Jonah resents that God would forgive Nineveh. Laborers in the vineyard resent that last-minute workers would get a full day’s wage for an hour’s work; the first is last and the last is first.

Of course the point Jesus was making is that how hard we work, or how long we have been at it, does not ‘earn’ us the keys to God’s Kingdom. There is NO WAY we ‘earn’ eternal life; that is just not how it works. It is only by God’s grace that we are invited to live with God, in this life and in the next life.

The parable of the unforgiving debtor sounds harsh and cruel; but within this story is a life lesson we all need to study. All of our lessons today have to do with handling forgiveness, and not judging others. That’s a hard assignment. I was not brought up to forgive. My father was more the model that if someone wrongs you, they no longer exist. So this has been a hard lesson for me.

Our decision to be People of God raises us higher than only holding the faith that God exists, or that God cares about us, or even that God loves us so much that He forgives us when we goof up.

In Peter’s denial of Jesus telling them about his coming passion, death and resurrection – an outcome very inconsistent with being a Messiah – it is very clear that Peter had not figured out yet how God works. He was trying to ‘be there’ for Jesus, but by the rules of the world, rather than accepting that God could work by a whole different set of rules.