. But they in turn will deliver Him to the Gentiles, who will first of all mock Him. It tells us of their ambition. said the Lord; and then stretched forth His hand toward His disciples with the words, "Behold my mother and my brethren! "That by His stripes you may be healed." 1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? The system of grace is foreign to us: God deals with us according to who He is, not according to who we are. What can be conceived so perfectly to illustrate the great design of the gospel of Matthew? Verse Matthew 20:16. This parable is not a perfect illustration of Gods grace, because the principle of working and deserving is involved. (Matthew 19:30.) He was not called. Those first hired are actually paid least in proportion to their labor and receive the least pleasure from their pay. Not only will it be fair, it will be generous beyond expectation. With them, to be unemployed for a day was disaster. Because it is free grace, that is given to those that have it, boasting is for ever excluded; and because it is free grace, that is withheld from those that have it not, murmuring is for ever excluded. 1. Jesus was no doubt very weakened by it. Historical Books To hire laborers for his vineyard: The landowner went to the marketplace, which was the gathering place for day laborers. This came out most blessedly through the disciples. 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.(A). The strange thing is that instinctively the world itself has accepted these standards. He is also the writer of many of the letters that you find in your New Testament.". Hence, he waits to present their rejection of the Messiah, as morally complete as possible in his statement of it, though necessarily not complete in outward accomplishment. The reason I consider to be plain; and the same principle applies to various other parts of our gospel where we have two cases mentioned, where in the other gospels we have only one. They confess their faith, and He touches their eyes. Wisdom Literature He healed, and bore its burden on His heart before God, as truly as He took it away from men. The slum dwellers of Tokyo laughed at him, but they came to respect him. It was as Son of David that they addressed Jesus. The ox had to be ready either for the supreme moment of sacrifice on the altar or the long labour of the plough on the farm. So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, What do you want Me to do for you? They said to Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. No doubt they had heard of the wondrous power of Jesus; and no doubt they wondered if that power might ever be exercised for them. Nor was the unbelief confined to these religionists of letter and form; for next (verse 14) the question comes from John's disciples: "Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?" But if He here does not go beyond a hint of that which the Gentiles were about to receive on the ruinous unbelief and judgment of the Jew, He does not keep back their own awful course and doom in the figure that follows. (v) These two blind men were grateful. The deity of Christ was the hook; his flesh was the bait; the bait was dangled before leviathan; he swallowed it and was taken. So little old Jewish mama coming to Jesus with her two sons. Didst not thou agree to take up with heaven as thy portion, thy all, and to take up with nothing short of it? Then, alas! In the kingdom so much the less sparing is the retribution of those who despise or abuse grace. Wisdom Literature 2 And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard. The Pharisees were enraged at a power they could not deny, which rebuked themselves so much the more on account of its persistent grace; but Jesus passes by all blasphemy as yet, and goes on His way nothing hinders His course of love. But at the end, when His disciples are in the extremity of trouble, in the midst of the sea, the Lord walks on the sea toward them, and bids them not fear; for they were troubled and afraid. What are they hired to do? It was very different with the hired day-labourers. ", 'The Lord Is My Savior, Shield, Refuge, and Stronghold'. The Son of Man will be betrayed: Jesus again told the disciples what awaited Him in Jerusalem, but no reaction from the disciples is noted. That which was the first in order chose the four citizens who were judged the most proper to serve in the war; and the six tribunes who commanded the first legion chose one of these four, whom they liked best. A man may go idle to hell; but he that will go to heaven, must be busy. Finally, we have all wound up, after the going forth of a testimony which was truly universal in its scope, by the judicial severance at the close, when it is not only the good put into vessels, but the bad dealt with by the due instruments of the power of God. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Those hired later correspond to other people who became Jesus disciples later in His ministry. But in the case of those who were engaged later, there is no word of contract; all they wanted was the chance to work and they willingly left the reward to the master. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point Well, then, to whom was the ransom paid?" The ignorance is wholly on our side: all they say or omit was owing to the far-reaching and gracious wisdom of Him who inspired them. So the last shall be first, and the first last. If, among this number who are called into the kingdom, I choose to raise some to stations of distinguished usefulness, and to confer on them special talents and higher rewards, I injure no other one. It adds to the reason for this interpretation, that Christ was conversing about the rewards that should be given to his followers, and not about the numbers that should be called, or about the doctrine of election. No doubt the ship was covered with the waves; but how could that imperil the Lord of all? The pay was perfectly normal; a denarius or a drachma was the normal day's wage for a working man; and, even allowing for the difference in modern standards and in