i. James had to be ready to be the first to die among the disciples; John had to be ready to live the longest Christian life and testimony among them. The Whole Bible So the last shall be first, and the first last. 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 ). The crowd rebuked them, so that they might be silent. Poetical Books (ii) These two blind men were undiscourageable. Whatever might be the Church or the kingdom, it is precisely when the Lord unfolds His new glory in both the kingdom and the Church that He maintains the proprieties of nature in their rights and integrity. Verse Matthew 20:16. 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. No doubt it is a tie of nature for this life only. And thus as Isaiah predicts the scourging, the stripes, he declares, "by His stripes ye are healed"( Isaiah 53:5 ). 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. They said to him, "We can." Therein is greatness. Please see Blue Letter Bible's Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. Hence the Lord would raise up a fresh testimony altogether, and do a new work suitable to it. Going back just a little bit further, Peter had said to Jesus, "Lord, we have left all to follow thee"( Matthew 19:27 ). 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. Thus the fresh revelations of grace in no way detract from that which God had of old established in nature; but, contrariwise, only impart a new and greater force in asserting the real value and wisdom of God's way even in these least things. 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. Under grace, we cant come to God complaining, Dont I deserve better than this; because God will reply, Does this mean that you really want Me to give you what you deserve?. It was a scorned Messiah who, when rejected of His own people, Israel, turned to the Gentiles by the will of God: it was One who could look upon publicans and sinners anywhere. Here is the story of two men who found their way to a miracle. Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. He is not going to lower Himself to a human measure. He was not taken by surprise; He knew it from the beginning Man's implacable hatred is brought about most manifestly in the ways and spirit of His rejectors. [2.] "So the last will be first, and the first last. Luke-Acts A mere Jew would have been defiled. How many millions does the long-suffering of God lead to repentance! When evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the workers, and give them their pay, beginning from the last and going on until you come to the first.' . The landowner asked if they were jealous because the landowner was generous to other people. And so, as savouring not divine but human things, he is bid to go behind (not from) the Lord as one ashamed of Him. HEARTLIGHT is a registered service mark of Heartlight, Inc. | Privacy Policy. Heartlight Provides Positive Resources for Daily Christian Living. God turns away none that are willing to be hired, for yet there is room. "Lord, save us; we perish," cried they, as they awoke Him; and He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea. Many are called, c.] This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. (iv) These two blind men were not afraid to bring a great request. And what makes this still more striking, is the certainty that the kingdom, bright as it is, is by no means the thing nearest to Jesus. I say not how fax he had realized this profound truth; I say not that he could have defined his thoughts; but he knew and declared His command of all as truly God. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister [or servant]; And whosoever will be the chief among you, let him be the bondslave ( Matthew 20:23-27 ): Jesus here is teaching the servanthood of the ministry and the path to greatness. What is mine, is mine to do with as I please." 1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Jesus was moved with compassion to the depths of his being, and touched their eyes; and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. Grace should be especially manifested in our service; it is of grace, not works. In Matthew 13:1-58 we have the well-known sketch of these new ways of God. ), 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. "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased." it was not for the whole the Physician was needed. They did not see why the two brothers should steal a march on them, even if they were the cousins of Jesus. Does not this suit you, poor sinner you who never did serve him, you who could not, as you are, minister to him? "My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live." Thereon, coming into the ship, the wind ceases, and the Lord exercises His gracious power in beneficent effects around. i. At the beginning of the day, a landowner hired people to work in his vineyard for an agreed wage (Matthew 20:1-2). "That ye may know," He says, "that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins," etc. The impression is that the landowner was surprised to find people idle, because he had plenty of work to give them. 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. So we have a farther scene. The plucking of the corn, and the healing of the withered hand, had taken place long before. The offence removed. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard ( Matthew 20:1-2 ). Those that have such a journey to go, had need set out betimes, the sooner the better. Poetical Books 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 ). As their conduct showed, all they were concerned with was to get as much as possible out of their work. But the future is in view also. It is grief to ourselves, anger to God, and ill-will to our neighbour; and it is a sin that has neither pleasure, profit, nor honour, in it; it is an evil, an only evil. Now the parable: A landowner went out early in the morning (6 am) to hire laborers for his vineyard. Though primitive Christianity had more of the purity and power of that holy religion than is to be found in the degenerate age wherein we live, yet what labourers may be sent into the vineyard in the eleventh hour of the church's day, in the Philadelphian period, and what plentiful effusions of the Spirit may then be, above what has been yet, who can tell? 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 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). And she said unto him, Grant that these my two boys may sit, the one your right hand, and the other on your left, in your kingdom ( Matthew 20:20-21 ). Pentateuch There may have been a very natural reason for this request. As the elder brother, in the parable of the prodigal, repined at the reception of his younger brother, and complained of his father's generosity to him; so these labourers quarrelled with their master, and found fault, not because they had not enough, so much as because others were made equal with them. 