Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David! 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? Reviewing, then, these closing incidents of the chapter (ver. For many are called, but few chosen." a. 9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 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. To take on the position of the minister is to take on the position of the servant to the flock of God. But he answered, and said unto them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: did you not agree to work for a penny? 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. We are put to our choice; for hired we must be (Joshua 24:15); Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. Those who recognize the grace they have received by being included in God's Kingdom . But it would be unusual for a wealthy "landowner" to locate his own . Minor Prophets It was clearly a question of connection with the apostle of the circumcision ( i.e., Peter's wife's mother). He was ignorant of himself, because ignorant of God, and imagined that it was only a question of man's doing good for God. When he had come to an agreement with them that they would work for 4 pence a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 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? But, from first to last, what a trial of spirit, and what triumph! 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. The Christian works for the joy of serving God and his fellow-men. There was the consciousness of good unattained, a void for which he appeals to Jesus that it might be filled up. 1. 21 "What is your request?" he asked. Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. Those who recognize the grace they have received by being included in God's Kingdom will be given places of honor. There is no question of to whom the ransom was paid. So our goal as disciples is to value things now as God does. He promises, First, A penny,Matthew 20:2; Matthew 20:2. Both Mark and Luke add their own touches to the story, to show that on this occasion there was in the atmosphere of the apostolic band a certain tenseness and a certain foreboding of tragedy to come. For many are called, but few chosen.. If this be a sound judgment, the comparison of the first chapter of Mark affords decisive evidence that the Holy Ghost in Matthew has taken the leper out of the mere time and circumstances of actual occurrence, and has reserved his case for a wholly different service. Wisdom Literature 4. It is not an accident that Jesus was scourged. Jesus, nevertheless, owned all that could be owned in him. The tribunes of the second and third likewise made their choice one after another; and he that remained entered into the fourth legion. It was made after a series of announcements by Jesus that ahead of him lay an inescapable Cross; it was made at a moment when the air was heavy with the atmosphere of tragedy and the sense of foreboding. They complained against the landowner: After being paid, the men hired first took up their complaint with the landowner. And yet He takes time still to minister to the needs of others. 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. 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. LOVE'S ANSWER TO NEED'S APPEAL ( Matthew 20:29-34 ). i. The prisoner would be tied to a post in such a way, as your back would be stretched. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Others think it refers to how the gospel first dawned with John the Baptist, then the preaching of Jesus, then the preaching at Pentecost, then to the Jews, and finally to the Gentiles. His word should silence all our murmurings, that, whatever God does to us, or withholds from us, he does us no wrong. Will be betrayed: Conceivably, Jesus could have been delivered to the religious authorities without this. Then they remembered, oh, yeah, He said He was going to rise on the third day. This he said in the hearing of the disciple who would act the traitor: did no compunction visit his base heart? (Spurgeon), ii. There are people who think that, because they have been members of a Church for a long time, the Church practically belongs to them and they can dictate its policy. 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! These workers hired at the very beginning of the working day agreed to work for a denarius a day, the common daily wage for a workingman. And so they were actually thinking evil, because of His good. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. A man came there first thing in the morning, carrying his tools, and waited until someone hired him. This should quicken us to expedition and diligence in our work, that we have but a little time to work in, and the night is hastening on, when no man can work; and if our great work be undone when our day is done, we are undone for ever. So little old Jewish mama coming to Jesus with her two sons. 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. If, amid the multitude of Christians, I choose to signalize such men as Paul, and Martyn, and Brainerd, and Spencer, and Summerfield - to appoint some of them to short labor but to wide usefulness, and raise them to signal rewards, I injure not the great multitude of others who live long lives less useful and less rewarded. Origen has no doubt that the ransom was paid to the devil. Prophets c. Lord, Son of David: However, in their desperation they glorified Jesus. He "went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." At the great day, though the dead in Christ shall rise first, yet they which are alive and remain, on whom the ends of the world (the eleventh hour of its day) comes, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds; no preference shall be given to seniority, but every man shall stand in his own lot at the end of the days. Thirdly, Others are hired into the vineyard in old age, at the eleventh hour, when the day of life is far spent, and there is but one hour of the twelve remaining. 13. Deuteronomy 15:9; 1 Samuel 18:9). (Carson), ii. The evil eye was a jealous, envious eye. They are the circumstances that preceded the discourse upon the mount, as given in Matthew 5:1-48; Matthew 6:1-34; Matthew 7:1-29. 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. Peters question about what the Twelve would receive (Matthew 20:27) had implied that they should receive a greater reward since their sacrifice had been greater. 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. 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. There are a great many things which have to be done at the moment or they will never be done. THE FALSE AND THE TRUE AMBITION ( Matthew 20:20-28 ), 20:20-28 At that time the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons, kneeling before him, and asking something from him. 'God is love. 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. To convince the murmurer that he did no wrong, he refers him to the bargain: "Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? It is simply designed to teach that in the church, among the multitudes who will be saved, Christ makes a difference. An evil eye was a phrase in use, among the ancient Jews, to denote an envious, covetous man or disposition; a man who repined at his neighbours prosperity, loved his own money, and would do nothing in the way of charity for Gods sake. (Clarke). The point of the parable was that God will graciously do more for some of those who work for Him than His justice demands. c. But to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give: Jesus here showed remarkable submission to His Father. To where they exercised such dominion and authority and lordship over people, that they inserted themselves between the people and God. (2.) b. Here is royalty and kingship restated and remade. Therefore when He said, "this is my body broken for you", He could not refer to some bones being broken, but His body was broken open by this scourging that He received. 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. The limit was reached by Peter the Lombard. . Yet Jesus was confident that He would be delivered to the Gentiles. It is the paradox of the Christian life that he who aims at reward loses it, and he who forgets reward finds it. Sinners are said to labour in the very fire (Habakkuk 2:13), whereas God's servants, at the worst, do but labour in the sun; not in the heat of the iron furnace, but only in the heat of the day. He maintains His sovereign title to do good, to do as He will with His own. He will never be less than fair, but reserves the right to be more than fair as pleases Him. If he will do it, it is not for us to gainsay; for he is in one mind, and who can turn him? How little they had learnt the divine lesson of grace, not ordinances! Judas one of the twelve, who is listening to Him, will be the one who betrays Him. It begins with a well-known scene but then introduces surprising elements to make a powerful point. They may not be as long in the vineyard as others; their race may be sooner run; but I have chosen to honor them in this manner, and I have a right to do it. 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. 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. This attitude threatened to be carried forward into the Christian Church. 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. Gods grace always operates righteously. [1.] Work for God will not admit of trifling. 33), it is added, "And with many such parables spake He the word unto them .
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