purchasing power, 4 pence a day was not a wage which left any margin. b. And the third day He will rise again: Jesus was remarkably specific in this announcement of His fate, and foretold many things over which He had no apparent control. And you guessed it already its a quote from the bible "so the last shall be first & the first last"which of course made me think of a competition type challe. iii. No matter what the great purpose might be, He was there for faith. The idea is that His people were in bondage as slaves, and He paid their price. He said to them, "My cup you are to drink; but to sit on my right hand and my left is not mine to give, but that belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." What does Matthew chapter 20 mean? | BibleRef.com Those who had come first thought that they would receive more; but they too received 4 pence each. But whereas the most unlikely people entered the kingdom, those for whom it had been prepared were excluded (Matthew 20:16). 4. This would not be a legal claim on man, but the scattering of good seed, life and fruit from God, and this in the unlimited field of the world, not in the land of Israel merely. "Lord, save us; we perish," cried they, as they awoke Him; and He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea. a. d T. Hieros. In this, as I believe, that He never employed the virtue that was in Him to meet sickness or infirmity as a matter of mere power, but in deep compassionate feeling He entered into the whole reality of the case. The Gentile church, which was as yet unborn, the Gentile world, which as yet stood idle in the market-place, would produce greater numbers of eminent, useful Christians, than were found among the Jews. (SeeMatthew 9:32-33; Matthew 9:32-33.) Going back just a little bit further, Peter had said to Jesus, "Lord, we have left all to follow thee"( Matthew 19:27 ). c. Lord, Son of David: However, in their desperation they glorified Jesus. The disciples had been summoned to work in the vineyard. For many are called, but few chosen.. Verse Matthew 20:16. Matthew 20:16 - Bible Verse Meaning and Commentary - Bible Study Tools The Lord shows that such unbelief justly and necessarily excludes itself, but not others, from blessing. He had been preparing them for the new things, and the impossibility of making them coalesce with the old. Of course, the facts of the cross were necessary to give it an evident and literal fulfilment; but we have it first apparent in His life, and it is blessed to see it thus accomplished, as it were, in what passed with Himself; fully realized in His own spirit, and the results exposed before the external facts gave the fullest expression to Jewish unbelief. The simple meaning seems to be: As those who did not come at the invitation of the householder to work in the vineyard did not receive the denarius, or wages, so those who do not obey the call of the Gospel, and believe in Christ Jesus, shall not inherit eternal life. We are put to our choice; for hired we must be (Joshua 24:15); Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. And He was Jesus, Emmanuel. And then he repeats this again. But when the Lord was here, no matter what the unbelief of others, it was only an opportunity for the grace of Jesus to shine out. They could probably tell the direction in the flow, the crowd, which direction He was, but they began to cry out to Jesus. For many are called, but few chosen." a. And He had compassion upon them, and healed them. This world looks at the outward appearance, but God knows our hearts. The Lord Jesus, even before He pronounced the sentence, for so it was, indicated what was at hand in these two instances of the Sabbath-day, though one may not now linger on them. i. Will be betrayed: Conceivably, Jesus could have been delivered to the religious authorities without this. It shows us his kindness. The blessings of the kingdom are the same for all who enter, whether Jews who had worshipped God for centuries, or Gentiles who had just been saved from heathenism; whether scribes who had studied Gods law for many years, or tax collectors who had just repented; whether those who had served God for a lifetime, or those converted in old age. Does this scribe offer to follow Jesus? The point of the parable was that God will graciously do more for some of those who work for Him than His justice demands. At least we can draw the following applications from it. And so with the other conversation: "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father;" it was after the glory of Christ had been witnessed on the holy mount, when man's selfishness of heart showed itself in contrast to the grace of God. After this our Lord sees great multitudes following Him, and gives commandment to go to the other side. Jesus instructs His little band that discipleship is never designed as a quid pro quo formula of compensation. At the beginning of the day, a landowner hired people to work in his vineyard for an agreed wage (Matthew 20:1-2). Such people resent what seems to them the intrusion of new blood or the rise of a new generation with different plans and different ways. It is the death-blow to human tradition and ordinance in divine things, and in reality depends on the truth of the absolute ruin of man a truth which, as we see, the disciples were very slow to recognize. Verse 4 seems quite adverse to the idea that great multitudes were witnesses of the cure; for why "tell no man," if so many knew it already? Now he started out at about six o'clock in the morning, and hired these men who were standing in the marketplace to go out and work in his vineyard. They in turn will give me to the Gentiles, the Romans. They were not attached to any group; they were entirely at the mercy of chance employment; they were always living on the semi-starvation line. