There was a certain man of a certain city who owned a very large olive grove. He had many laborers tending to his olive farm, but he also had three sons. One day, he called unto himself his three sons and said, "I must go to a foreign country for there I shall attend to other affairs which greatly concerns me." And they said to their father, "But who shall tend to your olive farm whilst you are away. For it is so large and with many laborers thereof." Then the man said to them, "Indeed, I shall divided the land into three equal parts and unto each of you shall be given a piece. You shall govern it as I your father have governed before you. But I say unto you, be good to the laborers as I am good to you as my children. Respect and love those of my age as your mothers and fathers, and those of your age as your brothers and sisters. Live with them without standards. For I shall return in a short while."
So each son was given a part of the land to govern and away the father went as was spoken. So the first son said to the other sons, "For I am the firstborn and do deserve a greater portion of the land. In this, I shall inherit the land given to the last brother. For he is a child and knoweth not about governing." And so it was so.
The first son with two parts of land; the second son with one part of land and the third son with nothing. Time went by and the first son had problems with the laborers for the land was too big for him to govern, and there was strife amongst the laborers. For he had favored some of the laborers over others as according to their works. He hated those who would not let him to see their daughters. Those whom did not increase their yields according to his will were not paid.
The second son with one part of land was unlike the first son who wanted to harbor great wealth and indulge into lust. He was not a respecter of any person but the first son. He ruled well but did not heed to the warnings of the laborers as it concerned the produce of the land. He wanted his yes to be yes and his no, no. He would only take heed from the first brother who was not of any good examples. Because he did not take warnings, when a heavy rain came, all the olives of the land of the second son died.
The third son without a land and remembering what his father said, moved out to live with the laborers. He lived with them as if they were of the same lineage. He loved and respected them as a family. He helped them till the soil for new planting of the second son's land. He with them harvested to meet the demand of first son. When and where the lacked, he would bring his portion of supplies and food to share with the laborers.
His brothers would get angry at him, for he had no authority to share with the lowly. He was chastised by his brothers when caught doing as they so despise. But he remembered the words of his father, and in his love for his father, he feared to ever make his father angry. And because of this, he did not wither in doing good.
And it came to pass after a time and a time, the father then returned to his land. And he called unto himself his three sons and said, "I have come but with my final blessings for each of you." And they replied, "But father, you are not on your dying bed. Why giveth us blessings beforehand?" He said, "I am your father and I do as I see fit. Unto each one of you, as you have done by my words, will you receive unto yourselves seven times." And the first son said, "What if we by mistake did not do by your words?" And the father replied, "As you were told and did not obey, you shall also receive unto yourselves seven what you did."
Then he called forth his third son and said, "What is your report over the land which was given you?" "Father, the land given me was taken from me by my eldest brother; but I was able to do as you told me. The laborers are my witnesses." replied the third son. Then he called forth his second son for his own report. "Father, I did as was told by you, but rain came and killed all the olive trees on my part of the land." And lastly, the father called forth his first son. "Father, I have much harvest to even cover for your second son. Some are in crates and much taken to the mill. There is much money in the bank." the first son said.
The father said to the first son, "I have no pleasure in the riches you have stored up for me. I am displeased that you coveted you brother's land unto yourself. The amount of money you made required the lives, happiness, and well-being of my laborers. For you shall not have the portion of land given to your brother, neither shall you have the land which was given to you. For your greed has made you so."
And to the second son he said, "The rain might not have taken away the olives had you listened to what the laborers forewarned. They are very skillful in their work as I know them well. Your pride has made you so, and you shall not have the land which you did not govern well."
And to the third son he said, "Truly you love and fear me. For only out of love of father can a son obey him, and without fear, it is easy to do as your brothers did. Unto you I give all these lands. As I was away, I heard of your goodness from many people. So did I also hear what your brothers were doing."
Background picture by: Akiane Kramarik
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