The parable of the workers in the vineyard 20:1-16. 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 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. "Christ demands that the driving force in your life must be love. What feelings at such a time! The same indifference to the mere sequence of events is found occasionally in other parts of the gospel; but I have purposely dwelt upon this chapter 8, because here we have it throughout, and at the same time with evidence exceedingly simple and convincing. What special mercy and tenderness, not only in the end, but also in the way the Lord deals with Israel! He is there with the beggars. John the Baptist was sanctified from the womb, and therefore great (Luke 1:15); Timothy from a child (2 Timothy 3:15); Obadiah feared the Lord from his youth. The old people and work then closed in principle, and a new work of God in the kingdom of heaven was disclosed. Secondly, Till we are hired into the service of God, we are standing all the day idle; a sinful state, though a state of drudgery to Satan, may really be called a state of idleness; sinners are doing nothing, nothing to the purpose, nothing of the great work they were sent into the world about, nothing that will pass well in the account. . woe unto thee, Bethsaida! Nothing shall be withheld that was promised. Historical Books 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. Finally, he was to be crucified; there we see the ultimate suffering of death. 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 first appears the new and great fact, that Christ was going to build a new building, His assembly, on the truth and confession of Himself, the Son of God. I am going to be betrayed. Probably thisto teach us that men who have wrought in Christ's service all their days may, by the spirit which they manifest at the last, make it too evident that, as between God and their own souls, they never were chosen workmen at all. Where did they come from? 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. The scribes, at the beginning of the chapter, could not hide from the Lord their bitter rejection of His glory as man on earth entitled, as His humiliation and cross would prove, to forgive. Suffering from the disloyalty of friends. It is not enough that Israel be awakened from the sleep of death, and see aright. This he said in the hearing of the disciple who would act the traitor: did no compunction visit his base heart? (Spurgeon), ii. This gives an opportunity to teach what truly defiles not things that go into the man, but those things which, proceeding out of the mouth, come forth from the heart. The grace of God does not give us more blessing than we deserve it gives blessing to us completely apart from the principle of deserving. Suffering from great humiliation and degradation. Chapter 8, which opens the portion that comes before us tonight, is a striking illustration as well as proof of the method which God has been pleased to employ in giving us the apostle Matthew's account of our Lord Jesus. And someone said, "Jesus is going by." It is of immense significance to see that, even in a world in which the dark was coming down, the disciples would not abandon the conviction that the victory belonged to Jesus. But if you were silent and refused to confess your crimes, then each time he would lay the whip on heavier, and heavier, until you'd be forced to cry out your crime against the Roman government. His assessment is quite simply--how many people has he helped? And he went out about the third hour ( Matthew 20:3 ). The offence removed. For this challenge, you'll need dinner at home and two nerf guns. But at the end, when His disciples are in the extremity of trouble, in the midst of the sea, the Lord walks on the sea toward them, and bids them not fear; for they were troubled and afraid. A few I have chosen for higher stations in the church. They did not see why the two brothers should steal a march on them, even if they were the cousins of Jesus. Throughout it is the religious kind that are tested and found wanting. How many times during communion has God touched me physically, and ministered to me physically, as I received that work of Christ for my own physical need?So Jesus predicts His crucifixion finally, and then rising again. Would you prayerfully consider a gift of support today? Nicodemus may be born again when he is old, and the old man may be put off, which is corrupt. "And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth." "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. When he had come to an agreement with them that they would work for 4 pence a day, he sent them into his vineyard. What does it mean? He sits on the dust heap among the prison convicts. So the last shall be first, and the first last As he had asserted in ( Matthew 19:30 ) and which is clearly illustrated by this parable, as it may be applied to Jews or Gentiles, or to nominal and real Christians: for many be called; externally, under the ministration of the Gospel, as the Jews in general were, by Christ and his apostles; but, few chosen; in Christ from all eternity, both to grace and glory; and in consequence, and as an evidence of it, but few among the Jews; as also in the Gentile world, comparatively speaking: and even but a few of those that are outwardly called, are inwardly and effectually called by the powerful grace of God, out of darkness into marvellous light, into the grace and liberty of the Gospel, into communion with Christ, and to the obtaining his kingdom and glory, according to the eternal purpose of God. This was the very blessing that aroused, above all, the hatred of the scribes. This utter, growing rejection of Jesus was coming out now rejection, at first allowed and whispered in the heart, soon to be pronounced in words like drawn swords. The first of these lessons is, "Many first shall be last, and last first." In Mark 2:1-28 it says, "And again he entered into Capernaum." Just the idea of Him being crucified was so shocking, that their minds in trying to absorb that, lost everything else He said after that. The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, And everybody will always try to discourage you, but persist, for there is a whole new life. "As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a dumb man possessed with a devil. The Father and the Son have their appropriate part, even as we know from elsewhere the Spirit sent down from heaven in due time was to have His. The New Testament 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. 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. And then Paul warned the Corinthians about the manner in which they did partake of the Lord's supper. He may therefore give or withhold his blessings, as he pleases. 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. and what had the Son of David to do with a Canaanite? 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. Many people are in the ministry for what they can receive (either materially or emotionally) from their people instead of for what they can give. a. