In the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, you have the owner paying his laborers all the same wage. It didn't matter whether they worked all day or only one hour. Everyone received the same pay.
As a Union Steward, this really got my goat. I didn't buy the explanation that the owner can do what he wants; it's his money. The owner may be showing his generosity but it was at the expense of the poor fools who slaved away all day. I would have slapped that employer with a grievance, for sure.
I understand I would have lost that grievance because there was no violation of justice. He paid what he said he would pay, and more.
And I understand also that I was thinking like a Pharisee. And that Jesus used the parables to keep the Pharisees off his back. While the Pharisees were trying to figure out the meaning, Jesus was explaining everything to His disciples.
As a disciple, I understand the parable to give me hope. That even Dismas, on the cross with Jesus could enter heaven, just like the ones who had believed Jesus was the Lord, from the beginning. For some reason, this explanation didn't impress me.
However, this morning I was reading the parable and a footnote enlightened my mind. The laborers who worked all day were the Jews. They were the chosen people. They believed from the beginning of Abraham. The last workers hired were us Gentiles. Now God was allowing the Gentiles to receive exactly what the faithful Jews were going to receive.
Why does this same fair and the union workers grievance not acceptable?
As a Union Steward, this really got my goat. I didn't buy the explanation that the owner can do what he wants; it's his money. The owner may be showing his generosity but it was at the expense of the poor fools who slaved away all day. I would have slapped that employer with a grievance, for sure.
And I understand also that I was thinking like a Pharisee. And that Jesus used the parables to keep the Pharisees off his back. While the Pharisees were trying to figure out the meaning, Jesus was explaining everything to His disciples.
As a disciple, I understand the parable to give me hope. That even Dismas, on the cross with Jesus could enter heaven, just like the ones who had believed Jesus was the Lord, from the beginning. For some reason, this explanation didn't impress me.
However, this morning I was reading the parable and a footnote enlightened my mind. The laborers who worked all day were the Jews. They were the chosen people. They believed from the beginning of Abraham. The last workers hired were us Gentiles. Now God was allowing the Gentiles to receive exactly what the faithful Jews were going to receive.
Why does this same fair and the union workers grievance not acceptable?
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