The Lord is near to all who call him. (Psalm 144)
To derive the real meaning of this parable of the workers in the vineyard, we must put on the mind of Christ and, at the same time, put off our own pesky human notions of what is “fair”! God measures by an entirely different yardstick to ours so, to learn from this parable, we must forget our own ideas of workers rights, labour laws and trade unions.
The landowner is the central figure in this parable of what the kingdom of heaven is like – not what the kingdom of heaven actually IS. That, evidently, is beyond description, but in this parable there can be no doubt about who is the cook and who is the potato! We, chosen at random and at his good pleasure, are the workers for whom to be even chosen is our undeserved privilege and eternal blessedness.
Therefore, it does not become us to grumble or back chat – although we do, of course. The tolerant landowner listens with loving understanding, even calling us friends when we try to assert our rights but, in the end, he gently but firmly corrects our envy and small-mindedness and asserts His absolute ownership.
God rules – okay!
