Jesus told the following parable: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who hires workers for his vineyard. He agrees to pay them a denarius for the day. Later he hires more workers for his vineyard and promises to pay them what's right. Even later he does the same thing. After a while he does the same thing once more. When evening comes, he tells his foreman to pay them their wages, starting with the last workers and moving on to the first. All workers get one denarius, regardless of how many hours they have worked. When they get it, they start grumbling against the landowner. The workers who have worked all day complain and say that those who have worked for an hour shouldn't be paid the same amount of money as they are. The owner replies that he hasn't been unfair. They have agreed to work all day for a denarius. He just wants to give whoever is hired last the same amount of money he gives them. He has the right to do what he wants with his own money.
He also say that the last will be first, and the first will be last. (Mat 20:1–16).
This parable, together with what Jesus answered Peter when he asked what they would receive who have left everything to follow Jesus, shows that there is a reward process for God's children (Mat 19:27–29). Jesus then also said:
"But many who are first will be last, and the last first." (Mat 19:30, 20:16).
The landowner gave those that had worked less than a day more than they deserved because of grace. Grace is getting what you don't deserve. Grace often doesn't look fair, even when no unfairness is going on, as was the case in this parable. A denarius is just enough to feed a family for a day. Even the workers who had just worked for one hour needed to be fed all day along with their families, something the landowner may have known. It was an act of grace performed by the landowner.
This is the heart of God. We can't earn our salvation, but in the Kingdom of Heaven
there are rewards, and even levels of rewards, see Who is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? These rewards aren't awarded according to the principles by which the world awards rewards. They are based on grace and not merit. Grace reigns in the Kingdom of Heaven. We like grace when it comes to us, but have a hard time embracing it when it comes to other people. Those who had worked all day complained about it.
The system of law is easy to figure out: you get what you deserve. The system of grace is alien to us: God deals with us according to who he is and his will,
not depending on who we are, what we have done, or what we think we deserve.
See God is sovereign in God's Attributes.
For information on other parables, see Jesus' Parables.
