That blessed One was here whom he knew to be God, who was to him the impersonation of divine power and goodness His presence was uncalled for, His word more than enough. It was as Son of David that they addressed Jesus. Note, All that by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality, shall undoubtedly obtain eternal life (Romans 2:7), not as wages for the value of their work, but as the gift of God. Some consider that John the Baptist enquired solely for the sake of his disciples. But none the less do we find His affections engaged for the help of the helpless. He believed that they could and would drink the cup, and that in the end they would still be found at his side. And then he said interesting things for this cause; "There are many who are weak and sick among you, because they do not understand the Lord's body"( 1 Corinthians 11:30 ). Copyright 1996 - 2023 All rights reserved. And now as they depart from Jericho. 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. Surely, had he seen this, everything was there; but he saw it not, and so the Lord spread out His actual portion, as it literally was, without one word about the unseen and eternal. Can I not do what I like with my own money? Therefore let him who would meet God visit the prison cell before going to the temple. Any worker was welcome, even if he could give only an hour to the work. (Barclay). The man that was not called promises to go anywhere, in his own strength; but the man that was called feels the difficulty, and pleads a natural duty before following Jesus. This came out most blessedly through the disciples. It is as if Jesus was going to gather in upon himself every possible kind of physical and emotional and mental suffering that the world could inflict. The devil, by his temptations, is hiring labourers into his field, to feed swine. C. G. Montefiore calls this parable "one of the greatest and most glorious of all." and what had the Son of David to do with a Canaanite? This is a wonderful, simple question God has not stopped asking. Gods grace always operates righteously. 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.(A), 17Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. "Then," said the Lord, "are the children free. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. We read in the book of Acts that Herod stretched forth his hands against the church and had James beheaded. The axiom of this verse and of chapter nineteen, verse 30, sets the tone for Jesus entire ministry and the church. In Christianity there must always be this invincible optimism in the moment when things are conspiring to drive a man to despair. in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry. He was not called. 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. Those who recognize the grace they have received by being included in God's Kingdom . When that great saint Toyohiko Kagawa first came into contact with Christianity, he felt its fascination, until one day the cry burst from him: "O God, make me like Christ." The men who were standing in the market-place were not street-corner idlers, lazing away their time. Nor was the unbelief confined to these religionists of letter and form; for next (verse 14) the question comes from John's disciples: "Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?" Now we see Jesus leaving Jericho, a great multitude of people thronging around Him, and these two blind men hearing the multitude passing by, and observing all of the bustle and activities saying, "what's going on, what's happening?" But if Matthew here laid aside all question of time, it was in view of other and weightier considerations for his object. They plucked his hair, they smote his cheeks, they spat in his face. But the future is in view also. A devotional to help reclaim Jesus as the daily Lord of our lives. it was not for the whole the Physician was needed. Had there been a single thing good in Israel, their choicest guides would have stood that test. 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. And still is he betrayed! 2. Note, The unchangeableness of God's purposes in dispensing his gifts should silence our murmurings. This would not be a legal claim on man, but the scattering of good seed, life and fruit from God, and this in the unlimited field of the world, not in the land of Israel merely. Those first hired are actually paid least in proportion to their labor and receive the least pleasure from their pay. In immediate juxtaposition to this stands the Gentile centurion, who seeks healing for his servant. From God they will both receive the same welcome, for both Jesus Christ is waiting, and for neither, in the divine sense, has life ended too soon or too late. The deity of Christ was the hook; his flesh was the bait; the bait was dangled before leviathan; he swallowed it and was taken. That is on the debit side of the account of the disciples; but there is much on the credit side. Where did they come from? If I am faithful for an hour, if I am faithful for twelve hours, it is my faithfulness to the service to which the Lord has sent me.Now a lot of times we think that men like Billy Graham will surely receive the greatest rewards in heaven, because look at the tremendous fruit of his ministry. "My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live." In other words, it is certain that in the gospel of Luke, in whose preface we have expressly the words "set in order," the Holy Ghost does in no way tie Himself to what, after all, is the most elementary form of arrangement; for it needs little observation to see, that the simple sequence of facts as they occurred is that which demands a faithful enumeration, and nothing more. 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. 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. 