to him. For that he called all—as far as concerned him—to him from the first, even the parable shows when it says that he went out early in the morning to hire.

Among these [workers] the first seem to have toiled more than the last as having been subject longer to the devil’s fanaticism—sin and death and corruption not yet being overpowered. If examined on an equal basis, the matter supposes that more is owed to the earlier workers, because they lived their life when death and the devil ruled; for this is the burden of the day and the scorching heat, when not even the dew of the Spirit was present to help men to righteousness.

But we can ask why those who were called, even though late, to the kingdom are said to murmur. No one who murmurs receives the kingdom of heaven, and no one who receives it can murmur. Our ancestors up to the Lord’s coming, however righteous their lives, were not let into the kingdom until he came down, who by his death opened up the paradise that had been closed to the human race. Their murmuring means that they lived in such a way as to obtain the kingdom and yet were kept for a long time from obtaining it. . . . We who come at the eleventh hour do not murmur after our labor, and we receive a denarius. After our Mediator’s coming into the world, we are led to the kingdom as soon as we leave the body. We obtain with no delay what our ancestors obtained only after waiting a long time.

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.

But the question is whether the first ones, who were righteous and pleased God and who shone brightly from their labors through the whole day, at the end are possessed by the lowest vice, envy and jealousy. For they saw the others enjoying the same rewards and said, These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the weight and the heat of the day. Even though they were not going to be penalized or to suffer any loss of their own pay, with these words they were angry and displeased at the blessing others received. That was proof of envy and jealousy. And what is more, the master of the house, in justifying and defending himself to the speaker, convicts him of wickedness and the lowest envy, saying, Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Is your eye wicked because I am good?

What then is to be understood from these words? From other parables also it is possible to see the same point. The son who was righteous is shown to have suffered from this same fault when he saw his prodigal brother enjoying great honor, even more than himself.^[1] So just as the one group received greater reward in being the first to receive it, so the other group was more highly honored by the abundance of the gifts; and to these that righteous son bears witness.

What then can we say? In the kingdom of heaven there is no one who justifies himself or blames others in this way; perish the thought! That place is pure and free from envy and jealousy. For if the saints when they are here give their lives for sinners, how much more do they rejoice when they see them there enjoying rewards and consider their blessings to be their own. For what reason then did he use this figure of speech? A parable is being told, and it is not necessary to examine everything in a parable to the letter. But when we have learned the point of the parable as composed, we should reap this harvest and not be overly particular about further details.

The householder said to them, I wish to give to this last one as I give even to you. And since the obtaining of his kingdom comes from his good will, he properly adds, Or am I not allowed to do what I wish? It is always foolish to question the goodness of God. There might have been reason for loud complaint if he did not give what he owed but not if he gives what he does not owe. And so he adds, Or is your eye evil because I am good?^[1]

But no one should boast of his work or of his time, when after saying this Truth cries out: So the last will be first and the first last. We know what good things we have done and how many they are; we do not know with what exactitude our judge on high will investigate them. Indeed, we must all rejoice exceedingly to be even the last in the kingdom of God.

