“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’”
Matthew 20:1-7 New International Version (NIV)
Matthew 20:1-16: The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Parable – a simple story that shares a greater truth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19:23-24
With God, all things are possible!
“But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”
Matthew 19:30 (NIV)
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’” “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ‘So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’”
Matthew 20:8-16 (NIV)
“For the kingdom of heaven is like…”
Matthew 20:1-16
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death, …
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
MERCY AND GRACE
Receive the gift of salvation!