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? The mother of Zebedees sons came to Him: This mother of James and John (Matthew 4:21) came with a request that would make a mother proud and the sons very happy. They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' It is the man who will not be kept from Christ who in the end finds him. "What do you want me to do for you?" But what a mercy that those who appear now to be rejected may be called in another muster, enrolled, serve in the field, or work in the vineyard? In Jesus' name. 20:17-19 As he was going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples apart, and said to them, while they were on the road, "Look you, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the Scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify; and on the third day he will be raised.". In Mark 10:35-45 it is James and John who come to Jesus with this request. In him there was a spiritual force far beyond that found in the leper, to whom the hand that touched, as well as cleansed, him proclaimed Israel's need and state as truly as Emmanuel's grace. In the next discourse we may hope to have the rest of his gospel. Seemingly, the disciples did not really listen when Jesus said these things. Matthew 20 Commentary - John Gill's Exposition of the Bible Apart from the method of payment, the parable describes the kind of thing that frequently happened at certain times in Palestine. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? (iii) These are the original lessons of this parable, but it has very much more to say to us. Prophets And thus as Isaiah predicts the scourging, the stripes, he declares, "by His stripes ye are healed"( Isaiah 53:5 ). ), but as some charitable generous householders keep poor men to work, in kindness to them, to save them from idleness and poverty, and pay them for working for themselves. And what makes this still more striking, is the certainty that the kingdom, bright as it is, is by no means the thing nearest to Jesus. 1. The point of this one is that God will reward all His disciples justly, graciously, and generously. It begins with a well-known scene but then introduces surprising elements to make a powerful point. General Epistles Matthew 20:16 The New King James Version (NKJV) 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. That is on the debit side of the account of the disciples; but there is much on the credit side. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money. It was an imperfect faith but they acted on it; and Jesus accepted it. Then follows another incident, which equally proves that the Spirit of God is not here reciting the facts in their natural succession; for it is assuredly not at this moment historically that the Lord goes into the house of Peter, sees there his wife's mother laid sick of a fever, touches her hand, and raises her up, so that she ministers unto them at once. The prisoner would be tied to a post in such a way, as your back would be stretched. The Gospels "And forthwith when they were come out of the synagogue they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John; but Simon's wife's mother was sick of a fever, and anon they tell Him of her. He could and did form His instruments according to His own sovereign will. Poetical Books The moment to act goes past; the impulse to decide fades. To eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man. Matthew 20 - Wikipedia I have endeavoured, though, of course, cursorily, and I feel most imperfectly, to give thus far Matthew's sketch of the Saviour as the Holy Ghost enabled him to execute it. Note, It is good for us often to consider what it was that we agreed with God for. John 3:16, Jesus faith love), The Whole Bible (1.) ", Kagawa himself wrote: "God dwells among the lowliest of men. mother of the sons of Zebedee ( Matthew 27:56). It is a question, then, of internal evidence, what that particular order is which God has employed in each different gospel. The first came to an agreement with the master; they had a contract; they said, "We work, if you give us so much pay." Start FREE. In the Christian Church seniority does not necessarily mean honour. It is quite wrong to think that for the Christian the cup must always mean the short, sharp, bitter, agonizing struggle of martyrdom; the cup may well be the long routine of the Christian life, with all its daily sacrifice, its daily struggle, and its heart-breaks and its disappointments and its tears. There is no incident which so demonstrates their invincible faith in Jesus. The glory of Christ's person strengthens us, not only to understand His cross, but to take up ours. His reply came in stages. The nature of envy; It is an evil eye. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? (i) These two blind men were waiting, and when their chance came they seized it with both hands. Through this parable Jesus assured Peter and the disciples that they will be rewarded but the principle of many who are first will be last and the last first (Matthew 19:30) meant that God may not reward as man expects even as the parable illustrated. It is a just prefiguration of what will be in the close of the age the mass of the unbelieving Jews, now impure, but then also given up to the devil, and so to evident perdition. Thus the end is as the beginning, and even far, far worse. If God be better in any respect to others than to us, yet we have no reason to complain while he is so much better to us than we deserve, in giving us our penny, though we are unprofitable servants. You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. If it be so, it is surely a ground of thankfulness to God; for it turns a stumbling-block into an evidence of the perfection of Scripture. Zion may say of the Lord who laboured in vain, whom the nation abhorred, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me." In spite of their lack of merit, the good householder required them to pick it up, thus giving it to them in spite of their forfeiture. Nevertheless, the Lord did not withhold the infinite boon, though He knew too well their thoughts; He spoke the word of forgiveness, though He read their evil heart that counted it blasphemy. Hugh Martin reminds us that a great teacher used to say that the saddest words in all Shakespeare's plays are the words: "Othello's occupation's gone." It is not a question of bringing in law to govern the kingdom or guide the Church. iii. When God settles all the accounts, then things are going to be valued by his standards and not the world's standards. 