NOTES for Mat 20:1-16
1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. |
2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. |
3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, |
4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. |
5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. |
6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? |
7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. |
8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. |
9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. |
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. |
11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, |
12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. |
13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? |
14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. |
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? |
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. |
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In mastering a science, everything is based on many years of labor, constant labor, labor that accumulates knowledge in you. You cannot understand higher mathematics without studying arithmetic and elementary algebra. You cannot understand quantum mechanics without studying the basics of optics, and so on. The same applies to any sphere of human activity, whether a craft, an art, or a technology. This makes up our life, and we become used to such an order. But this structure of existence is very earthly. The law of gradual growth is extremely harsh: if you do not meet a series of formal parameters, you are not needed. This is inevitable, because here it is not the person that matters, but the progress of the field.
And there is an opposite law, the law of love, love for the person. Here everything is different. Instead of gradual accumulation, there are sudden revelations that turn one's whole life upside down. Here such paradoxes can occur, one of which is described by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, when yesterday's seminarians asked him how they could regain the sense of God they had had when entering the seminary. In other words, everything had happened to them in the opposite direction: instead of the gradual growth that was expected, there was a feeling of distance from God. Because there is no method for coming to God, however many methods may be found in the writings of the saints. God reveals Himself to whom He wants, and in the way He Himself finds necessary.
At the turn of the century there was a happiness helped along by the misfortune of the Soviet era: to see human souls that found God only in old age. And how much wondrous purity there was in them, how much burning ardor, how much truth...
Readings for 23 September 2025
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