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February 11, 2021

Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.

Reading along with us in Matthew? Here’s today’s reading:

Matthew 20 (NIV)

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.........Continue Reading

Next: Matthew 21

Back: Matthew 19

This Post Has 10 Comments
  1. The last shall be first is certainly not an idea we hold dear in this world. I have seen people get into physical altercations over cutting in a Walmart line or sneaking in first to a parking spot!
    God’s economy is so different than our worldly thinking. He values humility, He values the mind of a child that this world sees as weak and less important. But we must learn that if Jesus can come to this earth humbled to die for us we must be willing to pick up that same cross and follow the servant example He provided!

  2. In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, I think the lesson is that we don’t get what we deserve, and we don’t deserve what we get. It is all about grace. Jesus is talking right after the disciples mentioning that they have given up all to follow Him and He tells them this parable. He tells them that they will rule over the 12 tribes in His kingdom. I think the point is that people will be unequally accepted based on God’s grace.

    When the mother of Zebedee’s sons comes to Him they still seem to misunderstand that Jesus’s kingdom is not about positions of power.

    Workers work regardless of recognition. Rulers serve. The God of the universe offers Himself as a ransom.

  3. Matthew 20. I like what Amy said about Gods grace is given to those who accept him whether they accepted him as their savior as a child and have served him since then or accept him on their death bed. In Gods economy, timing is not the issue.

  4. Chapter 19 ended with Jesus sharing that the last will be first and the first will be last and chapter 20 begins with a parable depicting the lesson….he even concludes it with the same statement showing clearly that is the point of the parable. Although we might understand the perceived injustice in how the employer deals with the situation, it all boils down to what was agreed on. It is the same as we deal with our Christian lives. We come to God and serve because it is a privilege to do so and we see the value in it. However God blesses or rewards is His prerogative. And the worst thing we can do is compare ourselves to other people. We can trust God to be faithful to His promises…but how and when is up to Him.

    And things are revving up for Jesus. He is about to enter the last week of His life. So He once again warns the apostles about what is going to happen. It was probably the impending end that causes John and James’ mom to make this request. It’s probably the last thing Jesus wanted to deal with and shows a complete lack of understanding of what His kingdom is all about. But it is not the first nor the last time the disciples show that they just don’t get it. It is not about earthly power. And she minimizes the significance of Jesus in what she asks. So either her sons are great or Jesus is little and Jesus is not little…

    And to follow His normal course of action and show how great He is, Jesus heals a couple of blind men. And is compassionate to recognize them when others tried to silence them….

  5. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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