8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. It was the custom in Palestine for a Rabbi to teach as he walked along the road; and no doubt those around Jesus could not hear what Jesus was saying for this clamorous uproar. THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION ( Matthew 20:20-28 continued). At its close we see the leper approaching the Lord, after He had been preaching throughout Galilee and casting out devils. Yet it shall not be so among you is a stinging rebuke to the manner in which the modern church looks to the world for both its substance and style. And you guessed it already its a quote from the bible \"so the last shall be first \u0026 the first last\"which of course made me think of a competition type challenge !!! It puts the Devil on a level with God; it means that the Devil could dictate his terms to God, before he would let men go. The people might have failed, but, surely, there were some differences surely those that were honoured and valued were not so depraved! And they went. (Matthew 20:32-34) Jesus heals the two blind men. When they get to Jerusalem, those culminating events of the life of Jesus are going to take place. But at the same time it is plain, although He bore the consciousness of the vast change He was introducing, and expressed it thus fully and early in the history, nothing turned away His heart from Israel. Matthew - Textual Sermons (Executable Outlines) a. Now He brings out not the kingdom merely, but His Church; and this not merely in view of hopeless unbelief in the mass, but of the confession of His own intrinsic glory as the Son of God by the chosen witness. He had no reason to quarrel with the master; for what he gave was absolutely his own, Matthew 20:15; Matthew 20:15. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. As it has been put, this parable states implicitly two great truths which are the very charter of the working man--the right of every man to work and the right of every man to a living wage for his work. The work of religion is vineyard-work, pruning, dressing, digging, watering, fencing, weeding. Heartlight Provides Positive Resources for Daily Christian Living. (Matthew 20:3-7) Through the day, the landowner continues to hire workers. In verse 13 our Lord "goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. Major Prophets Chapter 8, which opens the portion that comes before us tonight, is a striking illustration as well as proof of the method which God has been pleased to employ in giving us the apostle Matthew's account of our Lord Jesus. And they no doubt led these two blind men to Jesus. He never failed to tell men that, even if life ends in crown-wearing, it continues in cross-bearing. Disease must obey Him, as the soldier or the servant obeyed the centurion, their superior. When we are converted, we become members of Christs living body; and as we grow in grace, and get the true spirit that permeates that body, we shall say, when any member of it is honored, This is honor for usIf any brother shall be greatly honored of God, I feel honored in his honor. Study Guide for Matthew 20 by David Guzik - Blue Letter Bible But the single eye of Jesus at once detects the snare of Satan into which natural thought led, or at least exposed, Peter to fall. The woman of Canaan, out of the borders of Tyre and Sidon, appeals to Him; a Gentile of most ominous name and belongings a Gentile whose case was desperate; for she appeals on behalf of her daughter, grievously vexed with a devil. It seemed the last place on earth to which a man in his condition should have gone. He welcomed his bed-fellow. The Lord then had been shown such as He was towards Israel, had Israel in their leprosy come to Him, as did the leper, even with a faith exceedingly short of that which was due to His real glory and His love. One of these people might have been the rich young man if he had become a disciple (Matthew 20:16-22). In the pagan world humility was regarded, not so much as a virtue, but as a vice. This is the prerogative of the King of kings. To underscore this, Jesus will give a parable (20:1-16) that amplifies the principle: 'many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first'," (20:16; 16:25). A Roman coin was once found with the picture of an ox on it; the ox was facing two things an altar and a plough; and the inscription read: Ready for either. (Barclay), ii. Grace should be especially manifested in our service; it is of grace, not works. Matthew 20:16-20 NIV - "So the last will be first, and the - Bible Gateway So the last will be first, and the first last, Betrayed they will condemn Him to death deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. This furnishes occasion to the Pharisees to vent their unbelief: to them nothing is so offensive as grace, either in doctrine or in practice. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. (v) Here also is the generosity of God. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point His word should silence all our murmurings, that, whatever God does to us, or withholds from us, he does us no wrong. An evil eye was a phrase in use, among the ancient Jews, to denote an envious, covetous man or disposition; a man who repined at his neighbours prosperity, loved his own money, and would do nothing in the way of charity for Gods sake. (Clarke). There is such tremendous reward just in being able to minister to people, the feedback that comes from it is so rewarding. If it was His rejection, these scornful men were themselves rejected in the very act. To lose all for heavenly treasure, to come and follow the despised Nazarene here below what was it to compare with that which had brought Jesus to earth? If the Gentiles were to be allowed into the fellowship of the Church at all, they must come in as inferiors. and a sinking ship are serious difficulties to a man.