They complained against the landowner: After being paid, the men hired first took up their complaint with the landowner. You shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. Very early men began to say, "Jesus gave his life a ransom for many. b. Therefore let him who would meet God visit the prison cell before going to the temple. "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse." And they went their way. 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. Suffering from the disloyalty of friends. Evidently it is the change of dispensation that is in question and at hand, the cutting off of the fleshly seed for their unbelief, and the bringing in of numerous believers in the name of the Lord from among the Gentiles. Matthew 20:16 New International Version 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Read full chapter Matthew 20:16 in all English translations Matthew 19 Matthew 21 New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. This parable does not teach that God will reward all His disciples equally. What we have, is not our own, and therefore it is not lawful for us to do what we will with it; but what God has, is his own; and this will justify him, First, In all the disposals of his providence; when God takes from us that which was dear to us, and which we could ill spare, we must silence our discontents with this; May he not do what he will with his own? 2. The apostles were sent forth at the first and third hour of the gospel day; they had a first and a second mission, while Christ was on earth, and their business was to call in the Jews; after Christ's ascension, about the sixth and ninth hour, they went out again on the same errand, preaching the gospel to the Jews only, to them in Judea first, and afterward to them of the dispersion; but, at length, as it were about the eleventh hour, they called the Gentiles to the same work and privilege with the Jews, and told them that in Christ Jesus there should be no difference made between Jew and Greek. Peter wanted to know what they would get in return. What instrument so suitable? If it was His rejection, these scornful men were themselves rejected in the very act. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. So they went. But here pardon dispensed on earth arouses the pride of the religious leaders to the quick, and implacably. that take and give unto them for me and thee." In the Christian Church seniority does not necessarily mean honour. Major Prophets Here is the first mention of the mode of Jesus death and of the Gentiles part in it (only the Romans could crucify people). (Carson). 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 . First, Carnal worldlings agree with God for their penny in this world; they choose their portion in this life (Psalms 17:14); in these things they are willing to have their reward (Matthew 6:2; Matthew 6:5), their consolation (Luke 6:24), their good things (Luke 16:25); and with these they shall be put off, shall be cut off from spiritual and eternal blessings; and herein God does them no wrong; they have what they chose, the penny they agreed for; so shall their doom be, themselves have decided it; it is conclusive against them. He would send fit messengers, nor would the work be done till the rejected Messiah, the Son of man, came. i. ". 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. They knew that they were the chosen people, nor would they ever willingly forget that choice. But when he came to the first, they supposed that they should have received more; but they likewise received every man a penny. 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 the picture of the holy city in the Revelation there are twelve gates. The doctor who will come out at any time of the day or night to serve and save his patients; the parson who is always on the road amongst his people; the employer who takes an active interest in the lives and troubles of his employees; the person to whom we can go and never be made to feel a nuisance--these are the people whom all men love, and in whom instinctively they see Jesus Christ. Even if Jesus had not specifically told them, their movement south from Galilee at about the time of the Passover feast made it easy to figure out that Jesus and the disciples would be in Jerusalem for Passover. Then shalt thou call, saith the good and faithful servant, and I will answer. Origen said it was the devil; Gregory of Nyssa objected that this put the devil on the same level as God, and allowed the devil to dictate terms to God. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. Jesus was there to call, not righteous men, but sinners. That God is debtor to no man; a great truth, which the contents in our Bible give as the scope of this parable. Jerusalem's proud, traditional hypocrisy is exposed, and grace fully blesses the tried Gentile. The man's walk before them testifies to the reality of his forgiveness before God. To eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man. They looked at one another, and they tried to fathom where there was no depth, but where the truth lay on the surface. (Spurgeon), vi. "Christ demands that the driving force in your life must be love. So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Now life treated James and John very differently. 