a visit with jesus

 Glimpse of Jesus

 Bible Story Links

 Bible Question

 Bible Art

    Clear Search

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Artist: Johann Christian Brand
 c. 1755    Painting

 See Details

Jesus shared the parable of the workers in the vineyard to teach us how the Kingdom of Heaven operates in regards to our rewards for the work we do for it. 

The parable of the workers in the vineyard can be found in Matthew 20:1-16. In summary, it speaks of a landowner that hired workers throughout the day to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay the first vineyard workers a certain amount for the entire day. He then tells the vineyard workers that he hired at later times through the day that he will pay them what is fair.

At the end of the day, he paid the vineyard workers that started last the same amount as the those that started first. This caused the first vineyard workers to be upset. In response, the landowner told them that he was not being unfair because they agreed to what they were paid at the start.

Lessons from the parable are: 

*Establishing Terms From The Start Prevents Misunderstandings
*Wrong Expectations Are A Source of Disappointment
F*eeling That Something Is Right Doesn’t Make It Right

 

This painting is oil on canvas, measures 51 x 74 cm  and is housed in the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna (Vienna, Austria)

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Artist: Ferdinand Bol
 c. 1650 – 1660    Painting

 See Details

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (also called the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard or the Parable of the Generous Employer) is a parable of Jesus which appears in chapter 20 of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It is not included in the other canonical gospels. It has been described as a difficult parable to interpret.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

— Matthew 20:1–16, New Revised Standard Version

The parable has often been interpreted to mean that even those who are converted late in life earn equal rewards along with those converted early, and also that people who convert early in life need not feel jealous of those later converts. An alternative interpretation identifies the early laborers as Jews, some of whom resent the late-comers (Gentiles) being welcomed as equals in God's Kingdom.

 

Earliest Images of Jesus

The Bible, its themes, events and characters, are the subject of many of mankind's finest works of art.

Here, we endeavor to present a myriad of examples from the history of art.

Most items will contain information about the particular piece, and/or the artist who created it. Also, many entries provide links that will take you to the Bible story to which the image is related.

Search by Category and/or Type, or click through the pages to view and study artwork of interest.

Click Images to Enlarge. Once open, images can be magnified by clicking within them or by dragging on right lower corner.

Contact | Privacy | Terms | Credits

© 2025 AVisitWithJesus

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."