The Parables of Jesus: The Labourers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1-16:

[1] The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. [2] And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. [3] And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. [4] And he said to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just. [5] And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. 

[6] But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? [7] They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard. [8] And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the labourers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. [9] When therefore they were come, that came about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. [10] But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny. 

[11] And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, [12] Saying: These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats. [13] But he answering said to one of them: Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny? [14] Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee. [15] Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye evil, because I am good? 

[16] So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Now and forever. Amen.

Merry Christmas, dear readers, and happy new year, and happy Epiphany week! I know it's been a while, and for that I do apologize. Today we have a great parable to look at, but once again, it's a challenge to us. It also has a lot of layers, so let's dig in.

From a surface level reading, this seems to be teaching us some economic principles. First of all, we might notice that the workers actually work in the vineyard for all of the daylight hours, which is approximately 12 hours. Remember, in the Jewish understanding (coming from Genesis), the new day begins at sundown (around 6 pm), and morning is at sunrise (around 6 am). So, the householder goes out early in the morning, around 6 am, and hires workers for his vineyard, who work the whole day, until the 12th hour, or about 6 pm.

So we have a 12 hour work day, which, for most of us in our time, is a much longer work day than we're used to (for most it's about an 8 hour work day). Remember that the next time you feel bagged at the end of the work day. Then remember also that the Jews worked six days a week, not five. That's a lot of productive capacity!

Moreover, we see some form of contract law. The householder contracts the workers to work the day for a penny (a silver denarius, which was the usual daily wage). It's a verbal contract, but the contract is understood as binding. In addition to this, we also see property rights in this story, as the householder, being the owner of the vineyard, and the one hiring the workers, has a right to pay his workers whatever he wants, because it's his money, his vineyard, and therefore he can pay them what he chooses.

But notice, of course, that he does not defraud the workers. Now, it might at first glance appear that there is an issue of justice here, because the workers who work fewer hours get paid the same as those who worked more, which doesn't seem fair. Indeed, the workers who started at the beginning of the day express precisely this, and feel that an injustice has been paid to them. Jesus addresses this in the parable, though. The workers agreed to the daily wage, which is the normal, daily wage that workers work for. The implication here is that if they worked anywhere else, this is what they'd get paid. Therefore, it wasn't that the householder paid them less than they deserved, but rather he paid those who worked fewer hours more than they "deserved". It demonstrates generosity on the part of the householder, rather than stinginess.

The workers who started at the beginning of the day were hoping to take advantage of the generosity of the householder, in the same way that those who came late received his generosity. But, he paid them their agreed rate, which is just.

So, that's all on the surface of the parable--but let's go a little deeper.

Remember that Jesus, as with most of his parables, begins with the phrase, "the Kingdom of Heaven is like..." Therefore, we know that this also reveals something to us about the God's plan for salvation, and His Church. So, one level down, you might say, this is about the historical kingdom: Israel and the Church (the New Israel).

The Jews were God's chosen people for the transmission of the Old Covenants. The Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, and of Shem (Semites), the son of Noah, were the people that God worked His promise of salvation through. The vineyard in the parable is the world, and the Jewish people were the workers that God hired from the beginning to work His vineyard. Those who are hired later in the day are the Gentiles. They all receive the same reward: heaven.

In the early days of the Church, immediately following Jesus' departure, the work of evangelization began, first among the Jews, and then a little later the Apostles began their work among the Gentiles. Paul recounts in his letter to the Galatians that he had to correct Peter on one occasion, because Peter wasn't being consistent in his behaviour among the Jews as among the Gentiles. Without getting into the specific mistake, the only point I want to make here is that it would be an error if we were to hold that the Jews have a special place in heaven because they were God's chosen people. The gift of heaven is open to all, and what matters is the heart of man, and his responsiveness to the Gospel, not what group he happens to be born into--this is also revealed in the parable, but I'll touch on it in more detail later on.

So, the first will be last and the last will be first. Just because you're a Jew doesn't mean you get special place. Now, I should say, this doesn't mean we, as Gentiles, should hold the Jews in low regard. They are our elder brothers in the Faith, and to hold them in low esteem would be a violation of the commandment to honor your father and your mother. Nevertheless, the reward at the end of our lives is the same, Jew or Gentile: eternal beatitude in the glory of heaven.

We can go one step deeper into this parable, though, and understand what it means for us, on an individual level. I'll repeat Jesus' statement again, because He says it many times in the Gospels: the first will be last and the last will be first. This is a challenge to our pride, and an invitation to humility. If we are upset by the notion that someone who converts late in life gets to go to heaven just the same as I, who has worked for the Church and the salvation of souls since I was a young boy (or girl, as the case may be), then that reveals something about your heart: that it is proud.

