This week BibleWorm reads Matthew 20:1–16, often called the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, in which the kingdom of heaven is said to be like a landowner who pays the laborers a full day’s wage no matter how long they’ve worked. We wrestle with the abject unfairness of this wage system and empathize with the workers who have labored a long day in the hot sun. Yet we also marvel at the generosity of the vineyard owner, who gives everyone what they need for the day no matter how much work they’ve done. Maybe, we think, in the kingdom of heaven people are not rewarded for the labor they provide but rather receive what they need to live a full and abundant life. If we read ourselves as the landowners, this becomes a lesson on how we should conduct our own economic practices, not only paying fair wages but giving generously until everyone has enough. And if we read God as the landowner, then this becomes a parable about God’s radical and endless generosity that welcomes more and more people into the kingdom and treats us all as people of dignity and worth.
Episode 220 Hometown Visits are Hard (Luke 4:14-30)
Episode 219 Baptism, Danger, and Delight (Luke 3:1-22)
Episode 218 Meeting the Tween Jesus (Luke 2:41-52)
Episode 217 Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:21-38)
Episode 216 Christmas Eve SPECIAL EPISODE (Luke 2:1-20)
Episode 215 Christmas is a Revolution (Luke 1:26-56)
Episode 214 Good News to the Poor (Isaiah 61:1-11)
Episode 213 Rend Your Hearts (Joel 2:12-29)
Episode 212 In the Lions' Den (Daniel 6:1-28)
Episode 211 The Power of the Word (Jeremiah 36 and 31)
Episode 210 Encountering God (Isaiah 6:1-13)
Episode 209 The Limits of Mercy (Jonah 1, 3, & 4)
Episode 208 Day-to-Day Miracles (1 Kings 17:1-24)
Episode 207 The Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:1-17)
Episode 206 Prayer and Promise (1 Samuel 1:1-20 and 2:1-10)
Episode 205 The Covenant Under Threat (Exodus 32:1-14)
Episode 204 Ritual Preparation for Liberation (Exodus 12:1-13 and 13:1-8)
Episode 204 (EXTENDED) Ritual Preparation for Liberation (Exodus 12:1-13 and 13:1-8)
Episode 203 (EXTENDED) The Complexities of Being Family (Genesis 37 and 50)
Episode 203 The Complexities of Being Family (Genesis 37 and 50)
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