ation of daylight at the
time,--work in the vineyard ceased for the day, and each labourer,
called forward in turn by the steward, received his wages in the
master's presence.[34] The steward, acting doubtless under special
instructions, called first the men who had entered the vineyard at five,
and quitted it at six, and gave each a penny for his hour's work.
Surprised by the munificence of their employer, these men retire towards
their homes with silent gratitude. Afterwards those who had laboured
one-half, and those who had laboured three-fourths of the day, were
called in succession, and each received also a penny. Last of all came
the men who had laboured from morning till night. They had been standing
near, and had observed that all their fellow-labourers, not excepting
even those who had been employed only an hour, received the same uniform
reward, each man a penny. As this process was going on, they cherished
in silence the expectation that when their turn should come, they would
receive more of the master's money, because they had done more of his
work. But the steward, evidently acting on precise orders, gave each of
these men also a penny, and no more. No longer able to conceal their
disappointment, although they were well aware that they had no legal
claim for more than they had received, they broke out into murmurs
against their employer. Of course, he closed their mouths in a moment:
he had completely fulfilled his agreement with them, and they had no
right to interfere with his spontaneous generosity, whenever and towards
whomsoever he might choose to exercise it.

[34] By law, wages for the work of the day must be paid the same
evening (Deut. xxiv. 15).

Here, again, the key-notes of the parable are found at the beginning and
at the end. The direct and immediate occasion of the discourse lies in
Peter's question at the 27th verse of the nineteenth chapter, "We have
forsaken all and followed thee: what shall we have therefore?" But as
the parable sprang from Peter's question, so Peter's question sprang
from an antecedent fact. To that fact, accordingly, we must look as the
true ultimate root on which the parable grows.

As Jesus was going about in the Father's business, attended by the
twelve, a young man came running forward to him, bending the knee in
token of reverence (Mark x. 17), and asking, "Good master, what good
thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Accommodating his
lesson to