Mat 20:11 And when they had received [it], they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Mat 20:12 Saying, These last have wrought [but] one hour, and your have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden and heat of the day.

Here, Christ expresses the standard complaint of humanity: that life isn't fair. Some suffer and bear more burdens in life, but God doesn't not necessarily reward them for their suffering or their efforts.

Notice that Christ specifically raises the issue of equality, or, as we might say it, fairness. From our limited (which is to say, self-centered and human) point of view, reward ought to be proportional to effort. In real life, we know that it isn't. Those who don't believe in God often point to this as a "defect" in the universe and therefore proof that God does not exist. The reasoning is, "If God exists, why isn't life more fair? Why aren't the rewards we received equal to the amount time we put in, the amount of effort we make, or the amount we suffer?"

Christ, unlike some Christian apologists, doesn't dismiss this question or relegate the balancing of the scales to the afterlife. Instead, his view puts everything in terms of our debt to God. Those who talk about what God owes us are seriously confused in terms of "fairness" are seriously confused. How can we repay God for even our first breath of life or our first taste of food?



"Murmur" is from gonguzô, which means "to mutter," "to murmur," and "to grumble."

"Goodman of the house" is from oikodespotês , which is literally the "master of the house." Its root is "from oikia, which means "building," "house," "family," and "household." It is often translated as "householder."

"Wrought" and "made" are both from poieô, which has two general meanings of "make" and "do." In the sense of "make" it means "to produce," "to bring into existence," "to bring about," and "to cause." In the sense of "to do," it means "to act" and "to be effective."

"Equal" is from isos, which means "equal" in size, strength, number, or rights. It is also used to mean an "equal share" or "equally distributed."

"Born" is from bastazô, which means "to lift up," "to raise," "to bear," "to carry," "to endure," and "to carry off."

"Burden" is from baros, which means "weight," "heaviness," "burden," and, in a positive sense, "abudance."

"Heat" is from kausôn, which means "burning heat" and "summer heat."