The New Testament The payment shall not be wholly deferred till the morning of the resurrection; but then, in the evening of the world, will be the general account, when every one shall receive according to the things done in the body. What could be said of her intelligence then? General Epistles Matthew 20:16-20 New International Version 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time 17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. And I believe that we can believe and trust Jesus Christ for physical healing, as well as spiritual healing. Or is your eye evil because I am good? Grace forms the hearts of those that understand it, according to the great manifestation of what God is, and what man is, too, given us in the person of Christ. Suffering from the disloyalty of friends. Accordingly, here we have a witness of it, and a witness so much the sweeter, because the present total rejection that was filling the heart of the leaders surely testified to the Lord's heart of that which was at hand. (i) It is in one sense a warning to the disciples. d T. Hieros. 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. See Matthew 19:27-29. for many be called, but few chosenThis is another of our Lord's terse and pregnant sayings, more than once uttered in different connections. It is best understood as a parable about grace and reward. There are a great many decisions which have to be taken. Once you scratch off the challenge, you have to do it. And he went out about the third hour: The third hour was about 9:00 a.m.; the sixth hour was about 12 noon; the eleventh hour was about 5:00 in the evening. But Jesus answered and said, You don't know what you are asking. It ought to have been John's place to have proclaimed the glory of Jesus; but all things in this world are the reverse of what they ought to be, and of what will be when Jesus takes the throne, coming in power and glory. This signifies the jealousy which the Jews were provoked to by the admission of the Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven. The first thing to be remarked is, that the leper was an early incident in the manifestation of the healing power of our Lord. "And Jesus heard their cry and stood still. At the close of this chapter 9, in His deep compassion He bids the disciples pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into His harvest. Not merely were there many pieces of value, but one pearl of great price. He is among the sick, he stands with the unemployed. When those who had worked all day found that the landowner paid the same amount to the late-comers as he paid to them, they complained. In view of the context, the 12 disciples correspond to the workers hired at the beginning of the day, the beginning of Jesus public ministry. Ministers call them into the vineyard, to do their work; death calls them out of the vineyard, to receive their penny: and those to whom the call into the vineyard is effectual, the call out of it will be joyful. He was going to build His Church "upon this rock" Himself, the Son of God. Or, are you grudging because I am generous?' The first is, as it has been said, "All service ranks the same with God." None can suppose that these were deemed useless, or that, because not now chosen to serve their country in the field, they were proscribed from the rights and privileges of citizens, much less destroyed, because others were found better qualified to serve their country at the post of honour and danger. The grounds of such a judgment will naturally come before us ere long: I can merely refer to it now as my conviction. And wilt thou seek for a happiness in the creature, or think from thence to make up the deficiencies of thy happiness in God? He is the Lord of the harvest. Then comes the boast of Peter, though for others as well as himself. Here is demonstrated the new glory and the new greatness of suffering love and sacrificial service. The disciples should expect to be rewarded; but they should not be surprised if, when rewards are distributed, God will reward others in unexpected ways. Abstulit, sed et dedit--He hath taken away; but he originally gave. At least we can draw the following applications from it. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 4. 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. Jesus uses a kind of gradation. The crowd rebuked them, so that they might be silent. So it was here. A new tribe presented other four soldiers, and the second legion chose first. Copyright 2019 by Zondervan. It probably was no more than a grave though passing difficulty, which he desired to have cleared up with all fulness for their sakes, as well as his own. "Suffer me first," he says, "to go and bury my father." It brings me to the real crisis; that is, the final presentation of our lord to Jerusalem. This, then, I apprehend to be the reason why we End two demoniacs mentioned; whereas, in Mark or Luke for other purposes, the Spirit of God only draws attention to one of the two. Those that have such a journey to go, had need set out betimes, the sooner the better. There is no greater mistake than to suppose, because there is the richest development of God's grace in new things, that He abandons or weakens natural relationships and authority in their place. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary. Whatever the time may have been, whatever the incidents added by others, the account is given here for the purpose of showing, that as Israel's case was desperate, even unto death, so He, the Messiah, was the giver of life, when all, humanly speaking, was over. To all justice shall be done. To all to whom the rewards of heaven are promised they shall be given. He that would be great among you, let him be your servant and if you want to be chief, then become the bondslave." As before he asserted his justice, so here his sovereignty; Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? God does not look on the amount of our service. The priest, in chap. Thank you for registering. Sometimes those that are converted later in their lives, outstrip those that are converted earlier. 