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. Thus many are called by the preaching of the Gospel, but few are found who use their advantages in such a way as to become extensively useful in the Church-and many in the Church militant behave so ill as never to be admitted into the Church triumphant. 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. Now He brings out not the kingdom merely, but His Church; and this not merely in view of hopeless unbelief in the mass, but of the confession of His own intrinsic glory as the Son of God by the chosen witness. Oh, for grace so to bow and bless God, even when our little travail seems in vain! Pentateuch For He loved Peter felt for him, and his wife's mother was precious in His sight. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Secondly, The particular pleading with those that were offended with this distribution in gavel-kind. I injure no one, and have a right to do what I will with my own." [6.] Sometimes a young person dies almost before the door of life and achievement have opened at all. As it has been put, this parable states implicitly two great truths which are the very charter of the working man--the right of every man to work and the right of every man to a living wage for his work. Or is your eye evil because I am good? [2.] They next proceeded to the creation of subaltern officers, whom the tribunes chose from among the soldiers of the greatest reputation. 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. Then a beggar asked for his shirt and got it. Not that His own rejection was not before His spirit, but here He looks not beyond that land and people; and, as far as the twelve were concerned, He sends them on a mission which goes on to the end of the an. 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. 2. Let me passingly notice a very few particulars. It was very different with the hired day-labourers. Johannine Writings And he went out about the third hour: The third hour was about 9:00 a.m.; the sixth hour was about 12 noon; the eleventh hour was about 5:00 in the evening. So many people, both in things material and in things spiritual, get what they want, and then forget even to say thanks. This furnishes occasion to the Pharisees to vent their unbelief: to them nothing is so offensive as grace, either in doctrine or in practice. Then comes the boast of Peter, though for others as well as himself. 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. But, from first to last, what a trial of spirit, and what triumph! 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. and what had the Son of David to do with a Canaanite? 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? Finally, he was to be crucified; there we see the ultimate suffering of death. He maintains His sovereign title to do good, to do as He will with His own. Amen. The reason I consider to be plain; and the same principle applies to various other parts of our gospel where we have two cases mentioned, where in the other gospels we have only one. And the third day He will rise again: Most important, this was something that Jesus had no apparent control over. 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. NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. At the beginning of Matthew 10:1-42 He Himself sends forth themselves as labourers. A man who wanted to work came there first thing in the morning, carrying his tools, and waited until someone hired him. A daily devotional about God's power for our battles. 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. This, I believe, is a great lesson, and too often forgotten. Thus it is easy to see, that the reason for here putting together the leper and the centurion lies in the Lord's dealing with the Jew, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, in His deep grace working in the Gentile's heart, and forming his faith, as well as answering it, according to His own heart. When they received it, they grumblingly complained against the master. We can never repay God for what he has done for us but we can always be grateful to him. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.. Let those who have so little experience of what man is, even in the regenerate, beware lest they impute to the Baptist such an acting of a part as shocks us, when Jerome imputed it to Peter and Paul in the censure of Galatians 2:1-21. Christianity knows nothing of the conception of a herrenvolk, a master race. 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. A double action follows. But if He here does not go beyond a hint of that which the Gentiles were about to receive on the ruinous unbelief and judgment of the Jew, He does not keep back their own awful course and doom in the figure that follows. Now according to the historians, this scourging was such an awful taxing thing upon the person that many people never made it to the cross. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with what is my own? Such is His grace, such His wisdom. They were still thinking in terms of personal reward and personal distinction; and they were thinking of personal success without personal sacrifice. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. He has His rejection before His eyes, as well as the presumptuous unbelief of this sordid, and self-confident, would-be follower. It is more particularly sin, viewed as guilt, and consequently as that which absolutely breaks and destroys all power in the soul towards both God and man. The time of life is the day, in which we must work the works of him that sent us into the world. Here is the agreement made with the labourers (Matthew 20:1-7; Matthew 20:1-7); and here it will be asked, as usual. The nature of envy; It is an evil eye. 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." They confess their faith, and He touches their eyes. ), NIV, Story of Jesus: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story, NIV, The Woman's Study Bible, Full-Color, Red Letter: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Revelation, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, Verse Mapping Bible, Comfort Print: Find Connections in Scripture Using a Unique 5-Step Process, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Galatians, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, The Story, Hardcover, Comfort Print: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People.
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