Jesus comes along centuries later (dusk) and says that God is offering non-Jews the same "pay" (salvation) to those who accept the Gospel. Some of the originally chosen people felt that this is not fair!

In modern terms, imagine being hired to work for Oprah Winfrey or Bill Gates for twelve hours of one day. Throughout the day, you notice others being hired even into the early evening. At the end of the day you all receive an envelope with an identical check ~ for one million dollars! Would you complain that you should get more than those who worked for only two hours? No, what you would do is consider yourself incredibly privileged to have received ~ not a salary, but a gift that far exceeded anything you could have earned.

Jesus' point is the same: Grace is free. No one earns it. Fairness means giving to someone only what he or she deserves. If God were fair, heaven would be empty. So, the next time you hear of someone having a "death bed" conversion or repenting of wrong doing and accepting Christ while on "death row," ~ don't be too quick to judge this as unfair. Give thanks, instead, that God extends his mercy to them ~ and us!