i. How are we to account for a selection so marked, an elimination of time so complete? It is equally clear that the seven worse spirits mean the complete energy of the devil in the maintenance of Antichrist against the true Christ: and this, strange to say, along with idols. 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. THE LORDSHIP OF THE CROSS ( Matthew 20:20-28 continued). Yet man, in face of all, is so deceived of the enemy, that he prefers to be left with the demons rather than enjoy the presence of the Deliverer. These workers hired at the very beginning of the working day agreed to work for a denarius a day, the common daily wage for a workingman. What an anticipation of the walk by faith, not by sight, in which the Gentiles, when called, ought to have glorified God, when the rejection of the Messiah by His own ancient people gave occasion to the Gentile call as a distinct thing! Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the. The Church, which is His body and bride, has a far more intimate place, even though true of the same persons. Christianity knows nothing of the conception of a herrenvolk, a master race. GO GO GO! 1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire a labourers into his vineyard. Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee's children [now James and John were the sons of Zebedee and she came to Him] with her sons ( Matthew 20:20 ). The evil eye was an idiom used to refer to jealousy (cf. A man out of his plenty may give us a gift of a hundred pounds, and in truth we are grateful; a child may give us a birthday or Christmas gift which cost only a few pence but which was laboriously and lovingly saved up for--and that gift, with little value of its own, touches our heart far more. Deuteronomy 15:9; 1 Samuel 18:9). (Carson), ii. Hence the Lord would raise up a fresh testimony altogether, and do a new work suitable to it. Greatness does not consist in commanding others to do things for you; it consists in doing things for others; and the greater the service, the greater the honour. If he were willing to follow the Lord, it was for what he could get. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. Second, this passage sheds a light upon the Christian life. First, it sheds a light on the disciples. 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? Our Lord then answers, with perfect dignity, as well as grace; He puts before the disciples of John the real state of the case; He furnishes them with plain, positive facts, that could leave nothing to be desired by John's mind when he weighed all as a testimony from God. This he said in the hearing of the disciple who would act the traitor: did no compunction visit his base heart? (Spurgeon), ii. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. (Matthew 20:3-7) Through the day, the landowner continues to hire workers. I do not pretend to say this was the only purpose served; far be it from me to think of restraining the Spirit of God within the narrow bounds of our vision. Jerusalem's proud, traditional hypocrisy is exposed, and grace fully blesses the tried Gentile. Not only shall the Judge of all the earth do right, but what will not He do who gives all good? Successful service to God is the gift of His grace. i. iii. And about the eleventh hour, [five in the evening] he went out, and found others standing idle, and said unto them, Why do you stand here idle all day? 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. Note, God will be sure not to be behind-hand with any for the service they do him: never any lost by working for God. 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 ). Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first: These are day laborers, so they are paid at the end of each day. Therefore what shall we have? Those whom Christ fed miraculously, though of different sizes, men, women, and children, did all eat, and were filled. So now we have, in the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, another fact containing a principle of great value, that His grace towards the Gentile does not in the least degree blunt His heart to the claims of relationship after the flesh. Here is the story of two men who found their way to a miracle. Little faith leaves us as fearful for ourselves as dim witnesses of His glory whom the most unruly elements obey. 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. mother of the sons of Zebedee ( Matthew 27:56). They did not see why the two brothers should steal a march on them, even if they were the cousins of Jesus. If they had let him pass, their chance would have gone by for ever; but when the chance came they seized it. And they would lay this leather whip across the back, and it was so designed, that when they pulled it back up to rip up pieces of flesh.The purpose of the scourging was the third-degree Roman style. They could probably tell the direction in the flow, the crowd, which direction He was, but they began to cry out to Jesus. Matthew 20:1-16 is a true-to-life parable. He goes to raise the dead, and the woman with the issue of blood touches Him by the way. A fish was the last being for man to make his banker of; with God all things are possible, who knew how to blend admirably in the same act divine glory, unanswerably vindicated, with the lowliest grace in man. He who had just confessed the glory of the Lord would not hear His Master speaking thus of His going to the cross (by which alone the Church, or even the kingdom, could be established), and sought to swerve Him from it. The devil, by his temptations, is hiring labourers into his field, to feed swine. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? "Day laborers" would be readily available in the market place. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Ties him to his bargain (Matthew 20:14; Matthew 20:14); Take that thine is, and go thy way. She replied, "In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.". And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried out all the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. The prisoner would be tied to a post in such a way, as your back would be stretched. 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. He welcomed his bed-fellow. To convince the murmurer that he did no wrong, he refers him to the bargain: "Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? C. G. Montefiore calls this parable "one of the greatest and most glorious of all." It was with this declaration that the parable began and ended. 20:29-34 When they were leaving Jericho, a great crowd followed him. Suffering from the disloyalty of friends. Do not let us dwell too much upon it, for we all share the honor given to each. Nor is this all. 