Possibly the first felt their vanity wounded by being paid after the others. Matthew 20. A daily devotional about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Hold out, faith, and patience, yet a little while. Yes, it was His to rule and command the sea, even as the land and all that in them is. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So the last will be first, and the first last: Peter and the disciples knew they had given up a great deal to follow Jesus. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? There was value for Him to look at His coming trial, and to think and say, I will complete what My Father has given Me to do. And He said to her, What do you wish? She said to Him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.. Next day he was back for Kagawa's coat and trousers, and got them too. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. General Epistles First, Some are effectually called, and begin to work in the vineyard when they are very young; are sent in early in the morning, whose tender years are seasoned with grace, and the remembrance of their Creator. I will obey to the end.. Jesus stood and called them. It was with this declaration that the parable began and ended. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. John is swifter of foot, and comes first to the sepulchre: but Peter has more courage, and goes first into it. What does it mean? Yet is He the Son of man who hath power on earth to forgive sins; and He uses His authority. 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. Sometimes a man dies full of years and full of honour, with his day's work ended and his task completed. And everybody will always try to discourage you, but persist, for there is a whole new life. it was not for the whole the Physician was needed. And there were also with Him other little ships. (Ken Chumbley, The Gospel of Matthew, commentary, p.#351). None are hired at the twelfth hour; when life is done, opportunity is done; but "while there is life, there is hope." Lowly, noiseless grace now it was to be, according to the prophet, till the hour strikes for victory in judgment. Matthew did not wish to show James and John guilty of worldly ambition, and so he puts the request into the mouth of their mother rather than of themselves. It tells us of their ambition. Lastly, we have the Lord rebuking the ambition not only of the sons of Zebedee, but in truth also of the ten; for why was there such warmth of indignation against the two brethren? His assessment is quite simply--how many people has he helped? If God gives that grace to others, which he denies to us, it is kindness to them, but no injustice to us; and bounty to another, while it is no injustice to us, we ought not to find fault with. It is easy to condemn the disciples, but the faith and the loyalty which lay behind the ambition must never be forgotten. 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. The world counts them great. "The cross," he said, "was a mousetrap (muscipula) to catch the devil, baited with the blood of Christ.". Get the BEST VALUE in digital Bible study as you prepare for Easter. And yet He takes time still to minister to the needs of others. And so anti what Jesus has declared. Luke-Acts He realizes he offers nothing special to the Master, and the skills he has are but gifts from the Master. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. It is not a thing that can be settled by a mere assertion. The world knows quite well that a good man is a man who serves his fellow-men. Then Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and he said unto them, [now He is on the way, there is probably great multitudes, but He takes the twelve apart] He said, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him and the third day he shall rise again ( Matthew 20:17-19 ). Help us purchase electrical generators for churches. a. 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. Blessed Paul guarded against this, when, though the chief of the apostles, he owned himself to be nothing, to be less than the least of all saints. 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. 21 "What is your request?" he asked. Would any man make of the Messiah a mere man and a mere subject of the law given by Moses? And, behold, there were two blind men who were sitting by the way side, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, saying, Have mercy upon us, O Lord, thou son of David. It is tragic that we have a professional ministry that so often seeks people to cater to it, rather than to realize that they are the servants of all. If God shall bless your brother, and make him ten times more useful than you are, then you see that he is blessing you not only blessing him, but you. This utter, growing rejection of Jesus was coming out now rejection, at first allowed and whispered in the heart, soon to be pronounced in words like drawn swords. Third, this passage sheds a light on Jesus. Adventure Challenge - Couple's Edition - Matthew 20:16 - YouTube The Lord was in Capernaum, where Peter lived; and on a certain Sabbath-day, after the call of Peter, wrought in the synagogue mighty deeds, which are here recorded, and by Luke also. Some make it a caution to the disciples, who had boasted of their timely and zealous embracing of Christ; they had left all, to follow him; but let them look to it, that they keep up their zeal; let them press forward and persevere; else their good beginnings will avail them little; they that seemed to be first, would be last. Will be betrayed: Conceivably, Jesus could have been delivered to the religious authorities without this. The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, 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. 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. . They did not know that Jesus could have made the same promise of suffering to come to any of them (if they really wanted it!). But they were so desperate, they weren't discouraged, they even cried louder, "Jesus, thou son of David have mercy on us. A daily devotional about God's power for our battles. It is a saying of R. Simeon ben Jochai F4. The time of life is the day, in which we must work the works of him that sent us into the world. Plainly, the church isnt to operate the way the world does. Being in the right state of mind to do the Lords work is a gift of grace. Prophets Peter wanted to know what they would get in return. 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. A wider interpretation is, of course, possible, and has been often applied, in which the first-called labourers answer to the Jews, and those who came afterwards to converts in the successive stages of the conversion of the Gentiles. 3 He went out about nine o'clock . For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner: Like many of Jesus parables, this story is about an employer and those who work for him. The failure of this greatest of women-born only gives Him the just occasion to show the total change at hand, when it should not be a question of man, but of God, yea, of the kingdom of heaven, the least in which new state should be greater than John. The other workers hired through the day were not promised a specific wage, only whatever is right. "In God's economy," as someone has said, "there is no such thing as a most favoured nation clause." Of course, there is often the order of time, but through the central part, and not infrequently elsewhere, his setting forth in order turns on another principle, quite independent of mere succession of events. The Roman penny was, in our money, of the value of a sevenpence half-penny, a day's wages for a day's work, and the wages sufficient for a day's maintenance. The Gentiles, who are newly called in, have as much of the privileges of the kingdom of the Messiah as the Jews have, who have so long been labouring in the vineyard of the Old-Testament church, under the yoke of the ceremonial law, in expectation of that kingdom. What Does It Really Mean That Your Body Is a Temple? It does not say, that " then there came a leper," or " immediately there came a leper." So the last will be first, and the first last: Peter and the disciples knew they had given up a great deal to follow Jesus. The promise of Matthew 19:28 forms the background to this request; the thrones are already assured, leaving only the question of precedence. (France). But the Lord could not send her away without a blessing, and without a blessing reaching to His own glory. Hence, here it is a question not merely of cleansing, but of forgiveness, and forgiveness, too, as that which precedes power, manifested before men. The English translators have thus given the sense well; for the expression really conveys this slight, though the word "fellow" is printed in italics. 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. Note, The unchangeableness of God's purposes in dispensing his gifts should silence our murmurings. The amazing thing about Jesus is that he never lost patience and became irritated. The bodily presence of the Messiah was not needed. 45. BEST VALUE in digital Bible study. But here pardon dispensed on earth arouses the pride of the religious leaders to the quick, and implacably. To eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man. That God is debtor to no man; a great truth, which the contents in our Bible give as the scope of this parable. It is incontestably true, that God can do no wrong. And they went their way. 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 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. It was the creature doing his best, yet proving that he loved the creature more than the Creator. Some consider that John the Baptist enquired solely for the sake of his disciples. Commentary on Matthew 20:1-16 - Working Preacher He did them no wrong, and had broken no promise. Jesus gives the parable of the laborers in the vineyardHe foretells His crucifixion and resurrectionHe came to give His life as a ransom for many. My object, of course, is to point out as clearly as possible the structure of the gospel, and to explain according to my measure why there are these strong differences between the gospels of Matthew and the rest, as compared with one another. God could not be limited by a question of place; His word was enough. Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.