3. 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. ; Continuity with Matthew 19 i. The other workers hired through the day were not promised a specific wage, only whatever is right. And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brothers. But first appears the new and great fact, that Christ was going to build a new building, His assembly, on the truth and confession of Himself, the Son of God. e. And to give His life a ransom for many: The death of Jesus the giving of His life purchased the freedom of His people. The limit was reached by Peter the Lombard. (Matthew 20:1-2) A landowners workers early in the morning. 97. faithful unto death shall receive the crown of life. God is the great Householder, whose we are, and whom we serve; as a householder, he has work that he will have to be done, and servants that he will have to be doing; he has a great family in heaven and earth, which is named from Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:15), which he is Owner and Ruler of. Saul saw that David prospered, and he eyed him,1 Samuel 18:9; 1 Samuel 18:15. d. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve: Real ministry is done for the benefit of those ministered to, not for the benefit of the minister. But it would be unusual for a wealthy "landowner" to locate his own . The landowner rebuked them for their jealousy and resentment of the landowners generosity towards others. Johannine Writings As to any one else, even the most liberal gift that ever was given of God to fallen man on earth, to the golden head of the Gentiles, exempted the deep and its untamed inhabitants. When God settles all the accounts, then things are going to be valued by his standards and not the world's standards. iii. The leper approaches the Lord with homage, but with a most inadequate belief in His love and readiness to meet his need. iii. It was really after the transfiguration recorded in chapter 17 of our gospel. Set a timer for 20 minutes (no peeking) and start eating. Finally, this parable that illustrates the principle that Gods manner of rewarding is not like mans practice of giving rewards. 4. e T. Bab. i. James had to be ready to be the first to die among the disciples; John had to be ready to live the longest Christian life and testimony among them. A man may go idle to hell; but he that will go to heaven, must be busy. Here we find our Lord, after sending out the chosen witnesses of the truth (so momentous to Israel, above all) of His own Messiahship, realizing His utter rejection, yet rejoicing withal in God the Father's counsels of glory and grace, while the real secret in the chapter, as in fact, was His being not Messiah only, nor Son of man, but the Son of the Father, whose person none knows but Himself. 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). For many are called, but few chosen.". I say not how fax he had realized this profound truth; I say not that he could have defined his thoughts; but he knew and declared His command of all as truly God. We can never repay God for what he has done for us but we can always be grateful to him. Yet Jesus was confident that He would be delivered to the Gentiles. iv. Drinking of that cup. Jesus was moved with compassion to the depths of his being, and touched their eyes; and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. [2.] Bishop PEARCE thinks it is an interpolation from Matthew 22:14. A daily devotional about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If it was His rejection, these scornful men were themselves rejected in the very act. And everybody will always try to discourage you, but persist, for there is a whole new life. 2. Ingratitude is the ugliest of all sins. Secondly, the prophecy of Psalms declared, "not a bone of Him shall be broken"( Psalms 34:20 ). No sooner had Peter pronounced to Jesus the truth of His person, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," than Jesus holds the secret no longer. So Gregory of Nyssa has a strange idea. Again, when we listen to another (and now it is one of His disciples), at once faith shows its feebleness. But they in turn will deliver Him to the Gentiles, who will first of all mock Him. This place seems to refer to the ancient Roman custom of recruiting their armies. b. And yet the true faithful saints of God, who have been obedient to the bidding of the Lord to go into the vineyard, and no matter what place, what time, it is their faithfulness to the call of God in going for which God makes the reward.In fact, I do believe that many times those who have been called to a more prominent ministry will actually receive a much lesser reward because we get so much reward now. All turns on that which was suitable to such a God, the giver of His own Son. Deuteronomy 15:9; 1 Samuel 18:9). (Carson), ii. This parable explains why the last will become first. Those who recognize the grace they have received by being included in God's Kingdom . 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. So the last will be first, and the first last. General Epistles When a person's ministry gets so great, and they become so prominent that they lose touch with people, and they can no longer minister to people's individual needs, their ministry has become greater than their Lord. So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first. And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. And they went their way. 