Jesus uses this story to teach us that when we hear about the miracle of God's love he expects that our lives will bloom and grow, bearing beautiful fruits of the spirit such as kindness, love, and joy. It is expected that we will want to share the fruits of God's love so that others can enjoy and benefit from that love.
Sometimes we are called to be followers of people who have "leader jobs" - like teachers or our bosses at work. But our most important leaders are people we follow - not because we have to - but because we choose to. Jesus is a leader like that. No one is forced to be a Christian - and yet people all over the world choose to follow Jesus because they've decided all by themselves that Jesus is someone whose life and teachings are worth copying.
The lesson, then, is that we receive God's love, share it with others, and when we do that we are giving that love back to God - producing beautiful fruit for the kingdom of God.
In today's Gospel story Jesus is asked a trick question: Whose rules does he follow? (In other words, does he follow people's rules or God's?) How would you answer that question? Whose rules do you follow?
Jesus speaks to us in the Bible about being ready. He talks about his return to earth and says, "But of that day or that hour no one knows" (13:32). He goes on to say, "Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don't know when the time is" (13:33). We are to live in a way that makes us ready, at all times, to meet God.
When you choose to follow Jesus you choose a life of freedom, but also of responsibility. It is not easy. You may encounter people who make fun of you because of your beliefs. There may be times when you want to do something that looks like fun, but the activity is not something that would honor God.
Jesus tells us this story to help us to understand that - like the man in the story - God has trusted us with something special...his kingdom here on Earth. Of course God doesn't expect us to give him grapes (like the people in the story). Instead he is looking for us to "give back" to him the important things we do with our lives...our loving, our sharing and helping.
Both twins spoke up. Kyle said he was sorry for complaining about mowing the lawn, and Kelly said she was sorry for not mowing. When their mom asked the twins if they could help her make sandwiches for lunch, they both jumped right up and headed for the kitchen. No more disobedience for them!
Each time you make a choice to deny yourself and do something that helps others, you are building and strengthening your character. You are becoming a stronger Christian - more like Jesus.
Jesus was speaking to crowds of people and also to his disciples, teaching them about the importance of being humble. He used, as an example, certain people of that time and he said of them, "… all their works they do to be seen by men…" (23:5). To understand this idea of being humble, let's use the example of a carrot. You know – Bugs Bunny's favorite food!