The parable of the workers in the vineyard, found in Matthew 20:1-16, is a story about a vineyard owner, a group of workers, and the wages they are paid. In both scholarly interpretation and popular preaching, this parable is often made into a story about the afterlife and eternal rewards. But what if, in telling a story about workers and wages, Jesus actually intended to say something about workers and wages? In this episode, I offer three readings of this parable, each of which focuses on what the parable might teach us about the economics of God’s kingdom.
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Episode Bibliography:
Carter, Warren. Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2000.
Herzog, William R. Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994.
Levine, Amy-Jill. Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.
Osborne, Grant R. Matthew (ZECNT). Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010.
