), 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. Then follows the rise of what was great in its littleness till it became little in its greatness in the earth; and the development and spread of doctrine, till the measured space assigned to it is brought under its assimilating influence. They don't understand all of the provision that the Lord has made for them. In the case of the laborers, those who worked all day did not deserve their pay after having thrown it on the ground. "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." iii. It is the end of the account of Jesus itinerant ministry, and its setting as they went out of Jericho points forward to the next town on the road, Jerusalem. (France). The men who stood in the market-place were waiting for work, and the fact that some of them stood on until even five o'clock in the evening is the proof of how desperately they wanted it. 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. Whence they are hired? Verse Matthew 20:16. . "I am certain that there is much about the scourging about Jesus that we do not fully understand. He is talking about, no doubt, the scourging that He was going to receive, because it could not be that any of His bones should be broken. All men, no matter when they come, are equally precious to God.". A few I have chosen for higher stations in the church. Start FREE. Jesus instructs His little band that discipleship is never designed as a quid pro quo formula of compensation. 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. There are two great lessons here. This was an entirely normal arrangement. 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. And so they didn't really remember that He said He was going to rise the third day, until after the resurrection. c. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you: The landowner did nothing to explain why he did it, other than simply to say I wish. The reasons for the landowners generosity were completely in the landowner himself, and not in the ones who received. Secondly, The particular pleading with those that were offended with this distribution in gavel-kind. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? No matter what the great purpose might be, He was there for faith. Next, we behold Him meeting the centurion after another manner altogether. At the great day, though the dead in Christ shall rise first, yet they which are alive and remain, on whom the ends of the world (the eleventh hour of its day) comes, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds; no preference shall be given to seniority, but every man shall stand in his own lot at the end of the days. In Mark 10:35-45 it is James and John who come to Jesus with this request. The first thing to be remarked is, that the leper was an early incident in the manifestation of the healing power of our Lord. It is tragic that in church circles there is also that endeavor many times to exercise lordship and dominion over people.One of the weird doctrines of the seventies was the shepherding doctrine, where so many men sought to establish themselves as the lords over the flock of God and causing people to submit to their authority. Lowly, noiseless grace now it was to be, according to the prophet, till the hour strikes for victory in judgment. We are in his hand, as clay in the hands of a potter; and it is not for us to prescribe to him, or strive with him. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. The indignation of the ten doubtless sprang less from humility than jealousy plus fear that they might lose out. (Carson). We are put to our choice; for hired we must be (Joshua 24:15); Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. These are the words of an older gentleman who trusted Christ a few days before he died from cancer. And Peter quoting Isaiah looking back at that scourging said, "by His stripes, ye were, past tense, healed"( 1 Peter 2:24 ). how is it that ye have no faith? The power of divine grace is magnified in the conversion of some, when they are in the midst of their pleasures and worldly pursuits, as Paul. Cookie Notice: And the multitude around them said, "Shut up, hold your peace." The deity of Christ was the hook; his flesh was the bait; the bait was dangled before leviathan; he swallowed it and was taken. Their reward was as much of grace as was that of the bitter "firsters"! He here is predicting the fact that He is going to be scourged. In Matthew 13:1-58 we have the well-known sketch of these new ways of God. ESV Text Edition: 2016. When they came they that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man [the denarius] a penny. Those who recognize the grace they have received by being included in God's Kingdom . Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary. There is one very revealing little difference between Matthew's and Mark's account of this incident. The third and fourth legions had the same advantage in their turns. New International Version (NIV). Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 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. i. His wounds are those which he receives in the house of his friend. (Spurgeon). I injure no one, and have a right to do what I will with my own." "Day laborers" would be readily available in the market place. He didn't come that people might cater to Him and minister to Him, He came to minister to the people's needs. Let them read their error in One who was evidently superior to the condition and the ruin of man in Israel. 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?' 