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. These words of Jesus gave rise to an old and complicated theological question: to whom did Jesus pay the ransom? We have, first, the sower sowing the word. Had all the sinners that ever lived in the world been consigned to hell, they could not have discharged the claims of justice. . Unfortunately, they have missed the blessing of knowing God, and serving God all their lives. Oh, what a heart is ours! we have in Peter what man is, even after all this. And she came worshiping him, and desiring a favor from him. The scribe had no heart for the hidden glory. Would any man make of the Messiah a mere man and a mere subject of the law given by Moses? The giving of a whole day's wages to those that had not done the tenth part of a day's work, is designed to show that God distributes his rewards by grace and sovereignty, and not of debt. (Matthew 20:11-15) The complaint of the early workers. a. It was clearly a question of connection with the apostle of the circumcision ( i.e., Peter's wife's mother). The market-place is a place of concourse, and there Wisdom cries (Proverbs 1:20; Proverbs 1:21); it is a place of sport, there the children are playing (Matthew 11:16; Matthew 11:16); and the gospel calls us from vanity to seriousness; it is a place of business, of noise and hurry; and from that we are called to retire. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard ( Matthew 20:1-2 ). The market-place was the equivalent of the labour exchange. The first thing to be remarked is, that the leper was an early incident in the manifestation of the healing power of our Lord. In short, he had a question because he was a man. 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). The Old Testament It shall not be so among you, but whoever wishes to prove himself great among you must be your servant; and whoever wishes to occupy the foremost place will be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.". These were sent into the vineyard, it is true, at the eleventh hour; but nobody had hired them, or offered to hire them, before. Before he reads his Bible let him help the beggar.". Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." Now this seems to be the principal scope of this parable, to show that the Jews should be first called into the vineyard, and many of them should come at the call; but, at length, the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, and they should receive it, and be admitted to equal privileges and advantages with the Jews; should be fellow-citizens with the saints, which the Jews, even those of them that believed, would be very much disgusted at, but without reason. Those last hired receive the most pay and are paid first. There is such tremendous reward just in being able to minister to people, the feedback that comes from it is so rewarding. When the legions were thus completed, the citizens who had been called, but not chosen, returned to their respective employments, and served their country in other capacities. It is true that in this particular instance Mark no more surrounds the leper with notes of time and place than do Matthew and Luke. The limit was reached by Peter the Lombard. Ingratitude is the ugliest of all sins. (See Mt 19:30; 22:14). This place seems to refer to the ancient Roman custom of recruiting their armies. Then, alas! Christ had promised the apostles, who followed him in the regeneration, at the beginning of the gospel dispensation, great glory (Matthew 19:28; Matthew 19:28); but he now tells them that those who are in like manner faithful to him, even in the latter end of the world, shall have the same reward, shall sit with Christ on his throne, as well as the apostles, Revelation 2:26-3. When God settles all the accounts, then things are going to be valued by his standards and not the world's standards. [1.] It is all of grace and not of debt; nor does that exclude obedience. At the beginning of Matthew 10:1-42 He Himself sends forth themselves as labourers. After this, in the chapter we have the positive hindrance asserted of what man counts good. He sets forth the sign of the prophet Jonah, the repentance of the men of Nineveh, the preaching of Jonah, and the earnest zeal of the queen of the South in Solomon's day, when an incomparably greater was there despised. b. (iv) Here, also, is the infinite compassion of God. Christianity knows nothing of the conception of a herrenvolk, a master race. So in this case there was brought to Him a paralytic man, lying upon a bed, "and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." They may come at the beginning of their life, in their youth, in adulthood, in old age, or at the very end. They are beautiful people. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary. God's delight is to pick out the hindmost for the first place, to the disparagement of the foremost in their own strength. Subsequent, considerably, to this was the case of the centurion's servant, preceded a good while before by the cleansing of the leper. 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. The world will respect, and admire, and sometimes fear, the man of power; but it will love the man of love. 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. This parable may sound to us as if it described a purely imaginary situation, but that is far from being the case. When He reaches the house, minstrels were there, and people, making a noise: the expression, if of woe, certainly of impotent despair. The common call is promiscuous, to come and work in the vineyard; but the effectual call is particular, and it is then effectual when we come at the call. God's generosity will not succumb to human jealousy. They did not see why they should be allowed to stake their claims to preeminence. I love that family strength among them. James was the first martyr among the apostles, and John was the only apostle to not die through martyrdom though not from a lack of trying. These are the words of an older gentleman who trusted Christ a few days before he died from cancer. Can you drink the cup which I have to drink?" Major Prophets If my hand has something in it, my foot does not say, Oh, I have not got it! No, for if my hand has it, my foot has it; it belongs to the whole of my body. (Spurgeon). What are they hired to do? He makes some more useful than others, without regard to the time which they serve, and he will reward them accordingly. It means quite simply this. Wretched we, that we should need such proof of it; wretched, that we should be so slow of heart to answer to it, or even to feel its immensity! What Jesus Did! The tribunes of the second and third likewise made their choice one after another; and he that remained entered into the fourth legion. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point This furnishes occasion to the Pharisees to vent their unbelief: to them nothing is so offensive as grace, either in doctrine or in practice. We seem completely borne away from the ordinary level of our gospel to the higher region of the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now this is their final trip to Jerusalem. The Lord has nothing for them, or for Him, but to go right on to the end. Finally, this parable that illustrates the principle that Gods manner of rewarding is not like mans practice of giving rewards. i. The aggravation of it; "It is because I am good." 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). But if you were silent and refused to confess your crimes, then each time he would lay the whip on heavier, and heavier, until you'd be forced to cry out your crime against the Roman government. It is easy to condemn the disciples, but the faith and the loyalty which lay behind the ambition must never be forgotten. Jesus was passing by. This is applied to the Jews (Matthew 22:14; Matthew 22:14); it was so then, it is too true still; many are called with a common call, that are not chosen with a saving choice. Jesus instructs His little band that discipleship is never designed as a quid pro quo formula of compensation. i. There is nothing more tragic in this world than a man who is unemployed, a man whose talents are rusting in idleness because there is nothing for him to do. In the distribution of future joys, as it was in the gathering of the manna, he that shall gather much, will have nothing over, and he that shall gather little, will have no lack, Exodus 16:18. Here I close tonight. "And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us." He had no reason to envy his fellow servant, or to grudge at him; or to be angry that he came into the vineyard no sooner; for he was not sooner called; he had no reason to be angry that the master had given him wages for the whole day, when he had idled away the greatest part of it; for Is thine eye evil, because I am good? [2.] In it there is the comfort of God. "Lord, save us; we perish," cried they, as they awoke Him; and He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea. The deity of Christ was the hook; his flesh was the bait; the bait was dangled before leviathan; he swallowed it and was taken. The Lord shows that such unbelief justly and necessarily excludes itself, but not others, from blessing. That the same night that in which Jesus was betrayed, He took bread, and when He had broken it, He said, take eat this is my body which is broken for you. This parable is not a perfect illustration of Gods grace, because the principle of working and deserving is involved. Reader, whosoever thou art, act in behalf of thy soul as these blind men did in behalf of their sight, and thy salvation is sure. First of all, because the sacrifice that was offered to God could not have any blemish, any broken bones. When He reigns as David's Son, there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts. Has nothing yet had power to engage us to sacred service? What shall be their wages? The New Testament "Dear Beloved,
The apostle Paul is known as a great missionary. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with? 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. So, when more is added, He says, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. It shows us his honesty. In this laying aside of authority, he gives a silent rebuke to our self-seeking. (Spurgeon). I Will Build My Church (16:13-20) The . 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? He healed, and bore its burden on His heart before God, as truly as He took it away from men. ), 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. 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." 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. 8, could not deny what was done in the case of the leper, who showed himself duly, and brought his offering, according to the law, to the altar. 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. Inattention to this has perplexed many. Matthew 19. [1.] [6.] Even those hired early in the day received a reward, and the landowner had been gracious and generous in hiring them and not others. Nevertheless, when there was the display of the glory of the kingdom, the Father's voice proclaimed Him as His own Son, and not merely as the man thus exalted. Humble service is the great prerequisite, as shown by Jesus own ministry. Do not let us dwell too much upon it, for we all share the honor given to each. But the master well knew that 4p a day was no great wage; he well knew that, if a workman went home with less, there would be a worried wife and hungry children; and therefore he went beyond justice and gave them more than was their due. He was ignorant of himself, because ignorant of God, and imagined that it was only a question of man's doing good for God. Notice that these people didn't go in on their own accord, the Lord sent them into the vineyard. The Lord, however, in the same chapter, shows that it was not a question alone of what was to be done, or to be suffered, or is to be by-and-by, but what He was, and is, and never can but be. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.. 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.
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