Read Matthew 20
This parable of the workers makes me cringe to be quite honest with you. I am a person who likes fairness. Not in the way of revenge, but in the way that when you work hard you get what you deserve. It's only fair, right? If you read this story literally you might see that not only is the owner of the vineyard a terrible business man, he really could care less that some workers have been slaving in the sun all day long. It's seems a little odd. However Jesus was not trying to give us a lesson in economics, as the first sentence states, (which I overlooked the first time I read through this) he was trying to show us the kingdom of heaven.
Look at it this way: The landowner went out in the early morning seeking people to employ, parallel that with Jesus being in constant pursuit of us. The landowner did not tell the people they had to work for him, he offered them work, again paralleling that Christ forces us to do nothing we choose Him out of our own freewill. Some people go to work for the landowner early in the morning, and others are called throughout the day, all the while being promised to be paid a denaruis. Side note: a denarius was a common day's pay for the time of Jesus. If we look at the lives of those who have chosen to follow Christ they do not all start at the same time. Some are young and work for Him their whole life, some do not receive him till the 11th hour and yet none of that matters to Him, all are welcome to spend eternity with the Savior. At the end of the day all the workers received the same pay, and the end of our lives we will all be in the same heaven.
In my humanness I struggle with this. Oh it's so easy to say I can't wait to see my grandpa in heaven and meet my ancestors, but I do struggle with the notion that murderers, molesters, rapists, and "major sinners" have full access too. His grace covers all of it. I wondered if this was fair, but then I look at it from a parental point of view. Could I allow one of my kids into heaven and not the other just because one was more naughty than the other? No, and God is the same. As long as Jesus becomes savior and lord of our life we will be with Him. John 14:6 Redeeming, unfailing, beautiful grace.
Please know that the scripture I just referred to goes way deeper than I let it. I don't think God is stuck on us seeing things only one way, He's just too big for that.
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1 comment:
I loved this reading. I totally saw it the same way as people being saved as well. The one thing that Rachael pointed out to me was that all of these men depended upon receiving a day's pay for work so that they could support their families. The owner of the vineyard knew this and wanted to help them to achieve this. He was not unfair to anyone because he paid them exactly what he told them that he would. We need to remember that ALL have sinned and fall short of the Glory. NONE of us deserve to be in heaven not even one. Good feedback - I really like getting into my word daily! Thank you for setting this up!
Love ya
Auntie
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