Once upon a time there was a vineyard of grapes. The servant of the vineyard worked very hard year-round to harvest the best grapes possible in order to please his master, the vineyard owner. The servant was a realistic man and understood that the quality of some grapes would be better than other grapes. For this reason, the servant was careful to separate the grapes each year at harvest time for various purposes.

Some grapes would be pressed and fermented into the finest of wines. Others would become delicious jellies and jams. Others would be sold in the market as they were because they were big and ripe, with a fine quality texture, and good tasting. Others would be dried in the sun and turned into raisins. And, finally, any grapes left over would usually be thrown out depending upon what the servant thought best.

Interestingly enough, the vineyard and all the grapes that grew in it understood their status.

The choicest grapes knew they were of superior quality. They knew how much money they would bring to the owner of the vineyard once they were pressed and turned into the finest of wines.

The sweetly sour grapes knew, too, that as jellies and jams their taste would delight all those who ate them.

The plumpest and best-looking grapes knew just how attractive and good tasting they would be.

The grapes that would become raisins knew, too, just how much people would enjoy eating them as a snack.

And, sadly, the remaining grapes knew of their fate. They were called the worthless grapes by all the other grapes in the vineyard. These worthless grapes could only hope the vineyard servant could find a useful purpose for them and not throw them out. Like the other grapes, they longed to be considered worthy. Even if they only brought in a little money for the owner, they believed their lives could be purposeful.

The other grapes in the vineyard mocked the worthless grapes as they grew.

“You don’t grow in fertile soil like we do,” said the choicest grapes that would one day be turned into fine wine.

“You don’t get enough sunlight like we do,” said the sweetly sour grapes that would one day be turned into delicious jams and jellies.

“You don’t get enough fertilizer like we do,” said the grapes that would one day be the plumpest and best-looking, best tasting grapes.

“And you don’t get enough rainwater like we do,” said the grapes that would one day become tasty raisins.

The worthless grapes grew as best they could under their pitiful circumstances.

At harvest time, the servant of the vineyard divided up all the grapes according to their quality.

The choicest grapes were made into the finest of wines. The sweetly sour grapes were made into the tastiest jams and jellies. The plumpest and best-looking, best tasting grapes were sold at the market. And those that became tasty raisins were sold at the market too.

When the servant of the vineyard had completed his work with all the other grapes, he turned his attention to the worthless grapes. They were shriveled, discolored and pathetically small. In years where there weren’t very many of these extra grapes, the servant usually just threw them out.

For this particular harvest, though, there was an abundant amount of these useless grapes. The grapes noticed the disappointed look on the servant’s face. What would become of them, they wondered? The servant tasted a few and considered what to do with them for a long time.

The grapes had an unusual taste. Not good, but not necessarily bad either. The servant knew they would not taste good as jellies or jams. Nor would they sell very well in the market as is or as raisins. He wondered how they might taste as wine. He considered their numbers for he knew it required a lot of grapes to make even a single bottle of wine. When curiosity got the best of him, the servant began working to make the worthless grapes into wine. “Who knows,” he said to himself. “Even if it’s just one bottle of wine, perhaps they will taste good enough to make a little money from so much waste, or perhaps they can just be given away.”

The worthless grapes were nervous. No harvest of worthless grapes in the past had ever been made into wine. At least, that is what all of the vines in the vineyard and the other grapes had told them. They wondered if the servant of the vineyard was making a mistake. They also wondered how well they would taste as wine. Would anyone buy them as wine? Would anyone enjoy their taste? Would they bring in very much money? Or would they, as the servant of the vineyard said, perhaps be given away? The thought of not making much money for the owner of the vineyard was sad enough, but to just be given away was even worse.

After lots of hard work by the servant of the vineyard and time for the worthless grapes to ferment, only one bottle of wine was produced. How worthless the feeling to have been made into only one bottle of wine. The servant of the vineyard stored the bottle in dark lonely place. The worthless grapes (now turned into wine) sat forgotten for what seemed to them an eternity.

Then one day, much to the worthless grapes’ surprise, the servant retrieved the bottle. He brushed the dust off the sides. The worthless grapes wondered how many years had gone by. They wondered what the servant was going to do with them now. Would he try to sell the bottle of wine? Or was he, as they sadly reasoned, just going to give them away?

The worthless grapes no longer had the energy to ever hope that anything worthwhile would happen to them. Mercifully, they did not have to wait long to learn of their fate. The servant of the vineyard gave the bottle to another man who then took it to an upper room of a small house. The bottle was placed on a table and left alone, again, in the dark for the worthless grapes to reflect upon their misery.

It was a crushing moment for the worthless grapes. They had been given away! No money had changed hands! Their existence was for absolutely nothing! They put the servant of the vineyard through such hard work and returned for him and the owner of the vineyard nothing of value! The worthless grapes still did not know how well they tasted as wine! The dejected feeling of having been given away was too much for them to bear. No doubt, they thought, the vineyard and all the future grapes would learn of their rejected fate.

Later that evening, a group of men entered the room. They sat down and shared a meal. They even sang songs. The worthless grapes, in their shame, tried not to bring any attention to themselves.

When the meal was close to its end, a man, who sat closest to the bottle of wine, picked it up, opened it, and poured its content into a large cup. The worthless grapes, still feeling dejected, resigned themselves to being tasted and then spat out in disgust.

Then the man raised the cup and said the most amazing thing.

Some of the worthless grapes heard:

“Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)

Some of the other worthless grapes heard:

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mark 14:24)

And still other worthless grapes heard:

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:20)

When the man finished his words, the worthless grapes felt the most wonderful sensation – a sensation that was impossible to describe. For in that instant, their hopelessness left them, their doubts and fears were relinquished, their joy unleashed, and their worth – yes, their WORTH – glorified by the actions of this man, named Jesus.

And so you see, the worthless grapes had, in fact, become the worthiest grapes to have ever grown throughout all of history. To this day their story is told and retold by all the grapes in all the vineyards throughout all the world, so that all grapes, regardless of their worth might, likewise, one day become just as worthy.

The End.