A Point to Ponder
Good day to each of you reading this column on a very interesting point on a very familiar parable.
I hope you take a few moments to read the above parable and lend me your thoughts on this parable.
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
I read the parable and I thought that the landowner was very generous with his money for he pays all the workers equally even though some workers put in less time than others.
The owner said he had the right to do what he wanted with his own money and asked those grumbling whether they were envious because the owner was generous.
First off, do you see this in the workplace today? Aren’t owners of a business allowed to be generous? Has the worker become envious against his fellow worker for various reasons? Or, is there a hidden meaning for this parable?
Let’s face it, people have been envious for their fellow workers for the longest time as greed, envy, back-biting, name calling, vicious rumors, sexual favors and other sinful reasons to move up the corporate ladder.
On the other hand, if you are the employee and you agree for the amount of pay that you and your employer agreed upon, then why should you be envious of your fellow employee and why is it your business to know what others make in pay?
Knowing this, as a Christian, would you take the attitude of being envious and selfish toward your fellow employee and think mean thoughts toward that person?
Now it’s time for the landlord to pay the workers with a denarius and did you know the following? In the Bible, a “penny” is a translation of the Roman denarius, a silver coin that served as a common day’s wage for a laborer and held symbolic meaning in Jesus’s teachings. The denarius was used in important stories, such as the parable of the workers in the vineyard and the question about taxes, highlighting economic realities and spiritual truths about earthly duties versus divine obligations.
The penny is generally thought to be the blessing of Salvation, eternal life, given freely to all who come. Hmm, one must wonder when they pick up a penny, they see the inscription “In God we trust”.
With that said, think about the following—We have workers hired early in the morning, then workers hired around nine o’clock, then workers hired at noon and then workers hired at five o’clock.
Think about this, workers hired at four different time periods, so could this indicate the Christian experience of salvation through the life of each person.
As I think about this, we have those who accept Christ when they are very young, those in middle age and those in their golden ages and those before they die.
The point is simple; the door is always open for Jesus’s salvation even for those who wish to procrastinate.
One could also put various time periods as a thought where many were called to Jesus’s invitation for salvation when He walked this earth as well as his disciples who were proclaiming the good news.
Then we look at the great reformation for the next time or the nine o’clock hour where we see so many who take Christ as their savior and the many pastors who assisted in this great reformation.
As for the twelve o’clock hour, we look to the great spiritual revival at the beginning of the nineteenth century where churches in the USA grew greatly and pastor’s had fire in their belly and were moved by the holy spirit.
As for the workers hired at the five o’clock hour, let us look at the midnight hour or the present hour indicating a great awakening and national repentance in our world. This awakening is now with the computer and the internet where news reaches a person within seconds.
The result, the king will come to claim his kingdom and given to all those who labored whether it be in the early church age or in the midnight hour.
It is so sad that we have those in the Christian community who think their church and its body are the only ones going to heaven, but that is not the case for Joel says in 2:32 – “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered”
The invitation is for all which includes all throughout the world and not a select few for no one is worthy based upon sin, but God gave his only begotten son to save us and provide everlasting life.
As I close, turn to Luke 14: 7-11 and 15 (NIV) When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
The above verses give Christians clues as to when Jesus will invite us to the wedding feast as Jesus establishes his kingdom on earth where we take our seats.
Let us be least and take the lowest places and to be constantly humbled here on earth in preparation of being exalted when you take place at the wedding feast.
This humbleness includes welcoming all who have entered the kingdom instead of expecting a larger share in the blessings of the kingdom.
Fellow Christian, this is one event that you want to attend.
May God bless you in your endeavors and may you always Praise God from whom all blessing flow!