Remember what Jesus says in Luke 15:7: "I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance." This is the attitude that Jesus expects from us. Rather than grumbling that the latecomers to get the same pay, the labourers in the vineyard should be filled with joy that those who came late received the same daily wage. Why? Because it isn't that they didn't want to work--but rather that nobody would hire them. So, the householder rewarded the desire of their hearts: which was to work the whole day.

So, when we see one repent of their sins and turn to God, our hearts should be filled with Joy, whether this conversion comes early or late. Such a disposition is that of humility, recognizing we are all in need of God's grace, and that our life in the Church was by God's work in us, and not our work in ourselves. God gives to all the true desires of their hearts, whether early or late. Do we desire to work in the service of God? Or do we desire only the reward for that work? That's a good question to ask yourself.

There is one final point I want to make about this parable. The question of work versus grace is strong in this parable. On the one hand, our reward is a free gift of grace, and is not dependent upon how much work we do. I think you can see that clearly in the parable. On the other hand, that gift is given only to those who respond to the householder's invitation to work. The householder doesn't just go around giving people silver denarii! He invites them to work, and by their generous response to his invitation, and gives his grace generously, irrespective of how much work is actually done.

So, yes, God's gift of grace is generously given, but it is only given to those who actually respond and come to work. The workers at the 11th hour say in response to the householder who asked them why they were idle all day, "no one would hire us." They want to work--but they have nobody to work for. They were probably not expecting a full day's wage, for one hour's work. But they responded generously to the invitation of the householder to work, happy to receive the wage, even if it was for only one hour of work.

We who are raised in the Faith often have no sense of the desperate desire that there is among non-Christians, or even non-Catholics, for truth, and virtue, and a righteous mission. We don't have this sense because we already possess it--even if we're not living up to it.

Many are called, few are chosen. The chosen are those who respond to God's invitation to work for His Kingdom. God will reward us for that generosity of spirit--not based on how much work we actually do, but based on our desire to do that work. His reward is generous, even if we don't deserve it. All He asks is that we be willing, and that we respond to His call when He makes it.

God bless you, dear reader, and thank you for reading.

The Parables of Jesus: The Unmerciful Servant

Matthew 18:21-35:

[21] Then came Peter unto him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? [22] Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times. [23] Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. [24] And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him, that owed him ten thousand talents. [25] And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

[26] But that servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. [27] And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go and forgave him the debt. [28] But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow servants that owed him an hundred pence: and laying hold of him, throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest. [29] And his fellow servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. [30] And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he paid the debt. 

[31] Now his fellow servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done. [32] Then his lord called him; and said to him: Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: [33] Shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow servant, even as I had compassion on thee? [34] And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt. [35] So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Now and forever. Amen.

I wrote this blog post once, already, but somehow my computer crashed, and Blogger didn't save my work. Alas, I must re-write it. Thankfully, I waiting a couple of weeks since last time, so I don't feel like I'm writing the same thing twice, and I'll probably mention some things I missed last time. So, yay!

The story is a pretty poignant one. Fundamentally, this is a warning to us about our forgiveness of others. Remember, Jesus tells this parable after Peter asks Him how often we are to forgive others. Peter presents Jesus with  a very reasonable proposition: to forgive others seven times. In Jewish numerology, seven is the number of perfection. The creation of the world is completed, or perfected on the seventh day. Peter wasn't asking if we should literally forgive people seven times. He was asking something more substantial.

His question was about meeting the demands of justice. The Jewish people had a long and rich tradition of forgiveness. For example, every Jubilee year, which occurred every seven years, and also every 50 years, all debts were forgiven, and all slaves freed. It was a reflection of the mercy of God, and so connected to the Sabbath day, the day of rest--the burdened were freed from their burdens.

But the logic of forgiveness somehow demands that the one being forgiven recognizes their own need to be forgiven. They must carry the weight of guilt, which leads them to seek forgiveness, to be freed form their burden. From the perspective of the one offering forgiveness, it may be difficult to grant it to someone who doesn't seem to care, or even want forgiveness, or who perhaps thinks that if they just ask for forgiveness, they can offend as often as they like.

And that's really kind of where Peter is coming from. How often should I forgive? Seven times? In other words, am I really satisfying the demands of justice and mercy by forgiving someone who keeps offending me? I mean, how burdened can he be by this? He keeps doing it! Is it even really forgiveness at this point?

Jesus' response is a hard one. He shifts the focus. Instead of thinking about how you've been offended, Peter, think about how you've offended God. That's essentially Jesus' response. Jesus begins the parable "...the kingdom of heaven is likened to a king..." Whenever Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven, we should understand that whatever follows is about God, and our relationship to Him.

