How much money do you think you will earn when you are an adult and Can work?
Ask several adults with different professions how much they make in one day. You will probably find a big difference between what one person makes compared to the other.
In the time of Jesus, a person’s normal salary was one denarius per day.
What is a denarius? It is a small coin made of silver that was used in the Roman Empire. Normally, it had the emperor’s face on one side and the figure of some Roman god on the other.
Jesus told a parable about workers who picked grapes in a vineyard and were all paid a denarius. The owner of the vineyard, who had hired them, did not care if some had been working longer hours and others less hours, or if some had begun to work earlier than others. The owner of the vineyard paid everyone equally.
Those who had been working hard all day were angry, because they thought it was unfair; they believed that they deserved more than those who had started working later. But the owner of the vineyard said that they had agreed to work that day for a denarius, and he was going to be equally generous with all of them.
With this story Jesus wanted to show that He gives us His love and salvation equally. It is not something we deserve or can obtain by doing good things. Eternal life is a gift from God to all those who accept His salvation, no matter if they accept it sooner or later.
Find out what a denarius looks like and draw a picture of the parable in your Prayer Journal.