Today’s Reading: Matthew 20:1-16; Luke 19:1-10
PEOPLE IN THE MARKETPLACE
There once was a landowner who hired workers for his vineyard, agreeing to pay them a normal daily wage. A few hours later, he saw some people standing in the marketplace with nothing to do – no purpose, no plans. He hired them to also work in his vineyard. At noon and then again at 3pm and 5pm, the landowner hired more people from the marketplace and then sent them to work in his vineyards.
At the end of the day, the foreman paid the last workers first, giving them each a full day’s wage. When those hired early in the morning came through the line, they also received a full day’s wage. Can you imagine their shock? They had worked all day in the scorching heat yet those who had only worked the last hour were receiving the same pay.
“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’” – Matthew 20:13-15
Jesus knows our humanity; he knows that we battle selfishness and jealousy. We are quick to respond to injustice and cry out, “It’s not fair!” In this parable, the injustice is that those who spend the majority of their life producing fruit for the Master could end up with the same reward as those who surrender to the Lord late in life. While our tendency is to focus on how the prodigals have spent a great deal of their life not following Jesus, God is calling us to put our focus on Him. Instead of seeing the scars of their sins, we need to be reminded of the scars of our Savior. Jesus died to transform the lives of the lost and he can do the same for our selfish hearts. Praise God!
“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.” – Matthew 20:16
Consider the possibility that we get so caught up in working for God that we no longer see those standing in the marketplace with nothing to do — no purpose, no plan. We pass them by in a hurry to get to the vineyard. We no longer look up in the treetops to see who is curious about God from a distance. We miss the opportunity to open the door for those who do not feel worthy of walking into our fellowship because of their sins.
PEOPLE IN THE TREETOPS
Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. – Luke 19:1-2
Although Zacchaeus was a Jew, he worked for Rome collecting taxes from other Jews. The only way a tax collector would gain wealth in this job was to charge the Jews a great deal more than he was required to give to Rome. He was seen as dishonest and disloyal; he was considered a traitor and a cheat.
He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this house today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” – Luke 19:3-10
How often do we walk around the “trees” because we despise the sins of others?
How often do we ignore those who are curious about Jesus?
How often do we give up on others, assuming they are too steeped in sin to repent?
PEOPLE AT THE TABLE
The Jewish people saw Zacchaeus as wicked but Jesus saw who Zacchaeus was created to be. We need to see people as Jesus does. Let’s start looking for people in the trees and invite them to the table. Let’s take notice of those standing in the marketplace and invite them to come work in the vineyard. The church is not an-invitation-only club. All are welcome, for the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.
Lord, give us a burden for the lost that changes the way we see those around us today. Give us eyes to see and hearts to notice the need of salvation in those we come in contact with each day. Align our hearts with yours so that we are daily moved to compassion, each moment available to be used by you in the life of someone else. Amen.
[This devotional was inspired by a sermon I heard at Nazarene Youth Conference in 2015. I don’t remember the details of the message or who preached it, but I loved how the speaker gave us a visual of Jesus moving Zacchaeus from the tree to the table.]