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. 3. 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. 1. He is among the sick, he stands with the unemployed. It adds to the reason for this interpretation, that Christ was conversing about the rewards that should be given to his followers, and not about the numbers that should be called, or about the doctrine of election. That means that James and John were full cousins of Jesus; and it may well have been that they felt that this close relationship entitled them to a special place in his Kingdom. There is no one cup for the Christian to drink. What could be said of her intelligence then? How little they had learnt the divine lesson of grace, not ordinances! Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 4. Did you not come to an agreement with me to work for 4 pence ? 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. In spite of their lack of merit, the good householder required them to pick it up, thus giving it to them in spite of their forfeiture. [4.] He goes to raise the dead, and the woman with the issue of blood touches Him by the way. No man can ever claim that he began to follow Jesus under false pretences. It is a question, then, of internal evidence, what that particular order is which God has employed in each different gospel. God turns away none that are willing to be hired, for yet there is room. And then they would take a leather whip, with little bits of lead and glass, embedded in it. The fact of two without the personal details would not powerfully tell upon mere Gentiles perhaps, though to a Jew it might be for some ends necessary. All shall reach heaven, and all shall receive what I promise to the faithful. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Many a man in this world, who has earned great rewards, will have a very low place in the Kingdom because rewards were his sole thought. Three things the master of the house urges, in answer to this ill-natured surmise. And if thou hast what thou didst agree for, thou hast no reason to cry out of wrong; thou shalt have what we agreed for." The better MSS., indeed, omit it here. Or is your eye evil because I am good? There are a great many things which have to be done at the moment or they will never be done. It was really after the transfiguration recorded in chapter 17 of our gospel. It appears to me, that the nature or aim of Mark's gospel demands this. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. To labour in his vineyard. Instead of giving her at once a reply, He leads her on step by step; for so He can stoop. Ingratitude is the ugliest of all sins. He makes some more useful than others, without regard to the time which they serve, and he will reward them accordingly. In Matthew 14:1-36 facts are narrated which manifest the great change of dispensation that the Lord, in setting forth the parables we have just noticed, had been preparing them for. They wanted Jesus with a royal command to ensure for them a princely life. Then says the unclean spirit, "I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. Such is His grace, such His wisdom. Israel must give full testimony in the bright day of His coming. They looked for a conqueror; they received one broken on a cross. Except where noted, scripture quotations are taken from the Easy-to-Read Version 2001 by Bible League International. If God be better in any respect to others than to us, yet we have no reason to complain while he is so much better to us than we deserve, in giving us our penny, though we are unprofitable servants. 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. The Lord hints at what the man's real desires were not Christ, not heaven, not eternity, but present things. Nevertheless, the Lord did not withhold the infinite boon, though He knew too well their thoughts; He spoke the word of forgiveness, though He read their evil heart that counted it blasphemy. They drew up by tribes, and lots were drawn to determine in what order every tribe should present its soldiers. 2. [2.] Matthew 13:19-22), we find first of all the utter worthlessness of the flesh's readiness to follow Jesus. And it really was a heavy bondage trip. Whatever is right I will give you whatever is right you will receive: The landowner promised the earliest workers a days wage (a denarius a day). :) www.facebook.com/tiacookphotographywww.instagram.com/tiacookphotographywww.tiacookphotography.co.uk all rights reserved to Tia Cook Photography The grand lesson is that men do not deserve or merit salvation. The second is, "So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen." Minor Prophets They put upon Him a scarlet robe, and they begin to say unto Him, "Hail king of the Jews," and they mocked Him. Though God is a debtor to none, yet he is graciously pleased to make himself a debtor by his own promise, for the benefit of which, through Christ, believers agree with him, and he will stand to his part of the agreement. "And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth." Observe that it is at this point the chapter begins with vindicating the sanctity of marriage. Jesus was there to call, not righteous men, but sinners. If we accept it as the true reading, it adds something to the warning of the previous clause. Jesus gave everything to bring men back to God; and we must walk in the steps of him who loved to the uttermost. Seeking the Gospel in Malachi, the Last Book of the Old Testament. And the third day He will rise again: Jesus was remarkably specific in this announcement of His fate, and foretold many things over which He had no apparent control. 