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last.". Jerusalem's proud, traditional hypocrisy is exposed, and grace fully blesses the tried Gentile. i. 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. For He loved Peter felt for him, and his wife's mother was precious in His sight. The line from the . What Jesus Did! 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. The woman at last meets the heart and mind of Jesus in the sense of all her utter nothingness before God; and then grace, which had wrought all up to this, though pent-up, can flow like a river; and the Lord can admire her faith, albeit from Himself, God's free gift. 1. In spite of all he had said, here were these men and their mother still chattering about posts in an earthly government and kingdom. The indulgence of the selfish, murmuring temper might hinder their election even to that work. Faithful labourers shall receive their reward when they die; it is deferred till then, that they may wait with patience for it, but no longer; for God will observe his own rule, The hire of the labourers shall not abide with thee all night, until the morning. 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. The kingdom of heaven assumes a form unknown to prophecy, and, in its successive mysteries, fills up the interval between the rejected Christ's going to heaven, and His returning again in glory. Observe. This world looks at the outward appearance, but God knows our hearts. ( Matthew 20:16) The parable applied: the principle of God's reward. It is all of grace and not of debt; nor does that exclude obedience. 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. Paul was as one born out of due time, yet came not behind the chiefest of the apostles, and outdid those that were in Christ before him. Therefore what shall we have? I have endowed them with apostolic gifts or with superior talents, and suited them for wider usefulness. 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. So, when those who had been engaged about five o'clock in the afternoon, came, they received 4 pence each. 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. "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased." But it would be unusual for a wealthy "landowner" to locate his own . 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. Chapter 20. God had given his soul a deeper, fuller sight of Christ; for the Gentile's words prove that he had apprehended God in the man who was healing at that moment all sickness and disease in Galilee. It is the paradox of the Christian life that he who aims at reward loses it, and he who forgets reward finds it. In the picture of the holy city in the Revelation there are twelve gates. To him who compares this with Luke 6:1-49, there need not remain a question as to the identity of the scene. ", Kagawa himself wrote: "God dwells among the lowliest of men. Then, alas! But Jesus answered and said, You don't know what you are asking. They should think of them in terms of grace, any reward being an act of Gods grace. Luke-Acts "Jesus deliberately and cleverly led the listeners along by degrees until they understood that if Gods generosity was to be represented by a man, such a man would be different from any man ever encountered." 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. It is hard for those that do or suffer more than ordinary for God, not to be elevated too much with the thought of it, and to expect to merit by it. Our job as disciples is to keep searching and including the lost, the last, and the least in the Kingdom and not just those who can bring us some benefit. 2. And thus He, whose glory was so forgotten by His disciples Jesus, Himself thinks of that very disciple, and says, "For me and thee.". He was to be condemned to death; there we see the suffering of injustice, which is very hard to bear. Pauline Epistles 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.(A). Though there be degrees of glory in heaven, yet it will be to all a complete happiness. And I pray to God that we will never lose this concept of the ministry, that we are the servants of all.It is so important that we maintain, because Jesus said. In short, he had a question because he was a man. 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. For many be called, but few chosen.The warning is repeated after the parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:14), and as it stands there in closer relation with the context, that will be the fitting place for dwelling on it. The world may assess a man's greatness by the number of people whom he controls and who are at his beck and call; or by his intellectual standing and his academic eminence; or by the number of committees of which he is a member; or by the size of his bank balance and the material possessions which he has amassed; but in the assessment of Jesus Christ these things are irrelevant. Note: MLA no longer requires the URL as part of their citation standard. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." 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. 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. They must still continue to endure the scourge of crime they could never expiate. 2. 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. The fact is, in judging others we judge ourselves. But I am convinced that there are others who will receive either as great or even greater honor than will Billy Graham who you have never heard of. Kagawa was left standing in a ragged old kimono. So long as it is all we have to give, all service ranks the same with God. The Church, which is His body and bride, has a far more intimate place, even though true of the same persons. 