God is our employer

Matthew 20:1&2

"1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard."

Last week we concluded our “Gathering in Jesus’ Name” series, where we saw the importance of worshipping and serving our Lord and Savior. We then began our Lenten study of Jesus’ parables, starting with His lesson for Simon the Pharisee. Simon judged a sinful woman’s deep affection for Jesus, yet his own minimal hospitality exposed his failure to recognize his need for grace or Jesus’ true identity. Jesus contrasted her extravagant love—proof of her forgiveness—with Simon’s lack of love and spiritual blindness. A strong start to this series.

Today we return to the Gospel of Matthew for the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, a lesson we must take to heart. As Jesus and His disciples head toward the cross, He tells this parable in response to Peter’s question in Matthew 19:27: What reward would the disciples receive for leaving everything to follow Him? Spoken to the disciples, it addresses concerns about status, reward, and fairness in the kingdom of heaven.

We need this parable: it shows how heaven works. We are the workers in the vineyard. The owner pays a fair wage for a full day’s work. The KJV calls it a “penny,” the common coin in its time, but we now know it was a "denarius"—the standard Roman silver coin and typical daily wage for a laborer in Jesus’ day.

In this lesson, God is our employer. We expect fair pay from employers, and we know God is infinitely just. We are blessed to work for Him...