Matthew 20:8-12

The evening was the time of reckoning for the workers (cf. Leviticus 19:13). The order in which the landowner’s foreman paid the workers created a problem. In view of what he paid those hired late in the day, those who began working earlier expected to receive more than they had hoped for. They grumbled against him because he had been generous to the latecomers and only just with them. They cited their hard working conditions as justification for their grievance.