"Then," said the Lord, "are the children free. b. Mark says that Jesus was walking ahead by himself, and that the disciples were amazed and afraid ( Mark 10:32-34). The Old Testament Neither did He need to wait for His exaltation as man; for He was ever God, and God's Son, who therefore, if one may so say, waits for nothing, for no day of glory. It was the creature doing his best, yet proving that he loved the creature more than the Creator. Even those hired early in the day received a reward, and the landowner had been gracious and generous in hiring them and not others. :) www.facebook.com/tiacookphotographywww.instagram.com/tiacookphotographywww.tiacookphotography.co.uk all rights reserved to Tia Cook Photography The Jewish day began at sunrise, 6 a.m., and the hours were counted from then until 6 p.m., when officially the next day began. "That by His stripes you may be healed." But they were so desperate, they weren't discouraged, they even cried louder, "Jesus, thou son of David have mercy on us. [1.] God proves what He is by the revelation of Jesus. 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. Jesus said that among the Gentiles there is this desire to exercise lordship and dominion over people. "Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! & Sanhedrim, fol. And, 2. 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. "If you really want to be great in the kingdom of God, learn to be the servant of all. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David! Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!. 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. It is not for us surely to think this impossible. And as they departed from Jericho ( Matthew 20:29 ). . Men were in the grip of a power of evil which they could not break; their sins dragged them down; their sins separated them from God; their sins wrecked life for themselves and for the world and for God himself. But when the Lord was here, no matter what the unbelief of others, it was only an opportunity for the grace of Jesus to shine out. Note, First, The soul of man stands ready to be hired into some service or other; it was (as all the creatures were) created to work, and is either a servant to iniquity, or a servant to righteousness,Romans 6:19. God is the Owner of all good; his propriety in it is absolute, sovereign, and unlimited. He also gives Peter the keys of the kingdom, as we see afterwards. They are beautiful people. Matthew 20:16 Interlinear: So the last shall be first, and the first Clarke's Commentary. No matter what the great purpose might be, He was there for faith. Accordingly, here we have a witness of it, and a witness so much the sweeter, because the present total rejection that was filling the heart of the leaders surely testified to the Lord's heart of that which was at hand. Your promises are thrilling. They're on the way to Jerusalem; they've come down the Jordan Valley. The Lord hints at what the man's real desires were not Christ, not heaven, not eternity, but present things. Matthew 20 - Wikipedia Historical Books He gives sight to the blind. (Matthew 20:1-2) A landowners workers early in the morning. It is best understood as a parable about grace and reward. This is the third time that Jesus warned his disciples that he was on the way to the Cross ( Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22-23). The scourging was an extremely painful experience. 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? After Paul had preached on Mars Hill, there were those who said, "We will hear you again about this" ( Acts 17:32). No request is too great to bring to Jesus. 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. How often the heart shows itself, not merely by what we ask, but by the uncalled-for feelings we display against other people and their faults! 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. In Matthew we have no distinction of their call from their mission. 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. As to any one else, even the most liberal gift that ever was given of God to fallen man on earth, to the golden head of the Gentiles, exempted the deep and its untamed inhabitants. Again he went out about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, [noon and three in the afternoon], he did likewise. The market-place was the equivalent of the labour exchange. So translated into our present day, an average day's wage for a laborer maybe twenty-five dollars or so. There was the consciousness of good unattained, a void for which he appeals to Jesus that it might be filled up. Basically what He is teaching is that as we serve the Lord in His vineyard, that what really counts is the fact the Lord sent me. We can count on God dealing with us justly, graciously, and generously whether we serve God all our lives or only a short time having become His disciples later in life. After this, dismissing the multitudes, He retires alone, to pray, on a mountain, as the disciples toil over the storm-tossed lake, the wind being contrary. So the last will be first, and the first last: Peter and the disciples knew they had given up a great deal to follow Jesus. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. 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. "Thank the Lord, my rock, who trained my hands to fight and my fingers to do battle, my merciful one, my fortress, my stronghold, and my savior, my". Of course, the facts of the cross were necessary to give it an evident and literal fulfilment; but we have it first apparent in His life, and it is blessed to see it thus accomplished, as it were, in what passed with Himself; fully realized in His own spirit, and the results exposed before the external facts gave the fullest expression to Jewish unbelief. This is the prerogative of the King of kings. What Does It Really Mean That Your Body Is a Temple? Jesus instructs His little band that discipleship is never designed as a quid pro quo formula of compensation. Judas one of the twelve, who is listening to Him, will be the one who betrays Him. The very next scene, the case of Jairus, the ruler, shows it. Last will be first, and the first last: This is the essence of Gods grace, when He rewards and blesses man according to His will and pleasure, not necessarily according to what men deserve. Now what did Jesus mean when He broke the bread and said, "This is my body, broken for you"? The parable may also be applied more generally, and . Ingratitude is the ugliest of all sins. But Christ does not explode at their obtuseness, or blaze at their blindness, or despair at their unteachableness. 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. Their reward was as much of grace as was that of the bitter "firsters"! It was the custom in Palestine for a Rabbi to teach as he walked along the road; and no doubt those around Jesus could not hear what Jesus was saying for this clamorous uproar. Considerable time, it is true, elapsed between the two facts; but this only makes it the more sure and plain, that they are grouped together with a divine purpose. You don't know what the challenge/date is until you scratch off a square similar to a scratch-off lottery ticket. 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? Matthew 20:1-16 - It's Not About Seniority! - Bible And then he repeats this again. 