So God is like a king who found that one of his servants owed him ten thousand talents. A talent was basically a gold coin. To put it into numbers that might make sense to us today, this is actually in the billions of dollars. Understanding that the servant has no way to pay this vast sum, the king orders that he and his wife and his children be sold into slavery, and all of his possessions seized, so as to make at least some repayment. But, begging the king, the servant promised to pay it back. Pitying the servant, the king sent him away, forgiving his debts.

We are the servants. When we sin, we sin against an infinite God, and these offenses are therefore infinitely vast, and we have no capacity to make just restitution against them, being small, finite creatures. But notice, God doesn't just forgive the debts. His first inclination is to satisfy justice, even if justice cannot be fully satisfied by our punishment. God is moved to pity and mercy and forgiveness when? Is it when we beg for forgiveness? Actually no, that's not what the servant does. Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. It was the servant's willingness to repay the debt that moved the king to pity, for the king knew that it was a foolish promise, knowing that it was not within the means of the servant to repay all of the debt.

Jesus is revealing to us a requirement for God's forgiveness: namely, our desire and willingness to make amends for our sins. But this isn't where the story ends.

The servant goes away, having been forgiven. He comes upon one of his fellow servants who owes him one hundred pence. To put this amount into proper perspective, this would have been around thirty thousand dollars today. That's no small amount, and I think that's the point. The sins we commit against each other are not small, or meaningless. We can carry great weights of guilt for seriously harming each other.

Yet, despite that, Jesus wants us to remember that, by comparison, as great an offense as our brother or sister might have made against us, and it may indeed be great, but compared to our offenses against God, they are small. Jesus' point is not to downplay the significance of our sins against each other, but only to remind us of the great weight of guilt that God has released us from... to remember that when we are sinned against.

What does the forgiven servant do to the fellow servant who owes him one hundred pence? He attacked him, he demanded payment, and when the servant asked him for patience, just has he had asked the king, he refused and threw him in prison until the debt was paid. In other words, he was a hypocrite. He received forgiveness but refused it to another. And what happened to him in the end? His final state was worse than it would have been originally if the king hadn't forgiven him his debts. Remember, he was to be sold into slavery. But, maybe he would have had a kind master, who didn't treat him half bad. Maybe, but now, because he refused to forgive, he was not sold as a slave. Rather, he was delivered to be tortured until his debt was paid.

Don't forget... if God is infinite, and our offenses against Him are therefore infinite, then we will be delivered to be tortured until the debt is paid... and you can't pay an infinite debt, no matter how long you're tortured.

So Jesus shifts Peter's perspective from the offended one to the offender. Remember that you are also an offender who has received forgiveness, so forgive those who have offended you. This is why He says to forgive seventy times seven times. This is a manner of speaking, which, I'm sure you've guessed by now, implies an even more perfect perfection. It may be perfectly just (seven times) to forgive the servant who owed one hundred pence, but it's a greater justice (seventy times seven) to recognize that justice goes beyond the individual relationships and encompasses all, even the relationship to the infinite, and that you are actually obliged by justice to forgive as many offences as are committed against you (all of them, no matter what), because even all of them added together do not equal the magnitude of the forgiveness you've received from the infinite One.

That's right. Jesus is telling us we are obliged never to withhold forgiveness. We must always forgive. If we do not, then God will withhold His own from us. Remember, every time you pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, this is what you pray: "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." If you pray this prayer, understand that you are asking God, and rightly so, to forgive you in the manner that you forgive others. If you withhold your forgiveness, you are asking Him to withhold His also. If you offer forgiveness without reconciling the relationship, or at least making an effort on your part to do so, then you are asking God to forgive you, but to have no relationship with you. If you, when you forgive, demand a just restitution (i.e., I forgive you, as long as you make an effort to pay me back), then you are asking God to forgive you in the same manner... so you better be willing to pay God back.

So... if I were you... and in a parabolic sense I am... I'd be as forgiving as possible.

God bless, and thank you for reading!

The Parables of Jesus: The Conversion of a Scribe

Matthew 13:[52]:

He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old.

Image taken from: https://mymorningmeditations.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/ancient_rabbis.jpg

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Now and forever. Amen.

Today's parable is the conclusion of several parables on the Kingdom of Heaven. I've talked about some of these, but not all of them. However, in order to understand this last, it has to be understood within the context of the full teaching.

Before I offer the full context, I will explain a little bit about the scribes. The way I had always understood this group of people in my youth was that they were copyists, or the ones who wrote things down, transcribers. This isn't actually correct.

We get the word scribe from a translation of the Hebrew word soferim, which meant what the English word scribe means: "one who knows how to write." However, this class of people were much more than mere writers. It is understood that only the highly educated, in ancient Judaism, knew how to write. So, while this is where their name comes from, it's really a surface-level description for who they were as a class in Jewish society.

The soferim were a body of teachers, and it was their job to properly interpret the Law for the people. So, whenever you read about a Scribe in scripture, this is the kind of person who's being talked about--someone very well versed in Jewish Law, and who teaches the people what the correct interpretation of the Law was.