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." On the other hand, it is not too much to say, that the same Scriptures which convince one unbiassed mind that pays heed to these notes of time, will produce no less effect on others. "Day laborers" would be readily available in the market place. They have treated the Bible either with levity, or as too awful a book to be apprehended really; not with the reverence of faith, which waits on Him, and fails not in due time to understand His word. . But there's a big twist. The plucking of the corn, and the healing of the withered hand, had taken place long before. Not that His own rejection was not before His spirit, but here He looks not beyond that land and people; and, as far as the twelve were concerned, He sends them on a mission which goes on to the end of the an. Notice is taken of the several hours of the day, at which the labourers were hired. Second, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard is about the first and the last. Oh, you have to love the mothers, don't you? And he said unto her, What is it that you want? On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18We are going up to Jerusalem,(C) and the Son of Man(D) will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. When they get to Jerusalem, those culminating events of the life of Jesus are going to take place. But, as I have stated, the choice and ordination of the twelve apostles had really taken place before the sermon on the mount, though not mentioned in Matthew, but in Mark and Luke. Well, then, to whom was the ransom paid?" The crown set before us is a crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge shall give. If there were, so to speak, a justification of circumcision by faith, undoubtedly there was also the justification of uncircumcision through their faith. This is a good example of the word baptism having the sense of immersion or being swallowed up in.. 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. When He uttered the words, "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me," it is to me evident that there was an allusion to the wavering let it be but for a moment of John's soul. A ransom is something paid or given to liberate a man from a situation from which it is impossible for him to free himself. Matthew gives no such details, but call and mission are together here. That they might possibly be outstripped by their successors in profession, and, though they were before others in profession, might be found inferior to them in knowledge, grace, and holiness. When the world and the devil begin to rebuke, in this case, it is a proof that the salvation of God is nigh; therefore, let such cry out a great deal the more. (Clarke). There may be desires, there may be the working of the Spirit of God, but there can be no power to walk before men and to glorify God thus till there is forgiveness possessed and enjoyed in the heart. Had there been a single thing good in Israel, their choicest guides would have stood that test. It was true that He was made of woman, and made under the law; but He was Jehovah Himself, that lowly Nazarene. it was not for the whole the Physician was needed. Historical Books 5. This finds its fitting place, not in Luke, but in Matthew, particularly as the details here (not in Mark, who only gives the general fact) cast great light upon God's dispensational ways. ), NIV, Story of Jesus: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story, NIV, The Woman's Study Bible, Full-Color, Red Letter: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Revelation, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, Verse Mapping Bible, Comfort Print: Find Connections in Scripture Using a Unique 5-Step Process, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Galatians, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, The Story, Hardcover, Comfort Print: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People. That is on the debit side of the account of the disciples; but there is much on the credit side. He was not setting out rules for wages and employment, but giving an illustration of Gods grace. (Matthew 20:24-28) The disciples reaction; Jesus sets forth true greatness. Time would fail now to dwell on this chapter, interesting as it is. Thus, whatever the peculiarity of the new blessings, the old thing could be taken up, though upon new grounds, and, of course, on the confession that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. "Come, come from this market-place.". Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with what is my own? I will obey to the end.. Here, too, these Pharisees question and reproach His grace, when they see the Lord sitting at ease in the presence of publicans and sinners, who came and sat down with Him in Matthew's house. A devotional to help reclaim Jesus as the daily Lord of our lives. Some of the people of our own day who fancy that their sweet and pious attitude in some way entitles them to God's favor should take note of this. Then the pitiable condition of the disciples at the foot of the hill, where Satan reigned in fallen ruined man, is tested by the fact, that notwithstanding all the glory of Jesus, Son of God and Son of man, the disciples rendered it evident that they knew not how to bring His grace into action for others; yet was it precisely their place and proper function here below. If we compare the eighth chapter, for example, with the corresponding circumstances, as far as they appear, in the gospel of Mark, we shall find the latter gives us notes of time, which leave no doubt on my mind that Mark adheres to the scale of time: the design of the Holy Ghost required it, instead of dispensing with it in his case. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. The people whose hearts are yielded to him will be recognized as his children no matter their rank or riches by worldly standards. "I have seen the children of the world to come (elsewhere (e) it is, of the chamber), , "and they are few".''