Matthew 20:1-16 reflects Jesus' vision of Kingdom values regarding living wages. It is an example of life beyond meritocracy, beyond capitalism (pre-dates it, in fact) and beyond the greed of Empire.
Capitalism's iterations of empire have fed the few at the expense of the many for generations. It is getting worse. The income gaps are widening between the few that have most and the many who have very little. Efforts are being made right now to enliven labor unions because of this, but since the desolating sacrilege of Reagan and Falwell, class war has been waged against the poor, labor class and middle class without answer. Those who have wanted to return this nation to the robber baron days before our depression have been doing a great job of doing so, complete with crashes of the banking and real estate worlds as a result in recent decades. Regular folk have lost much or most of what they had in recent decades, and no one has been held accountable for it. It is the price of doing business with the ruthless purveyors of Capitalism under this Empire.
I must offer here that Jesus was not a communist or socialist. The Gospels pre-date those systems by 1800 years. Jesus was a humanist of God. Jesus taught Agape Love as THE WAY to be faithful to God, and that Agape Love was to be applied in EVERY arena and aspect of life together, including economics. The teachings, parables, commands and examples of Jesus clearly call for those who would follow Him to take care of "the least," and this parable calls us to a different system of distribution to one based on need instead of merit, greed or ruthless corruption.
This is an example of Kingdom values to be followed by any who would follow Jesus in their lives - stock brokers who would follow Jesus, stockholders who would follow Jesus, executives who would follow Jesus, owners who would follow Jesus, taxpayers who would follow Jesus, economists who would follow Jesus, laborers who would follow Jesus. voters who would follow Jesus and politicians who would follow Jesus. If any who claim Jesus' name would live this example of Kingdom values in economics, it would change not only the lives of God's children in our country that lives under the ruthless power of empire, but the lives of God's children across the whole world who suffer under it.
Jesus made a promise at the end of this parable for all who struggle under empire's fat, over-paid, greedy, ruthless, gluttonous thumb - "The last will be first, and the first will be last." This will not last forever. God will turn it around. In the meantime, if we are to be faithful to the God who will restore justice under Kingdom values, we must live those values by following what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us to live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.
This parable reflects Jesus' teaching on God's Will regarding economics, along with countless others from Deuteronomy, the Prophets and other sacred texts before Jesus, teachings that Rabbi Jesus knew and came to fulfill.
Addendum: I love Democracy. I value Democracy. I do not love Capitalism. I do not value it. Contrary to popular belief among the adherence to American Civil Religion and its lord, Capitalism is not Democracy and Democracy is not Capitalism. We need a more just, equitable and loving system that is humanistic and thus faithful to the Agape Love commanded by Jesus, thus faithful to God.
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