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. This parable taught the disciples not to think of heavenly rewards in terms of justice, getting in proportion to what they deserved. Jesus was moved with compassion to the depths of his being, and touched their eyes; and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. Thus, in the chapter before us, we have a very comprehensive sketch of the Lord's manifestation from that time, and in type going on to the end of the age. Verse 29 gives us strict time. Peter wanted to know what they would get in return. This is a wonderful, simple question God has not stopped asking. Changes, to us inexplicable, occur: many first last, and last first. It was His meat to do the will of God. People do not merit salvation either by works or by attitudes of trust. iv. Far from lowering the position of His servant, He declares there was none greater among mortal men. Therefore let him who would meet God visit the prison cell before going to the temple. His reply came in stages. So the last shall be first, and the first last. Before dinner starts, hide your nerf guns, then start the soundtrack to Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Try to discourage them from seeking Jesus. The people whose hearts are yielded to him will be recognized as his children no matter their rank or riches by worldly standards. Therefore it was not a mere simple fact that He banished sickness or infirmity, but He carried them in His spirit before God. In Matthew 13:1-58 we have the well-known sketch of these new ways of God. The fact is, beloved brethren, there is but one Jesus; and whoever it may be, whether John the Baptist, or the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, after all it is divinely-given faith which alone sustains: else man has to learn painfully somewhat of himself; and what is he to be accounted of? About five o'clock in the evening he went out and found others standing there, and said to them, 'Why are you standing here the whole day idle?' Very early men began to say, "Jesus gave his life a ransom for many. 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. Matthew 20. THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION ( Matthew 20:20-28 continued). The time of life is the day, in which we must work the works of him that sent us into the world. That was a test of his faith. He, on the contrary, insists not only that He was bound for the cross, but that its truth must be made good in any who will come after Him. 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. In the case of the laborers, those who worked all day did not deserve their pay after having thrown it on the ground. Thus He points out the utter moral incongruity of fasting at that moment, and intimates that it was not merely the fact that He was going to be rejected, but that to conciliate His teaching and His will with the old thing was hopeless. Here is the account with the labourers. Perhaps, Christ here gives an intimation to Peter, not to boast too much, as he seemed to do, of his having left all to follow Christ; as if, because he and the rest of them had borne the burthen and heat of the day thus, they must have a heaven by themselves. In a sense, everybody is called to recognize God through the natural world, but the word "chosen" shows that God must personally rescue us from our self-centered blindness. Mary Magdalene is named in all the lists; Mary the mother of James and Joses must be the same person as Mary the wife of Clopas; therefore the third woman is described in three different ways. Higher proportionate rewards shall be given to them than to others. They gave Him full honor with this title. For less than $5/mo. Parents, and the disciples, like the Pharisees, were shown that grace, just because it is the expression of what God is to a ruined world, takes notice of what man in his own imaginary dignity might count altogether petty. Note: MLA no longer requires the URL as part of their citation standard. If the Gentiles were to be allowed into the fellowship of the Church at all, they must come in as inferiors. 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. b. 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. John 3:16, Jesus faith love), The Whole Bible NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. He maintains His sovereign title to do good, to do as He will with His own. Let none suppose that, in giving my own convictions, I have the presumptuous thought of putting these forward as if they were the sole motives in God's mind. And yet in spite of that the disciples are thinking of a Kingdom. Many of them bleed to death. Spurgeon applied this to us spiritually: Why is any one of us remaining idle towards God? 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. (2.) And they went their way. When He reaches the house, minstrels were there, and people, making a noise: the expression, if of woe, certainly of impotent despair. This, too, we ascertain from Mark 1:1-45, where there are clear marks of the time. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." 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. 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. Though he vainly thought, that if those few were but two, they were himself and his son. 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. Oh, you have to love the mothers, don't you? "Dear Beloved, The apostle Paul is known as a great missionary. "My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live." Therefore what this saying means is quite simply--it cost the life and the death of Jesus Christ to bring men back to God. Hence, here it is a question not merely of cleansing, but of forgiveness, and forgiveness, too, as that which precedes power, manifested before men. vii. It's God's to give, however, to whomever He pleases. 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. He was ignorant of himself, because ignorant of God, and imagined that it was only a question of man's doing good for God. When God settles all the accounts, then things are going to be valued by his standards and not the world's standards. Jesus will use this story to answer a question from Matthew 19:27: See, we have left all and followed You. He takes accordingly the title of the "Son of man" for the first time in this gospel. A daily dose of Christian quotes to inspire and encourage. For they needed someone to help Him bear the cross. The first is the defence of the disciples, grounded on analogies taken from that which had the sanction of God of old, as well as on His own glory now. 'God is love. One of the great fundamental facts to which we must hold on, even when we hate and loathe and despise ourselves, is that Jesus believes in us. And he said unto them, You shall indeed drink of my cup ( Matthew 20:23 ). ii. Would you prayerfully consider a gift of support today? And so, as savouring not divine but human things, he is bid to go behind (not from) the Lord as one ashamed of Him. They will condemn Him to death: Jesus confidently predicted that the religious leaders would do this; yet this was not something He could plan. Others think it refers to how the gospel first dawned with John the Baptist, then the preaching of Jesus, then the preaching at Pentecost, then to the Jews, and finally to the Gentiles. For many are called, but few chosen." a. Wisdom Literature We have each of us our own vineyard to keep, our own soul; and it is God's and to be kept and dressed for him. The parable teaches one truth, and but one; and where Jesus has explained it, we have no right to add to it, and say that it teaches anything else. [Note: Norman A. Huffman, "Atypical Features in the Parables of Jesus," Journal of Biblical Literature 97 (1978):209. You've never known them. 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." There is no incident which so demonstrates their invincible faith in Jesus. Power and love were come for any one to draw on. The man's walk before them testifies to the reality of his forgiveness before God. The only reason we will receive any reward is that God has called us to be His workers. Now, it was an established principle, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word should be established. i. 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.
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