But what follows after this is dreadful. For many are called, but few are chosen; many come to the faith, and only a few are brought to the heavenly kingdom. See how many have gathered for today’s celebration; we fill the church! But yet who knows how few may be numbered in the flock of God’s elect. All voices shout Christ, but not everyone’s life shouts it. Many follow God with their voices but flee from him by their conduct. Paul says, They profess that they know God, but they deny him by their deeds;^[1] and James, Faith without works is worthless;^[2] and the Lord says through the psalmist, O Lord my God, you have multiplied your wonderful works, and in your thoughts there is none who shall be likened to you. I declared and spoke of them. They exceed number.^[3] At the Lord’s call the faithful were increased more than he could count, because they also come to the faith who do not belong to the number of the elect. In this world they mingle with the faithful through their confession of faith, but in the next they do not merit to be counted in the ranks of the faithful because of their wicked way of life. The sheepfold of our holy church receives goats together with lambs, but as the Gospel bears witness, when the judge comes he will separate the good from the evil as a shepherd sets the sheep apart from the goats. Those who are subject to the pleasures of their bodies here cannot be counted as sheep there. The judge will separate from the ranks of the humble those who now exalt themselves on the horns of pride. Those who share the heavenly faith in this life but seek the earth with their whole desire cannot obtain the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, though a great crowd of the faithful followed him on the road, he took only the twelve disciples apart in private and to them alone announced the mystery of his death, because the more precious treasure is always stored in the better vases. There were many men with him, but they were weak on account of the smallness of their faith. There were many women, who, though strong in their faith, were yet less strong physically according to their feminine nature. If they had heard that Christ was going up to Jerusalem so as to be put to death, the men perhaps would be distressed because of the weakness of their faith and the women because of the predilection of their nature. For by nature the mind of woman is gentle and in such a business is quickly reduced to tears. Recall that when Peter himself heard about the death of Christ he was moved by grief and did not fear to rebuke the Lord himself, saying, God forbid, Lord, this shall never happen to you!^[1] If then Peter was so moved at Christ’s death, who else had faith that could sustain the grief of such an evil? If the immovable rock was almost moved, how could the earth bear the onslaught of the storm?

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. Behold—it is the language of one calling to witness so that they may hide the memory of this foreknowledge in their hearts. It is even more dramatic than if he should say, Behold, now indeed a third time I predict to you the mystery of my future suffering. Having been repeated more often, it was intended to occupy their thoughts more deeply.

All the glory of God and all the salvation of humanity have been placed in Christ’s death. For there is no thing which pertains more to humanity’s salvation than Christ’s death. Nor is there anything else for which we should thank God more than for his death.

And why does he predict to them the mystery of his suffering? Because every adversity that arises suddenly for people seems beyond hope and is very serious. But when we prepare ourselves against it, when it overtakes us expecting it, it is found to be lighter than it would have been if it had come unexpectedly. Therefore Jesus announces to them his future death so that when that day of suffering arrives, it might not disturb them, since they were aware that these things were about to happen. Recall that the apostles, who had been so often forewarned about his future death, nevertheless, when he was arrested, were all scandalized and left him. How much more would they have been scandalized if they had not been forewarned?

Yet none of these things that he had done caused them to be courageous, even when they were continually hearing about his resurrection. It troubled them deeply to hear not only about his death but about him being mocked and scourged and the like. For when they considered his miracles just done, the possessed persons whom he had delivered, the dead whom he had raised, all the other marvelous works which he was doing, and then heard about his death, they were amazed, if it should be the case that he who did these works would then be destined to suffer. Therefore they fell even deeper into bewilderment. They now believed, now disbelieved, and could not understand his sayings. So far at least were they from understanding clearly what he said that the sons of Zebedee simultaneously came to him and spoke to him of precedence. Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.

It seems that both the mother and the two sons of Zebedee together came to him, with the purpose of making their supplication stronger and in this way to prevail with Christ. Mark well how Christ responds to them, and you will see better through their motive, since the request was doubtless their own, but they put forward their mother to make it.^[1]

The literal sense of this is that the mother begged the Lord for the sake of her two sons. But the spiritual sense is deeper and full of symbolic significance: Think of the analogy as that between the disciples of John the Baptist and the apostles. Both [groups] suffered. Both [groups] were to die. They were the two sons of Israel who were struggling against the Pharisees. After John had suffered and died, some of his disciples came to inquire of the Lord. The supplication is that both [groups] of these callings might be equally treated in the kingdom, since both [groups] believed in the gospel of Christ.^[1]

The cup and baptism^[1] are not one. For the cup is suffering, but baptism is death itself. Moreover, baptism is said to closely resemble dyed wool. For just as wool, having a natural color, is dipped so that it be colored purple or some other color, so we also descend into death as corporeal beings and rise again as spiritual beings. As the apostle said, We are sown in infirmity; we rise in strength; we are sown in baseness, we rise in glory; it is sown an animal body, it will rise a spiritual body.^[2] Indeed, every death contains in itself suffering, but every suffering does not also contain in itself death. For there were many who suffered and were not killed; such are the confessors. They all indeed drank the cup of the Lord but were not baptized by his baptism.