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. And he said, "If a person eats or drinks in an unworthy manner, he is eating and drinking damnation to his own soul"( 1 Corinthians 11:26 ). God does not look on the amount of our service. When did this take place, if we enquire into it merely as a matter of historical fact? Every opportunity to serve is a gift of His grace. The Son of Man will be betrayed: Jesus again told the disciples what awaited Him in Jerusalem, but no reaction from the disciples is noted. 1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. The ones who labored only an hour did not deserve their pay either. Have we, spite of superior privileges, such unwavering faith, that we can afford to treat the matter as incredible in John, and therefore only capable of solution in his staggering disciples? I will obey to the end.. The priest, in chap. 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. 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! The true disciple rests easy in the assurance that because his pay is from a Master of grace, it will be gracious. And the third day He will rise again: Most important, this was something that Jesus had no apparent control over. So thoroughly is it in view of Israel that our Lord does not say one word here about the Church, or the intervening condition of Christendom. b. Wisdom Literature He is not here sought as by the leper, the centurion, the friends of the palsied man; He Himself calls Matthew, a publican just the one to write the gospel of the despised Jesus of Nazareth. 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. 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. Hence it is that He has grouped together circumstances which make this plain, without raising the question of when they occurred; in fact, they range over a large space, and, otherwise viewed, are in total disorder. The point of this one is that God will reward all His disciples justly, graciously, and generously. It is enough to meet a difficulty which many feel by the simple plea that the reason assigned is in my judgment a valid explanation, and in itself a sufficient solution of the apparent discrepancy. There is hope for old sinners; for if, in sincerity, they turn to God, they shall doubtless be accepted; true repentance is never too late. Though a testimony to them, still it was in the result a recognition of what Moses commanded. Note, [1.] Gregory of Nyssa saw the glaring fault in that theory. Jesus deliberately and open-eyed sets out for Jerusalem and the Cross. He calls him friend, for in reasoning with others we should use soft words and hard arguments; if our inferiors are peevish and provoking, yet we should not thereby be put into a passion, but speak calmly to them. It is a short time; the reward is for eternity, the work is but for a day; man is said to accomplish, as a hireling, his day,Job 14:6. So the last shall be first, and the first last. Here is the account with the labourers. Power and love were come for any one to draw on. 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. The third and fourth legions had the same advantage in their turns. The New Testament GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, (Hebrew/Greek Search by English Definition), * 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order', Search verses, phrases, and topics (e.g. Jesus of course was talking about His crucifixion and His death. Take what is yours and go your way. Peter, the good confessor of chapter 16, cuts but a sorry figure in chapter 17; for when the demand was made upon him as to his Master's paying the tax, surely the Lord, he gave them to know, was much too good a Jew to omit it. It is true, we have only one in Mark, as in Luke; whereas in our gospel we have two. It was very different with the hired day-labourers. We have two things in the parable; the agreement with the labourers, and the account with them. There is no note of the time when he came, but simply the fact that he did come. The key to it is this, that Matthew was led by the Holy Ghost to keep in view adequate testimony to the Jewish people; it was the tender goodness of God that would meet them in a manner that was suitable under the law. i. A few I have chosen for higher stations in the church. iii. The evil eye was an idiom used to refer to jealousy (cf. "Dear Beloved, The apostle Paul is known as a great missionary. 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. Luke-Acts Thus the point that meets us in the conclusion of the chapter is, that while every character, every measure of giving up for His name's sake, will meet with the most worthy recompence and result, man can as little judge of this as he can accomplish salvation. 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. We shall find something of these mysteries later on in this gospel; but here it is simply a Jewish testimony of Jehovah-Messiah in His unwearied love, through His twelve heralds, and in spite of rising unbelief, maintaining to the end what His grace had in view for Israel. "Matthew: The Expositor's Bible Commentary" Volume 8 (Matthew-Luke) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1984), Clarke, Adam "Clarke's Commentary: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes" Volume 5 (Matthew-Acts) (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1832), France, R.T. "The Gospel According to Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary" (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985), Meyer, F.B. "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." (Ken Chumbley, The Gospel of Matthew, commentary, p.#351). 