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. He never failed to tell men that, even if life ends in crown-wearing, it continues in cross-bearing. 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. It is the glory of Christ; not so much as Son of the living God, but as the exalted Son of man, who once suffered here below. And every Jewish mother wants the best for her son. That's one of the two. He makes some more useful than others, without regard to the time which they serve, and he will reward them accordingly. Instead of repining that we have no more, let us take what we have, and be thankful. He was not setting out rules for wages and employment, but giving an illustration of Gods grace. to forget His ancient people. a. General Epistles Take that which is yours, and go your way: and I will give unto this last even as unto thee. a. Jesus will use this story to answer a question from Matthew 19:27: See, we have left all and followed You. Subsequent, considerably, to this was the case of the centurion's servant, preceded a good while before by the cleansing of the leper. But Jesus called them unto him, and he said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. a. Lord cometh, his reward is with him, to give unto every man according as his work shall be, as one star differeth from another star in glory, so shall it be. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. b. This should quicken us to expedition and diligence in our work, that we have but a little time to work in, and the night is hastening on, when no man can work; and if our great work be undone when our day is done, we are undone for ever. When God settles all the accounts, then things are going to be valued by his standards and not the world's standards. He that would be great among you, let him be your servant and if you want to be chief, then become the bondslave." Try to discourage them from seeking Jesus. If I assume from the words "set forth in order," in the beginning of Luke's gospel, that therefore his is the chronological account, it will only lead me into confusion, both as to Luke and the other gospels; for proofs abound that the order of Luke, most methodical as he is, is by no means absolutely that of time. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Use semicolons to separate groups: 'Gen;Jdg;Psa-Mal' or 'Rom 3-12;Mat 1:15;Mat 5:12-22', There are options set in 'Advanced Options', The Whole Bible Matthew 20:16 Context 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? i. In the next scene, then, we have the disciples as a whole tried by a sudden danger to which their sleeping Master paid no heed. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? We cannot earn what God gives us; we cannot deserve it; what God gives us is given out of the goodness of his heart; what God gives is not pay, but a gift; not a reward, but a grace. How are we to account for a selection so marked, an elimination of time so complete? The scribe had no heart for the hidden glory. i. Your promises are thrilling. When he had come to an agreement with them that they would work for 4 pence a day, he sent them into his vineyard. Matthew 20:1-16 is a true-to-life parable. But when he came to the first, they supposed that they should have received more; but they likewise received every man a penny. ". So it was here. When Paul, that faithful labourer, departs, he is with Christ presently. The Rabbis had a saying, "Some enter the Kingdom in an hour; others hardly enter it in a lifetime." Envy is unlikeness to God, who is good, and doeth good, and delighteth in doing good; nay, it is an opposition and contradiction to God; it is a dislike of his proceedings, and a displeasure at what he does, and is pleased with. Does not this suit you, poor sinner you who never did serve him, you who could not, as you are, minister to him? He had been there before. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. Modern disciples of Jesus should view heavenly rewards the same way. And when the devil was come out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel." It appears to me, that the nature or aim of Mark's gospel demands this. We begin with the comparatively limited significance it originally had. The point is that God rewards on the principle of grace, and we should therefore expect surprises. It doesn't mean someone who is to be looked up to, and someone who is to be catered to, and someone who is to be bowed to, and all of this kind of stuff, and do special favors because he is the minister. 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. He was to be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and Scribes; there we see the suffering of the heart broken by the disloyalty of friends. Out in the world there was the Roman governor with his retinue and the eastern potentate with his slaves. It was His meat to do the will of God. God's generosity will not succumb to human jealousy. Hence, lower down in the chapter, after the demon was cast out of the blind and dumb man before the amazed people, the Pharisees, irritated by their question, Is not this the Son of David? Try Bible Gateway Plus free today! 