the eleventh and he saw others standing around (...) The master said: ‘Go and work in my vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard
said to his manager: ‘Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ Those who had come to
work at the eleventh hour turned up and were given a denarius each (a silver coin). When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would
receive more. But they, too, received a denarius each. So, on receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner.
(...) The owner said to one of them: ‘Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on a denarius a day? So take what is yours and go. I
want to give to the last the same as I give to you. Don’t I have the right to do as I please with my money? Why are you envious when I am kind?’ So
will it be: the last will be first, the first will be last.”

Reflection:

The kingdom of God operates according to its own internal logic. It
is not necessarily the rules that the world knows. For in heaven, greatness is
not about going up, nor is reward dependent on longevity of work. The
reward is equal to all. But those who are first like the early workers of the
vineyard, are assured first by the fact that at the end of their work, they will get
their just reward. Whereas the last ones have agonized and feared at what their
lives would become mean time they were not yet hired by the vine owner. And so, it
is not about how long you worked in God’s vineyard. It is having equal share of
love and concern from our loving God who subverts the rule of the world and
replaces it with His own rule based on love.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2021