14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. The Campus Martius was the grand field in which they were disciplined: there, they accustomed themselves to leaping, running, wrestling, bearing burdens, fencing, throwing the javelin, c., and when, through these violent exercises, they were all besmeared with dust and sweat, in order to refresh themselves, they swam twice or thrice across the Tyber! [2.] But I do believe that in this parable, He is teaching that a person at the end of the road can turn, in the eleventh hour and come to God, and receive a share of the kingdom, equal share, as far as eternal life is concerned.Another thing that it teaches, I believe, is that we all will be rewarded for our faithfulness in our service to God. Very early men began to say, "Jesus gave his life a ransom for many. 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. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money. Those who recognize the grace they have received by being included in God's Kingdom will be given places of honor. Copyright 2019 by Zondervan. Thus, the present dealings of God in grace, the actual shape taken by the kingdom of heaven, the calling of the Gentiles, the formation of the Church, are all passed completely over. Sufferers for Christ in the latter days, shall have the same reward with the martyrs and confessors of the primitive times, though they are more celebrated; and faithful ministers now, the same with the first fathers. "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased." 10 million Ukrainians without power because of Russia. Yet Jesus was confident that He would be delivered to the Gentiles. He maintains His sovereign title to do good, to do as He will with His own. 7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. With them, to be unemployed for a day was disaster. There never can be strength in the soul till forgiveness is known. Reviewing, then, these closing incidents of the chapter (ver. Pauline Epistles The world will respect, and admire, and sometimes fear, the man of power; but it will love the man of love. 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. Where love is, there is God.' After this, in the chapter we have the positive hindrance asserted of what man counts good. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. To where they exercised such dominion and authority and lordship over people, that they inserted themselves between the people and God. He could not bear to see them idle. I have endowed them with apostolic gifts or with superior talents, and suited them for wider usefulness. They gave Him full honor with this title. 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 seemed the last place on earth to which a man in his condition should have gone. No. Oh, what a heart is ours! Prophets Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary. ". First, The general pay (Matthew 20:9; Matthew 20:10); They received every man a penny. to forget His ancient people. Matthew 20:16 in all English translations, NIV, Story of Jesus: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story, NIV, The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Revelation, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Red Letter Edition: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture, NIV, The Woman's Study Bible, Full-Color, Red Letter: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation, NIV, The Story, Hardcover, Comfort Print: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People. To the proud inhabitant of Jerusalem, both one and the other were but a choice and change within a land of darkness. The world knows quite well that a good man is a man who serves his fellow-men. It is evident that the bodily presence of the Messiah is the very essence of the former scene, as it ought to be in dealing with the leper, who is a kind of type of what Israel should have been in seeking cleansing at His hands. 2. Further, in strict justice the fewer hours a man worked, the less pay he should have received. And after the supper He took the cup, likewise and said, this cup is a new covenant in my blood, which is shed for the remission of sins, and as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death, until He comes"( 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ). 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. The landowner rebuked them for their jealousy and resentment of the landowners generosity towards others. What does it mean? He comes to do not his own will, but the will of him that sent him, and so he correctly says of rank in his kingdom, It is not mine to give. get to know the Bible better! Johannine Writings Now they no doubt had heard of the fame of Jesus. 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 Every man has to learn that true greatness lies, not in dominance, but in service; and that in every sphere the price of greatness must be paid. But nothing turned aside the purpose of God, or the activity of His grace. Who hires them? 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 Beracot, fol. In the pagan world humility was regarded, not so much as a virtue, but as a vice. b. Peter boasts of leaving "all" to follow Jesus as if this somehow earns him some special reward (19:27). c. For many are called, but few chosen: This was said in the context of this illustration of grace. You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: Both James and John had to be baptized in suffering as Jesus was, but their cups and baptisms were different. Sometimes a young person dies almost before the door of life and achievement have opened at all. 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. And so they began to cry out to Jesus. 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. Then inside the house we have not only the Lord explaining the parable, the history from first to last of the tares and wheat, the mingling of evil with the good which grace had sown, but more than that, we have the kingdom viewed according to divine thoughts and purposes.
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