Generous Landowner

   Through this article I would like to briefly reflecting upon the passage of Matthew 20:1-16, which says about a generous landowner. Here, Jesus comparing the landowner with the Kingdom of God. The various times  which, the land owner went out for searching laborers are interesting one; Early in the morning, 9 am  12 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm. Here, landowner hire laborers on the contract which usual daily wage. Through this passage, I am trying to portrait three simple points.

1. Covenant

Here the contract is usual daily wage. We have a covenant with our God, which is about the eternal life. This is the God’s contract with us. Through the life in the earth, we are working also for the glory of the Kingdom of God with great hope about it. So, we are living here based on the contract / covenant which is given by our savior Jesus Christ. He is searching for us, for working His vineyard.

2. Calling

Here in verse 3, we can see that the landowner is calling some idle people for the job. Here we can see two types of idle people; for some, don’t have any interest in any job and others are willing to do jobs, but no one is calling them. The Kingdom of God is welcoming every one. This calling is not based on the familial dignity, merit, power, etc. As a Christian minister, we should do the role of this landowner. In our present society most of the people are excluded from the main stream. We have the right to welcome them to this wonderful opportunity.

3. Equality

Here, the generous land owner is giving equal wage rates for all. In one sense we may think that, it is injustice. But here, Jesus portraying this landowner as a symbol of generosity and equality. Because, he is representing here as the kingdom of God.  Everyone is equal before God. People are trying to dominate themselves before God. But that is not useful. If we have a pleasant and God-fearing life, we also the part of that kingdom.

v  We have to live according to the Covenant.

v  We have to welcome others without any division.

v  We have to understand the egalitarian nature of Kingdom of God.