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? 14Take 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.”
There isn't a lot of teaching that needs to be done on this passage. During the harvest, it was very common for the farmers to go to the marketplace to hire itinerant workers to work the day in their fields. The standard pay was one denarius for twelve hours of work, which was based on the pay that a soldier received. As the day went along, the farmer saw that he needed more and more help, and began hiring the workers every few hours to help finish the harvest. At the end of the day, the workers would stand in line to be paid, with those that were hired last getting paid first and vice versa. But when the farmer gave a denarius to the guys hired for one hour, they were ecstatic!! They were payed twelve times what they were expecting to get paid. The rest of the guys down the line starting doing the math, figuring out their bonus according to what the first guys got paid. But as a denarius kept on being dropped into their hands, they were very upset.
The upside-down kingdom of God is not based on the way the economies of this world. The rich man is shamed, those who gave up everything will be honored. And in this crazy story, those that worked less were paid the same as those that worked more. The key is this: Jesus' kingdom brings about a reversal of the economy of our world.
In God's kingdom, the poor are blessed, the children are going to inherit the kingdom, the meek, the persecuted, those that suffer, the martyred, the ones on top in this world will be on bottom, and the ones on bottom in this world will be on top. This is what the new heavens and the new earth is going to complete. All the evil and injustices of materialism will be done away with, and the great reversal will occur for the lowly, the down and outers, as well as the rich and the wealthy and powerful. Yet, as God's kingdom, we are to begin bringing this reversal about now.
We are to honor the shameful, shame the honored. We are to undo the evil of material persecution by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving houses to the homeless. We are to take care of orphans and widows in their distress, visit those in prison, help those with addictions, bring the arrogant down and elevate the humbled. God's kingdom exists now and we are it. We are to bring heaven to earth, and a way that occurs is by bringing about this great economic reversal.
This is what it means to be part of the Kingdom of God. This is our duty. Yet Jesus will finish it when he comes back and makes everything new. This reversal will happen. The question is, will you be a part of it...now?
“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? 14Take 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.”
There isn't a lot of teaching that needs to be done on this passage. During the harvest, it was very common for the farmers to go to the marketplace to hire itinerant workers to work the day in their fields. The standard pay was one denarius for twelve hours of work, which was based on the pay that a soldier received. As the day went along, the farmer saw that he needed more and more help, and began hiring the workers every few hours to help finish the harvest. At the end of the day, the workers would stand in line to be paid, with those that were hired last getting paid first and vice versa. But when the farmer gave a denarius to the guys hired for one hour, they were ecstatic!! They were payed twelve times what they were expecting to get paid. The rest of the guys down the line starting doing the math, figuring out their bonus according to what the first guys got paid. But as a denarius kept on being dropped into their hands, they were very upset.
The upside-down kingdom of God is not based on the way the economies of this world. The rich man is shamed, those who gave up everything will be honored. And in this crazy story, those that worked less were paid the same as those that worked more. The key is this: Jesus' kingdom brings about a reversal of the economy of our world.
In God's kingdom, the poor are blessed, the children are going to inherit the kingdom, the meek, the persecuted, those that suffer, the martyred, the ones on top in this world will be on bottom, and the ones on bottom in this world will be on top. This is what the new heavens and the new earth is going to complete. All the evil and injustices of materialism will be done away with, and the great reversal will occur for the lowly, the down and outers, as well as the rich and the wealthy and powerful. Yet, as God's kingdom, we are to begin bringing this reversal about now.
We are to honor the shameful, shame the honored. We are to undo the evil of material persecution by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving houses to the homeless. We are to take care of orphans and widows in their distress, visit those in prison, help those with addictions, bring the arrogant down and elevate the humbled. God's kingdom exists now and we are it. We are to bring heaven to earth, and a way that occurs is by bringing about this great economic reversal.
This is what it means to be part of the Kingdom of God. This is our duty. Yet Jesus will finish it when he comes back and makes everything new. This reversal will happen. The question is, will you be a part of it...now?
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