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? And it really was a heavy bondage trip. 2. Descending then upon the plateau, He delivered what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. Didst not thou agree to take up with heaven as thy portion, thy all, and to take up with nothing short of it? Major 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? . They measured Jesus by their own impotence. Pentateuch This made it to be plainly and only a difficulty for God to solve. The evil eye was a jealous, envious eye. In spite of all he had said, here were these men and their mother still chattering about posts in an earthly government and kingdom. I can't wait until you send Jesus with power and show things as they should be and reward people based on their character, their hearts, their gratitude for your grace, and their service. The last shall be first, and the first last. He here is predicting the fact that He is going to be scourged. Thirdly, The gospel call is given to those that stand idle in the market-place. See here. He was then present, a man despised, yet with title to forgive sins, proved by immediate power to heal. God's generosity will not succumb to human jealousy. The disciples most inadequately perceive His glory; but the Lord acts according to His own mind. 748.]. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, Why have you been standing here idle all day? They said to him, Because no one hired us. He said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.. But here pardon dispensed on earth arouses the pride of the religious leaders to the quick, and implacably. 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. [At the end of his parable about the Kingdom of Heaven being like workers hired at different times during the day, Jesus said,] "So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.". So the last shall be first - This is the moral or scope of the parable. 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. 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 question fairly arises, Why it is that the Holy Ghost has been pleased so remarkably to leave time out of the question in this chapter, as well as in the next? For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner, Whatever is right I will give you whatever is right you will receive, Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first, They supposed that they would receive more, equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. But what a mercy that those who appear now to be rejected may be called in another muster, enrolled, serve in the field, or work in the vineyard? Note, Evening time is the reckoning time; the particular account must be given up in the evening of our life; for after death cometh the judgment. Major Prophets So, when those who had been engaged about five o'clock in the afternoon, came, they received 4 pence each. 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. Not only shall the Judge of all the earth do right, but what will not He do who gives all good? They looked for a conqueror; they received one broken on a cross. "And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us." Your promises are thrilling. The indignation of the ten doubtless sprang less from humility than jealousy plus fear that they might lose out. (Carson). And I believe that we can believe and trust Jesus Christ for physical healing, as well as spiritual healing. The servants are clearly divided into two classes. The Challenge Of Following Jesus (8:18-22) The Call Of Matthew (9:9-13) Moved By Compassion (9:35-38) . Succa, fol. 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. . Now what did Jesus mean when He broke the bread and said, "This is my body, broken for you"? 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. About the third hour, [nine o'clock in the morning], he saw others standing idle in the market place, and he said unto them; Go into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. 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.". 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last.". Pauline Epistles he said. If He offers to go to his house, it was to bring out the faith that He had created in the heart of the centurion. They had their mistaken ambitions; they had their blindness; they had their wrong ideas; but he never dreamed of writing them off as bad debts. He could and did form His instruments according to His own sovereign will. There were many who died right there as the result of the scourging itself. And still is he betrayed! Did you not come to an agreement with me to work for 4 pence ? Had all the sinners that ever lived in the world been consigned to hell, they could not have discharged the claims of justice. For him the cup was the constant discipline and struggle of the Christian life throughout the years. 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. You don't know what the challenge/date is until you scratch off a square similar to a scratch-off lottery ticket. a. Disciples in Jesus day would not necessarily receive more reward than disciples whom God calls to serve Him just before the day of laboring ends, before His second coming. Peter asked: "What do we get out of it?" The true disciple rests easy in the assurance that because his pay is from a Master of grace, it will be gracious. If God gives that grace to others, which he denies to us, it is kindness to them, but no injustice to us; and bounty to another, while it is no injustice to us, we ought not to find fault with. of 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. It is a question, then, of internal evidence, what that particular order is which God has employed in each different gospel. Kagawa was left standing in a ragged old kimono. So Gregory of Nyssa has a strange idea. And He prophesied so accurately the things.First of all, He is going to be betrayed. Had there been a single thing good in Israel, their choicest guides would have stood that test. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Which means that each lash that was laid upon Him, was laid with greater ferocity, as they were seeking to elicit from Him some confession of wrong, but He had done no wrong. Prophets The Gentile church, which was as yet unborn, the Gentile world, which as yet stood idle in the market-place, would produce greater numbers of eminent, useful Christians, than were found among the Jews. Whatever the time may have been, whatever the incidents added by others, the account is given here for the purpose of showing, that as Israel's case was desperate, even unto death, so He, the Messiah, was the giver of life, when all, humanly speaking, was over. He was to be condemned to death; there we see the suffering of injustice, which is very hard to bear. "The cross," he said, "was a mousetrap (muscipula) to catch the devil, baited with the blood of Christ.". GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. Friend, I am doing you no wrong. 