Image by Fergal Claddagh via Flickr
Lets take a look at a few more parables that Jesus used to describe the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 20:1-16
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.
2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’
5 So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “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.’
9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.
10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.
11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.
12 ‘These men 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.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?
14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.
15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “SO THE LAST WILL BE FIRST, AND THE FIRST WILL BE LAST.”
I find this particular parable quite interesting because it highlights certain aspects of the difference between the kingdom of God and the way the “world” operates.
In the world…… it would be safe to expect that if you work for a longer amount of hours…..you would get paid more than a person who has worked a shorter amount of hours.
But in this scenario that Jesus presents everyone is paid the same amount.
On the surface this may seem unfair…… but it all depends on the way you look at it.
If the landowner in this scenario is God………then the men that were in the vineyard for a longer period of time got more of a benefit…..
Because they got to spend more time with God.
The men that worked in the vineyard at the end of the day would have spent hardly anytime with God.
So who would you say got the short end of the stick?
A lot of the time we ask the question……is God fair?
But what exactly is fair?
Is our idea of fairness slightly different from the fairness of God?
If a man was to give 10 sweets to 5 children…..the fair thing to do would be to give each of them 2.
But if God was to distribute the sweets……he may give one 3 because he knows he has a little brother at home…..he may give 1 no sweets because he knows he is allergic to sweets……he may give sweets to the others at a later time because he knows they haven’t had their dinner yet.
Once we start to really think about the idea of fairness we may begin to realize that our perception of fair is usually when things go according to how “we” want them to.
That’s why we always complain when someone dies……why did God allow the person to die!……its just not fair!
Maybe if we gave a thought to “what fair is”…….we might have a different perception.
The last line of what Christ said I feel is very significant because he seems to say it so often.
“The last will be first and the first will be last”
This is a prophetic statement…… one that we need to reflect on to get a full perception of what he means.
Matt 18:1-7
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them,
3 and said, “TRULY I SAY TO YOU, UNLESS YOU ARE CONVERTED AND BECOME LIKE CHILDREN, YOU SHALL NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
4 “WHOEVER HUMBLES HIMSELF AS THIS CHILD, HE IS THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
5 “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For IT IS INEVTABLE THAT STUMBLING BLOCKS COME; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!
Once again we see the dichotomy in the kingdom of God and the world.
The greatest in the world is not a child…..the greatest in the world would be a very rich man…..or the queen….or the president of the United States.
But the greatest in the kingdom of heaven……..is like a child.
Jesus highlighted a certain aspect which is a characteristic of children.
Humility.
What exactly does it mean to humble oneself?
It means to lower oneself in terms of importance.
A characteristic not very familiar with Pastors…….the supposed leaders of the church.
It appears as though the kingdom of God has nothing to do with worldly significance.
It has nothing to do with age…….or knowledge of the bible.
It has nothing to do with how many years you have been “born again”.
It has absolutely nothing to do with whether you are a “Christian”.
To be the greatest in heaven……you have to humble yourself as a child.
To be continued……….
Radical Chic Magazine 