People in authority and people with power spend a lot of time checking for erosion.  So in today's Gospel, the leaders and elders are less interested in what Jesus is doing, and more interested in who authorised it, especially if it wasn't them!  Remember the time Jesus healed the man with the withered arm.  They could have said, "Nice Arm!" But they couldn't see the arm.  If all you have is a hammer, all you can see is a nail.
They are, of course, looking to set a trap. If Jesus says he acts on Divine Authority, then God help him because that is there area of expertise.  So He resets their trap and springs it on them.  Now watch them squirm.  And they squirm so much they get all tangled up to the point where all they can say is that they don't know.  Not a great answer from those who claim to speak for God.

Jesus, like John, wants Metanoia, a new mind.  By profession the priests and elders are expected to be close to God.  By profession, tax collectors and prostitutes are expected to be far from God.  The only difference being that when the latter heard the call to change, they changed.  New Mind, New Heart, New Shoes.

From the Sufi Wisdom stories:  
Once upon a time, there was a court case against Mulla Nasruddin.  The judge asked him,
"How old are you Nasruddin?"  
And he answered, " Of course, you know and everybody knows I am forty years old."
The judge was surprised.  "But five years ago, you were also in this court.  When I asked you then how old you were you said forty.  How is this possible? After five years you are still forty?"
Nasruddin said, " I am a consistent man, sir.  Once I say I am forty, I will remain forty.  I'm not going to keep changing my mind about that."

Loyalty to the mind is useless.  Holding the same position despite the evidence carries a very high price tag.  The Sufis say the mind is a good servant but a poor Master.  Clinging to what we ' think'robs us of the ability to tune into the deeper rhythms of our hearts.  The religious leaders could not listen to Jesus because their minds were already made up.

I wonder if the same dilemma still plagues us today?

A rich young man has just walked away from an invitation to equality.  Sadly, it looks like life has taught him that it is better to rely on inequality.   When all God can offer is 'daily bread' it never seems enough.

Peter, who seems to roll the question, 'What's in it for me'? around and around with amazing regularity has witnessed this departure.  His question springs up again, and Jesus astonishes him with a declaration of extravagant reward.  If Peter is anxious about a poor pay off, Jesus overwhelms him with a vision of plenty.

Peter seems unconvinced, so the Divine Teacher says, " Once upon a time .......
The story He tells is universally disliked and definitely unfair!  Disciples are vulnerable.  There is no salary or pension plan, no holiday or sickness pay.  Each morning, God calls them to work in His Vineyard, and all He offers is Justice at the setting of the sun.  

Then God notices that some are standing idle.  It is not that they are lazy.  It's only that no one has asked them to do anything.  As the sun journeys across the sky, God keeps asking and they keep coming.  

Now, you might think that God would measure the pay to fit the work: £6.25 an hour. But suddenly justice expands into generosity and the late arrivals find themselves on the receiving end of God's Kindness.  Complaints are lodged.  Peter is in full swing.  And Jesus answers his question with a question.  'My friend ..... why be envious because I am generous?  

Learning how to reverse round a corner is probably the most challenging part of learning to drive.  Learning how the first shall be last and the last first is an even tougher lesson for the disciple.  But when we are dealing with the Heavenly Father of Jesus, another way of thinking is demanded.  For God calls us out of the world of envy, jealousy and comparisons into a world where Grace flows like liquid light.  

Peter has to know that God has given Him, and the rest, all that He has.  Which, of course, is one day's wages.

Today is one on the most beautiful Solemnities of the Year. When we stop to ponder how God made sure no one was excluded from His embrace from the Cross, we are humbled by His Kindness.

In His Book, Loves Endeavour, Loves Expense, William H Vanstone concludes with this Hymn to the Creator in Thanksgiving.

Morning Glory, Starlit Sky, Leaves in Springtime, Swallows Flight,
Autumn Winds, Tremendous Seas,  The Sounds and Scents of Summers Night.

Soaring Music, Towering Words, Arts Perfection, Scholars Truth,
Joy Supreme of Human Love, Memories Treasure, Grace of Youth.

Open Lord are these Thy Gifts, Gifts of Love to mind and sense,
Hidden in Loves Agony.  Loves Endeavour, Loves Expense.

Love that Gives, Gives Ever More, Gives with Zeal with Eager Hands,
Keeps Not, Spares Not, All Outpours, Ventures All, it's All Expends.

Drained is Love in Making Full, Bound in Setting others Free,
Poor in making Many Rich, Weak in Giving Power to Be.

Therefore, He who Thee reveals, Hangs O Father on That Tree
Helpless
And the nails and thorns
Tell of what Thy Love must be.

Thou Art God! No Monarch Thou
Enthroned in easy State to Reign.
Thou Art God whose Arms of Love,
Aching, Spent the World Sustain.