They say, We are able. They say this not so much by the boldness of their own hearts as by the ignorance of the trial. For to the unknowing, war is a desirable thing, just as to the inexperienced, the trial of suffering and death seems to be a light thing. For if the Lord, when he had entered into the trial of his suffering, was saying, Father, if it can be done, let this cup pass from me,^[1] by how much more would the disciples not have said we are able if they had known what the trial of death was like? Great indeed is the grief that suffering holds, but death holds even greater fear.

It is asked how the sons of Zebedee, namely, James and John, drank the cup of martyrdom when Scripture says that such an apostle as James was beheaded by Herod,^[1] but John ended life with a natural death. But if we read the ecclesiastical histories, we see it related that even John himself for the sake of martyrdom was sent into a vat of boiling oil and from there proceeded as an athlete to win the crown of Christ.^[2] Immediately he was sent away to the island of Patmos. So we shall see that the spirit of martyrdom was not lacking and that John drank the cup of confession, which even the three boys in the furnace of fire drank,^[3] although their persecutor did not shed blood.

To sit at my right and at my left is not mine to grant to you, but to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father must be understood as follows: the kingdom of heaven does not belong to the one giving but to the one receiving. For there is no respecting of persons with God.^[1] But whoever has proven himself in such a way that he is made worthy of the kingdom of heaven will receive what has been prepared, not for a person but for a life. If therefore you are such that you pursue the kingdom of heaven which my Father has prepared for the triumphant and victorious, you also will receive it. Others wish that it was spoken about Moses and Elijah, whom they had seen speaking with him a little earlier on the mountain,^[2] but this view does not seem at all plausible to me. The names of those sitting in the kingdom of heaven are not spoken, lest the rest be considered excluded by the few who are named.

And he says to them: Indeed you shall drink my cup, and you shall be baptized by the baptism by which I am baptized, but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to grant to you, but to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.^[1] Did he not have the power to appoint whomever he wished, since it was written, The Father loves the Son and gave all things into his hand?^[2] But Jesus did not thus reprove their request. He did not want to make them dispirited and fainthearted. For it is not easy to restore one’s strength for hoping about the future once one falls from that for which he had hoped. Moreover, the Lord did not wish to accept their request, in order not to sadden all the others. For it was necessary, to the extent that they even considered such things, to this extent that they be strengthened without the help of the Holy Spirit. If the society of that entire kingdom should be divided among these two, if John is secure at his right and James at his left, what then are we to do? For what do we now hope? For this reason we have followed him, so that we may be found remaining with those chosen from our midst. In labor we have been like them. But it is better that we be not like them in seeking honor. For it was necessary that they who had not yet been made spiritual should think of carnal things. For if their request was not accepted and they all were disturbed, why did they even dare to seek this very thing? How much more would the others have been disturbed if their request had been accepted? Thus he neither said You will not sit in order not to confuse the two; nor did he say You will sit in order not to anger the rest. But what did he say? This is not mine to grant to you, but my Father. Although kind and provident, the Father thus arranges and ordains all things so that among like-minded brothers the love of the brotherhood is not broken. See how he neither disturbed any of them or made them hopeful, saying, It is not mine to grant to you, but my Father. For what is not promised specifically to one or two is hoped for by all.