10 million Ukrainians without power because of Russia. That is on the debit side of the account of the disciples; but there is much on the credit side. The motive was Christ Himself: therefore He says, "Ye which have followed me." He s. Matthew 20:16 - John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible And if those who in the last moment come into the kingdom of God, God rewards them, and they receive the reward for their place in the kingdom. (3.) It is a very significant story, for it paints a picture of the spirit and of the attitude of mind and heart to which the most precious gifts of God are open. Beracot, fol. 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. Jesus said, "They will scourge me. 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. 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. On the other side of the picture, behold the Lord leading on a soul to draw on divine grace in the most glorious manner. You both must wear five pieces of clothing. Now notice, the mother is the one doing the speaking, but the boys are right there behind her. Now Paul said if you understand this, when you partake of the broken bread, you can receive from God a work of His Spirit in your body.Now many who do not understand this, are weak and sick, because they do not understand the Lord's body. d. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?. Prophets 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? Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Peters question about what the Twelve would receive (Matthew 20:27) had implied that they should receive a greater reward since their sacrifice had been greater. 111. iv. Far different this was from the errand on which He was intent; but He was there for faith. "Verily, I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." Passwords should have at least 6 characters. And someone said, "Jesus is going by." iii. Heartlight Provides Positive Resources for Daily Christian Living. Of one of the disciples, whose state may have been specially present to our Lords mind, this was, we know, only too fatally true. It is not enough that Israel be awakened from the sleep of death, and see aright. Johannine Writings Hold out, faith, and patience, yet a little while. Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 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.". 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. He was really God in man; and all these wonderful features are here presented and compressed in this most simple, but at the same time significant, action of the Saviour the fitting frontispiece to Matthew's manifestation of the Messiah to Israel. Life had been imparted to, the sleeping maid of Zion the blind men call on Him as the Son of David, and not in vain. Throughout it is the religious kind that are tested and found wanting. Not even their wonderful "attitude" entitled them to a day's pay. Particular epochs in Luke are noted with great care; but, speaking now of the general course of the Lord's life, a little attention will discover, from the immensely greater preponderance paid to the consideration of time in the second gospel, that there we have events from first to last given to us in their consecutive order. He never doubted that James and John would maintain their loyalty. He said unto them, Go also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that is what you shall receive. THE MASTER SEEKS HIS WORKERS ( Matthew 20:1-16 ), 20:1-16 "For the situation in the Kingdom of Heaven is like what happened when a householder went out first thing in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 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. In Matthew 17:1-27 another scene appears, promised in part to some standing there in Matthew 16:28, and connected, though as yet hiddenly, with the cross. And that's exactly what the word, "minister" means, servant. 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. When the ten heard about this, they were angry with the two brothers. And then Paul warned the Corinthians about the manner in which they did partake of the Lord's supper. To mock and to scourge: Jesus predicted these specific aspects of His coming agony which on a human level He could not arrange. He now takes His place of rejection; for Him it is manifest even now by their inmost thoughts of Him when revealed. The landowner did exactly as promised, but their supposition of more pay than promised was disappointed. The Lord pleads the cause of the disciples. Descending then upon the plateau, He delivered what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. 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 !!! We have here not only our Lord's ministry in the first parable, but in the second parable that which He does by His servants. Amen. They were still thinking in terms of personal reward and personal distinction; and they were thinking of personal success without personal sacrifice. Therefore He could not have any broken bones. 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. If the harvest was not ingathered before the rains broke, then it was ruined; and so to get the harvest in was a frantic race against time. The scourging was an extremely painful experience. What can be simpler than that John put the question through his disciples, because he (not they only) had a question in the mind? . Then comes the boast of Peter, though for others as well as himself. I merely indicate by the way how the thorough increasing rejection of the Lord Jesus in His lower glory has but the effect of bringing out the revelation of His higher. 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.
Conflict Resolution Scenarios Worksheets,
What Languages Does Jeffrey Donovan Speak,
Countdown 2022 Insomniac,
Homes For Rent In Worland Wyoming,
Upmc Hospital Ranking,
Articles M
