He adds elsewhere, "It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46).
Let us examine how this parable can be applied to both saints and sinners. It is evident that the elder son depicted in the parable does not embody the characteristics of a truly righteous individual. The reader might question why a righteous person would begrudge the salvation of a sinner, harboring such anger that remained unaffected by love for his brother, the pleas of his father, or the joy radiating from the entire household. The answer is straightforward: the righteousness of this world pales in comparison to the righteousness of God. Just as Sodom may seem righteous when compared to the sins of Jerusalem—not because it was inherently righteous but merely due to its lesser sins—so too is the righteousness of humanity incomparable to divine righteousness. Paul, who stated, "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded" (Phil. 3:15), also professes in astonishment, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Rom. 11:33). Furthermore, "We know in part, and we prophesy in part. For now we see through a glass, darkly" (1 Cor. 13:9, 12), and to the Romans, he cries, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24). Through this, we recognize that complete righteousness belongs solely to God. He causes His sun to shine on both the good and the wicked; He provides rain for the deserving and the undeserving. He invites all to the feast, yet excludes some who may feel secure in their attendance. He seeks and retrieves the lost sheep, regardless of whether they are able or willing to return, carrying it back upon His shoulders out of deep concern for its weariness.
To illustrate that even the saints may grapple with envy and that only God embodies perfect goodness, we can consider the sons of Zebedee. When their mother, in a moment of parental fervor, requested too much for them, the other ten disciples were offended. Yet Jesus gathered them, saying, "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:25-28).
Let us not find temptation or blasphemy in the suggestion that envy could infiltrate even the apostles. Similar notions are expressed concerning the angels, as Job notes, "Behold, he put no trust in his angels, and his ministers he charged with folly" (Job 4:18). The Psalms declare, "For in thy sight shall no man living be justified" (Ps. 142:2). It states "no man living" rather than just "man," implying that neither evangelists, apostles, nor prophets achieve justification without God. Moreover, this applies to angels, thrones, dominions, and other heavenly powers. God alone is without sin; other beings, gifted with free will—of which humanity is one, having been created in His likeness—can choose their inclinations.
If this reasoning is not persuasive, consider the parable of the laborers called to work in the vineyard (Matthew 20). Those called first—like Adam, Abel, and Seth—worked from the earliest hour; others were summoned at different times: Noah at the third hour, Abraham at the sixth, Moses at the ninth, and finally the Gentiles at the eleventh hour. When asked why they were idle all day, they replied, "Because no man hath hired us." The Apostle John, in his epistle, affirms that the coming of our Savior marked the fulfillment of the last days, as he writes, "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time" (1 John 2:18).
If this interpretation does not satisfy you, feel free to adopt another, as long as it acknowledges that the first called are indeed the righteous. If this is accepted, I will highlight how the righteous grumbled against the householder, saying, "These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day" (Matthew 20:12). Their objection seems just—claiming that those who sweat from the beginning should not receive equal rewards with those who worked only one hour. Yet such fairness is tainted by envy, which the Lord addresses, asking, "Is thine eye evil because I am good?" (Matthew 20:15). Consequently, the apostle refers to God as "the only wise, the only immortal" not to imply that the angels are devoid of righteousness or immortality, but that God alone possesses perfect righteousness and immortality within Himself; in Him dwells all righteousness and the absence of sin.
To grasp the injustice of the laborers in the parable, consider this: the one hired at the first hour is more deserving than the one called at the third; and the laborer of the third hour surpasses the one from the sixth hour; yet all express envy toward the last. Why do the laborers at the third and sixth hours complain over others’ rewards? The ninth-hour worker might argue their greater claim to reward over the last, but the worker of the sixth can say the same about the one at the ninth. Each hireling can cite differences in labor, yet envy arises among them regardless of their respective efforts. Despite varying hours of labor and stages of calling, those first hired willingly accept the same wage without yearning solely for the last’s rewards. Instead, they criticize the owner, demonstrating their envy throughout the parables.
THEOSIS