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? 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. Succa, fol. 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. And it really was a heavy bondage trip. It puts the Devil on a level with God; it means that the Devil could dictate his terms to God, before he would let men go. Would you prayerfully consider a gift of support today? They were not attached to any group; they were entirely at the mercy of chance employment; they were always living on the semi-starvation line. At the beginning of Matthew 10:1-42 He Himself sends forth themselves as labourers. vii. The Spirit of God has been pleased to cull and class facts otherwise unconnected; for here follow conversations that took place a long time after any of the events we have been occupied with. Now the parable: A landowner went out early in the morning (6 am) to hire laborers for his vineyard. Thus the end is as the beginning, and even far, far worse. Can I not do what I like with my own money? Descending then upon the plateau, He delivered what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. To drink the cup simply means to follow Christ wherever he may lead, and to be like him in any situation life may bring. The truth of this is apparent, if we compare the gospel of Mark. When did this take place, if we enquire into it merely as a matter of historical fact? When they had divided among them the command of the four legions to be formed, the consuls summoned to the capitol, or Campus Martius, all the citizens who, by their age, were obliged to bear arms. We are put to our choice; for hired we must be (Joshua 24:15); Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. Amen. 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. Their state had long been that of a man whom the unclean spirit had left, after a former dwelling in him. c. Early in the morning: This is literally at dawn, usually reckoned to be about 6:00 in the morning. Yet they were paid exactly the same. Accordingly, here we have, first, the Lord judging the wrong thoughts of "Scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem." (v) Here also is the generosity of God. 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. In Matthew 16:1-28 we advance a great step, spite (yea, because) of unbelief, deep and manifest, now on every side. Matthew 20:16 ESV - So the last will be first, and the - Bible Gateway for many be called; externally, under the ministration of the Gospel, as the Jews in general were, by Christ and his apostles; but. So when the evening was come, and the lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. Succa, fol. To my mind, the depth of such grace only enhances the beauty of Jesus, and is the very last possible ground that justifies man in thinking lightly of the Saviour. Each devotional consists of a scripture passage and a reflection and a prayer which open up the day's scripture and show how it challenges you to live for Jesus. 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. In the next incident the force of the plea turns on God's goodness towards the wretchedness of man. The payment shall not be wholly deferred till the morning of the resurrection; but then, in the evening of the world, will be the general account, when every one shall receive according to the things done in the body. He had no reason to envy his fellow servant, or to grudge at him; or to be angry that he came into the vineyard no sooner; for he was not sooner called; he had no reason to be angry that the master had given him wages for the whole day, when he had idled away the greatest part of it; for Is thine eye evil, because I am good? He said to her, "What do you wish?" LOVE'S ANSWER TO NEED'S APPEAL ( Matthew 20:29-34 ). It was necessary to complete the picture. Little faith leaves us as fearful for ourselves as dim witnesses of His glory whom the most unruly elements obey. First of these comes the treasure hidden in the field, for which the man sells all he had, securing the field for the sake of the treasure. The Lord, no doubt, knew the heart of His servant, and could feel for him in the effect that circumstances took upon him. When they get to Jerusalem, those culminating events of the life of Jesus are going to take place. . And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and you've made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden of the heat of the day. And thus as Isaiah predicts the scourging, the stripes, he declares, "by His stripes ye are healed"( Isaiah 53:5 ). On this the Lord proceeds to take a step farther, and makes a deeper inroad, if possible, upon Jewish prejudice. Even when they were bluntly told that there lay ahead a bitter cup, it never struck them to turn back; they were determined to drink it. Not only will it be fair, it will be generous beyond expectation. Nor was it only a difference in the forms the truth took; but the vital principle which Christ was diffusing could not be so maintained. 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. Well, then, to whom was the ransom paid?" The highest creature must go away into nothing, if he must go away with that only which is his own: but if we understand it of that which is ours by gift, the free gift of God, it teaches us to be content with such things as we have. They looked for the raging Lion of Judah; they received the gentle Lamb of God. 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.' After this our Lord sees great multitudes following Him, and gives commandment to go to the other side. 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. The system of law is easy to figure out: you get what you deserve. The market-place is a place of concourse, and there Wisdom cries (Proverbs 1:20; Proverbs 1:21); it is a place of sport, there the children are playing (Matthew 11:16; Matthew 11:16); and the gospel calls us from vanity to seriousness; it is a place of business, of noise and hurry; and from that we are called to retire. 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. Judas had been called, but would not be among the chosen either for the higher work or for its ultimate reward-Interpreting the parable as we have been led to interpret it, we cannot for a moment imagine that its drift was to teach the disciples that they would forfeit their place in the kingdom. 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? But it was for a land of darkness and sin and death that Jesus came from heaven the Messiah, not according to their thoughts, but the Lord and Saviour, the God-man. "And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us." 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 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. Any worker was welcome, even if he could give only an hour to the work. Oh, for grace so to bow and bless God, even when our little travail seems in vain! They had heard of the miracles that He had wrought, up in the area of Galilee, around Capernaum. Apart from the method of payment, the parable describes the kind of thing that frequently happened at certain times in Palestine.
Recent Obituaries Springfield, Mo,
The Division Heartland Playtest,
Articles M