And the ten, upon hearing this, were saddened concerning the two brothers. Just as the two carnally sought privilege, so also the ten carnally were saddened for the lack of it. For just as the two, if they had understood spiritually, would not have requested that they be put above the others, so also the ten, if they had understood spiritually that some are before them, would not have been saddened. For to wish to be above all is indeed blameworthy, yet to hold up another above oneself is truly glorious. O beneficial error, which absolves the error of the entire world! For if the apostles had not erred thus, where might they have learned that not everything that seems good to desire is good, because it is deceptive? Some might argue that it is bad to desire, bad, just as greed and theft are bad. Now we know indeed that to desire a good work is good. But to covet the first place of honor is vanity. Now we are better able to distinguish between the good of a good work and seeking the first place of honor. For to fulfill a good work is of our will and of our work and labor, on which account the reward is ours. But to pursue the first place intrudes upon the judgment of God. I do not know if we deserve to attain any reward of justice from the first place of honor if we seek it out for ourselves.

What then does Christ say? He called them to him, and said, ‘The princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them.’ He drew them near to him at the very moment when they were disturbed and troubled, and he calms them by his invitation to come near. Picture the two as standing near him. They had already separated themselves from the company of the ten, pleading their own interests. Therefore Jesus brings all of them near him. By this very unifying act he calms the passions of the two and the ten. He exposes and reveals their plea in the presence of all.

And now he corrects them, in a different way than before. Whereas before he brought little children into their midst and called them to imitate their simplicity and lowliness, now he admonishes them in a sharper way from the opposite direction. He says, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. Loving the first place is not fitting to us, even though it may be among the nations. Such a passion becomes a tyrant. It continually hinders even great men. So it needs to be treated more severely.

Note how deep the Lord strikes into them by comparing them with the heathen, shaming their inflamed soul. At the same time he removes the envy of the one and the arrogance of the other. In effect he is saying, When you, the ten, are insulted, do not be moved with such indignation. For James and John harm and disgrace themselves most by seeking the first place. That puts them among the last. For eminence within this community is not like status in the world. For the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over others, but here the very last is counted first. And if you want proof that I speak truly, look at what I am doing. Look at what I do and suffer. Let the proof of my teaching be my life. For I have done what I commend. For being King of the powers above, he was willing to become man and submitted himself to be despised and despitefully treated. And not even with this lowliness was he satisfied, but he even came to die.

With regard to this point, we were made in the image of Christ so that we might become imitators of his will and conduct. How were we created toward the likeness of his greatness? He indeed was able to imitate our flesh, yet we are not able to imitate his divinity. But we are being made in his image so that what seems good to him may also be good to us, and what seems bad to him may also be bad to us. Whoever pursues boasting, while the Lord pursues humility, is not the image of Christ. And he who is a lover of riches in this age, while the Lord is a lover of poverty, repels from himself the likeness of Christ. He is not a true disciple who does not imitate his teacher; nor is it a true image which is not like its creator.

He says, The Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. It is as if he were saying, I willed not even to stop at death but even in death gave my life as a ransom. For whom? For enemies. For you. If you are abused, my life is given for you. It is for you. Me for you.

So you need not be too picky if you suffer the loss of your honor. No matter how much it is lowered, you will not be descending as far as your Lord descended. And yet the deep descent of one has become the ascent of all. His glory shines forth from these very depths. For before he was made man, he was known among the angels only. But after he was made man and was crucified, so far from lessening that glory, he acquired further glory besides, even that from his personal knowledge of the world.

So fear not then, as though your honor were put down. Rather, be ready to abase yourself. For in this way your glory is exalted even more, and in this way it becomes greater. This is the door of the kingdom. Let us not then go the opposite way. Let us not war against ourselves. For if we desire to appear great, we shall not be great but even the most dishonored of all.

Do you see how everywhere Jesus encourages them by turning things upside down? He gives them what they desire but in ways they did not expect. In the preceding passages we have shown this in many instances. He acted this way in the cases of the covetous and of the proud. So you can see why he asks whether we are giving our alms to be seen by others. To enjoy glory? Do not do this for glory, and you will enjoy it more. Why do you lay up treasures? To be rich? Try laying up no treasures, and then you will be rich. And in this case, why do you set your heart on sitting in the first place? That you may have the honor before others? Try choosing the last place; then you will enjoy the first. That is how things work in the kingdom. If it is your will to become great, then do not seek greatness and you will become great.