3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point It is the man who will not be kept from Christ who in the end finds him. Isaiah prophesied the fact that He would be scourged, but in prophesying the fact, Isaiah tells us the reason. One of these people might have been the rich young man if he had become a disciple (Matthew 20:16-22). i. That they had reason to fear, lest they themselves should be found hypocrites at last; for many are called but few chosen. If to conquer with Christ meant to suffer with Christ, they were perfectly willing to face that suffering. 97. 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. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. But these men slept in Gethsemane, forsook the Master when He was arrested, and one of them at least failed Him at the crosswe can only follow Christ in his cup and baptism, after we have been endued with the Spirit of Pentecost. (Meyer). A ransom is something paid or given to liberate a man from a situation from which it is impossible for him to free himself. Secondly, the prophecy of Psalms declared, "not a bone of Him shall be broken"( Psalms 34:20 ). 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. They next proceeded to the creation of subaltern officers, whom the tribunes chose from among the soldiers of the greatest reputation. 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. Notice is taken of the several hours of the day, at which the labourers were hired. The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, but it should be different among the people of God. 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? The call to serve God is the gift of His grace. Jesus blessedly answered their thoughts, had there only been a conscience to hear the word of power and grace, which brings out His glory the more. Secondly, The particular pleading with those that were offended with this distribution in gavel-kind. Time would fail now to dwell on this chapter, interesting as it is. First, Some are effectually called, and begin to work in the vineyard when they are very young; are sent in early in the morning, whose tender years are seasoned with grace, and the remembrance of their Creator. You shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. 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 ). ". They wanted Jesus with a royal command to ensure for them a princely life. By His stripes ye are healed, spiritually, yes, but I do not think that it can be limited to spiritual only, the whole context, and especially Matthew eight would extend it also to physical healing. ii. Now this is their final trip to Jerusalem. (3.) I have endowed them with apostolic gifts or with superior talents, and suited them for wider usefulness. We are dependent, therefore, for determining this case, on the fact that Mark does habitually adhere to the chain of events. At that time Jesus answered, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes. (Matthew 20:3-7) Through the day, the landowner continues to hire workers. When do you suppose these conversations actually occurred, if we go to the question of their date? If we turn toMark 1:1-45; Mark 1:1-45, the proof of what I have said will appear as to the leper. The people whose hearts are yielded to him will be recognized as his children no matter their rank or riches by worldly standards. If it be so, it is surely a ground of thankfulness to God; for it turns a stumbling-block into an evidence of the perfection of Scripture. Now what is Jesus seeking to teach by this parable of sending forth the laborers into the vineyard? 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. Had she not such confusion of thought that, if the Lord had heeded her words, it must have been destruction to her? As for the Gentile, the Lord's proffer to go and heal his servant brought out the singular strength of his faith. To all justice shall be done. To all to whom the rewards of heaven are promised they shall be given. 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. THE LORDSHIP OF THE CROSS ( Matthew 20:20-28 continued). Here again is found a fresh case of the same remarkable principle of selection of events to form a complete picture, which I have maintained to be the true key of all. He gives sight to the blind. "The parable is emphasizing a right attitude in service." Reject Him as the Messiah; in that rejection the moral glory of the Son of man would be laid as the foundation of His exaltation and manifestation another day; He was Lord of the Sabbath-day. All other things, although important, are secondary. c. Early in the morning: This is literally at dawn, usually reckoned to be about 6:00 in the morning. The ox had to be ready either for the supreme moment of sacrifice on the altar or the long labour of the plough on the farm. At several stages through the day he hired additional workers, then at the end of the day paid them their wages (Matthew 20:3-8). 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. 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. No doubt the tempest was great; but what harm could it do to Jesus? Thereon the Lord also has His word to say, first reminding Peter of his new name suitably to what follows. On the other hand, by far the greater weight of tradition goes to show that John lived to a great old age in Ephesus and died a natural death when he must have been close on a hundred years old. The New Testament 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? 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. Out in the world, said Jesus, it is quite true that the great man is the man who controls others; the man to whose word of command others must leap; the man who with a wave of his hand can have his slightest need supplied. 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 ). In this laying aside of authority, he gives a silent rebuke to our self-seeking. (Spurgeon). i. "The Spirit lifted me [Ezekiel] up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God. And then he repeats this again. Thus it was not merely that there was an evil heart of unbelief in the Jew particularly, but law and grace cannot be yoked together. This is a wonderful, simple question God has not stopped asking. 2. He was there for the express purpose of glorifying God. The woman of Canaan, out of the borders of Tyre and Sidon, appeals to Him; a Gentile of most ominous name and belongings a Gentile whose case was desperate; for she appeals on behalf of her daughter, grievously vexed with a devil. 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. And as they stood there with those clouds over their eyes, Jesus said, "What do you want?" Judgment will have early cut them off. i. 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. In view of the context, the 12 disciples correspond to the workers hired at the beginning of the day, the beginning of Jesus public ministry. But our Lord with dignity demands of Peter, "What thinkest thou, Simon?" It sheds light in three directions. Friend, I am doing you no wrong. To you, be all praise and honor and power and glory, both now and forever.