This is important to know, because it is this kind of person that Jesus is talking about in this parable.

So, let's recap on Jesus' teachings on the Kingdom. So, this parable I have taken from Matthew 13. In this chapter, Jesus gives a series of seven parables that describe what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. This is the final, eighth, parable in that series. However, unlike the previous seven, which described what the Kingdom is like, this final one describes what a Scribe is like, who has been instructed in the Kingdom.

In Chapter 12, Jesus goes through a series of challenges from the Scribes and Pharisees. He, more than once, upbraids them for their hypocrisy and blindness. This chapter seems to be a follow up to that. Though the scribes are blind and hypocritical, if there are any that could be properly instructed in the Kingdom, they would be like "a householder, who brings out of his treasure new things and old." So, there is hope for them.

The seven parables here are these:

The first two parables are about the individuals who will reside within the Kingdom up to the time of the harvest.

The Sower and the Seeds - Jesus explains that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a sower (Himself) who, going along, drops seeds (the Word) on different types of soil (by the wayside, on stony ground, on thorny ground, and on good ground). The essential teaching here is that, in the Kingdom, people receive the Word differently, based on the state of their hearts, and the circumstances of their lives, and it is only a portion of all who hear the Word who are properly disposed to have it bear good and lasting fruit in their lives. There are three things here that Jesus says are necessary: to hear the word (receive it into one's heart), to understand the word, and to have it bear fruit in one's life. 

The Wheat and the Tares - Jesus explains that the Kingdom is like a sower who, having planted wheat in his field, had an enemy come into the field at night and sow tares among the wheat. Tares are basically weeds that look very similar to wheat. The sower tells his servants not to uproot the tares lest they also uproot the wheat, but to allow them to grow together until the time of harvest, when the wheat will be separated from the tares, and the tares will be bundled up to be burned. What this means about the Kingdom (the Church), is that within it there will be those within the Church who look and act like Christians, but are wicked in the their hearts, and agents of the enemy. Jesus says that they must be allowed to live in the Church, lest, driving them out, the His own children might be lost with them.

The next two parables are about the Kingdom as a whole body.

The Mustard Seed - The Kingdom is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, which, when fully grown, becomes a great tree which the birds of the air come to, and rest in its branches. Therefore, the Kingdom will begin small and seemingly insignificant in the face of the great world powers, which history can certainly attest to, but in the fullness of time, it will grow to become a great tree, as indeed it has.

The Leaven in the Meal - The Kingdom is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. Elsewhere, Jesus uses the imagery of leaven to describe doctrine or teachings (i.e., beware the leaven of the Pharisees). With that in mind, it seems that what Jesus is saying here is that the fullness of true Doctrine will be hidden in the meal, that is, in the Law and Jewish Tradition, which in time will be fully expounded in the Church.

The next three parables are about Jesus' own action in establishing the Kingdom, and for whom He came.

The Treasure in the Field - The Kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man finding it, hides it, then goes and sells all he has so that he can purchase the field. The man is Jesus, who, giving up His Divinity, comes to earth (the field) and purchases it (redeems it) through His sacrifice. The treasure is the people of God, the nation of Israel.

The Pearl of Great Price - The Kingdom is like a merchant seeking good pearls, who, having found one, goes and sells all he has, to buy just the one. The Pearl of Great Price is the great Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. Again, Jesus is the merchant who gives up His Divinity to purchase (redeem) the Pearl.

The Dragnet - The Kingdom is like a net cast into the sea, which, when it was full, was taken back to shore, and the good fish separated from the bad. The sea signifies the nations, the rest of the people of the world. The net has been cast, and at the end of time, the good fish will be separated from the bad, the righteous will be separated from the wicked.

Do you understand all these things? Therefore, every scribe that is instructed in the Kingdom is like a man that is a householder, who brings forth out of his treasure new things and old. What is the treasure of the scribe? It is his expertise in the Law, and the proper interpretation of it. When a scribe is instructed in the Kingdom, being an expert in the Law, and having knowledge as to how to properly interpret it, he will bring forth old wisdom regarding the Law, as well as new.

The point here is that, despite Jesus' repeated admonitions of the scribes, He's not condemning Jewish Law, or tradition. His Kingdom does not represent a break in their history and tradition. He's not proposing something radically new to them. Rather, the reason the scribe can bring forth both old and new treasure, when properly instructed in the Kingdom, is because there is a continuity between the old and the new, and the scribe's expertise in the Law will bring the new out of the old in a continuity of tradition.

Therefore, it is good to understand the Jewish roots to our Faith, since Jesus fully expects that the "old" will be brought forward into the Kingdom, just as there will be a newness to it.

God bless, and thank you for reading!