. "That ye may know it (then saith He to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house." You've never known them. We can count on God dealing with us justly, graciously, and generously whether we serve God all our lives or only a short time having become His disciples later in life. He had been preparing them for the new things, and the impossibility of making them coalesce with the old. There are a great many things which have to be done at the moment or they will never be done. And He came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them." The New Testament Their expectation was so focused on Jesus establishing an immediate political kingdom, and these words from Jesus were so contrary to that anticipation, these words just went over their heads. This as yet draws out wonder, at least from the witnessing multitudes, that God had given such power unto men. 2. After this our Lord sees great multitudes following Him, and gives commandment to go to the other side. To where they exercised such dominion and authority and lordship over people, that they inserted themselves between the people and God. 13. Whereas, on the contrary, there are other kinds of order that call for more profound thought and enlarged views, if we may speak now after the manner of men; and, indeed, I deny not that these the Holy Ghost employed in His own wisdom, though it is hardly needful to say He could, if He pleased, demonstrate His superiority to any means or qualifications whatsoever. The picture is that the landowner had an inexhaustible supply of work for those who wanted to work. The aggravation of it; "It is because I am good." When He reaches the house, minstrels were there, and people, making a noise: the expression, if of woe, certainly of impotent despair. Men were in the grip of a power of evil which they could not break; their sins dragged them down; their sins separated them from God; their sins wrecked life for themselves and for the world and for God himself. he said. Thirdly, The gospel call is given to those that stand idle in the market-place. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and you've made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden of the heat of the day. So the last shall be first, and the first last,. As he had asserted in Matthew 19:30 and which is clearly illustrated by this parable, as it may be applied to Jews or Gentiles, or to nominal and real Christians: for many be called; externally, under the ministration of the Gospel, as the Jews in general were, by Christ and his apostles; but, few chosen; in Christ from all eternity, both to grace and glory; and in consequence, and as an evidence of it, but few among the Jews; as also in the Gentile world, comparatively speaking: and even but a few of those that are outwardly called, are inwardly and effectually called by the powerful grace of God, out of darkness into marvellous light, into the grace and liberty of the Gospel, into communion with Christ, and to the obtaining his kingdom and glory, according to the eternal purpose of God. On the other hand, by far the greater weight of tradition goes to show that John lived to a great old age in Ephesus and died a natural death when he must have been close on a hundred years old. The point of the parable was that God will graciously do more for some of those who work for Him than His justice demands. Most clearly it is not so much a question of sin in the aspect of uncleanness (typifying deeper things, but still connected with the ceremonial requirements of Israel, as we find from what our Lord said in the chapter to the cleansed leper). He therefore, 1. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. This made it to be plainly and only a difficulty for God to solve. Those that have had gospel offers made them at the third, or sixth hour, and have resisted and refused them, will not have that to say for themselves at the eleventh hour, that these had; No man has hired us; nor can they be sure that any man will hire them at the ninth or eleventh hour; and therefore not to discourage any, but to awaken all, be it remembered, that now is the accepted time; if we will hear his voice, it must be to-day. "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." The householder had every right to have cut them off with a trifle instead of a whole day's pay. In the end of this chapter (15) is another miracle of Christ's feeding a vast multitude. In the end of the chapter is set forth parabolically the unlimited forgiveness that suits the kingdom; here, I cannot but think, looking onward in strict fulness to the future, but with distinct application to the moral need of the disciples then and always. Is thine eye evil, because I am good? This furnishes occasion to the Pharisees to vent their unbelief: to them nothing is so offensive as grace, either in doctrine or in practice. Grant that these two sons of mine may sit: Asking on behalf of her sons (note to whom Jesus replies in Matthew 20:22-23), she wanted prominent positions for them in the messianic administration of Jesus. Does not this suit you, poor sinner you who never did serve him, you who could not, as you are, minister to him? The design is, I think, manifest: the Spirit of God is here giving a vivid picture of the manifestation of the Messiah, of His divine glory, of His grace and power, with the effect of this manifestation. Lastly, Here is the application of the parable (Matthew 20:16; Matthew 20:16), in that observation which occasioned it (Matthew 19:30; Matthew 19:30); So the first shall be last, and the last first. And they no doubt led these two blind men to Jesus. He's being despised and rejected. Didst not thou agree to take up with heaven as thy portion, thy all, and to take up with nothing short of it? It is a summons from the King to His people Israel. Matthew chapter twenty opens with the parable of the laborers going out into the vineyard.And Jesus said. He was then present, a man despised, yet with title to forgive sins, proved by immediate power to heal. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he .