Jesus tells this strange parable of workers who do different amounts of labor and yet are paid the same salary. Instead of questioning the standards of wages, Jesus instructs the disciples that those who think they have earned their place in God’s kingdom have forgotten something: they haven’t earned it by their merit, but by God’s generosity alone. Our own appreciation of salvation can be tainted by the routines of life, and it’s our job to make sure that we don’t become deluded about ourselves—but instead, recognize that God is indeed good. It is those who are humble and grateful—those who look like the last—who are really the first.
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