And I do believe that in communion there should always be healing services, where people as they take the broken bread and remember the suffering of Jesus Christ, by faith receive the result of that suffering; the purpose for which God allowed Him to be suffered, and receive healing and strength in your body. 2. 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. Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. BEST VALUE in digital Bible study. 1. He believed that they could and would drink the cup, and that in the end they would still be found at his side. He was really God in man; and all these wonderful features are here presented and compressed in this most simple, but at the same time significant, action of the Saviour the fitting frontispiece to Matthew's manifestation of the Messiah to Israel. Secondly, Whatsoever is right,Matthew 20:4-7; Matthew 20:4-7. 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. 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. 2. If he were willing to follow the Lord, it was for what he could get. ESV Text Edition: 2016. Matthew 20:16-20 New International Version 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time 17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. A mere Jew would have been defiled. Succa, fol. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. The man's walk before them testifies to the reality of his forgiveness before God. It is a question, then, of internal evidence, what that particular order is which God has employed in each different gospel. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. So He meekly retires, healing, yet forbidding it to be blazed abroad. My last word to Gods children is this: what does it matter, after all, whether we are first or whether we are last? There is here the first decisive step to the last act of the inescapable tragedy. General Epistles A few I have chosen for higher stations in the church. God's generosity will not succumb to human jealousy. 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. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to Him, We are able. So He said to them, You will indeed drink 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 is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.. The Old Testament For many are called, but few chosen.". Yet it shall not be so among you: Their desire for position and status showed they did not yet know the nature of Jesus in respect to leadership and power. Israel must give full testimony in the bright day of His coming. 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 landowner reminded them that he had paid them the amount they had agreed to, and if he paid others the same amount, that was his concern. The other workers hired through the day were not promised a specific wage, only whatever is right. He is talking about, no doubt, the scourging that He was going to receive, because it could not be that any of His bones should be broken. Note, It is good for us often to consider what it was that we agreed with God for. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Pauline Epistles 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.(A), 17Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. He who gave the law maintained its authority, and used it as an occasion for testifying His own power and presence. They gave Him full honor with this title. To eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man. Secondly, The particular pleading with those that were offended with this distribution in gavel-kind. There is one very revealing little difference between Matthew's and Mark's account of this incident. Secondly, the prophecy of Psalms declared, "not a bone of Him shall be broken"( Psalms 34:20 ). When they had received the boon for which they craved, they did not go away and forget; they followed Jesus. 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. Matthew 20:16 English Standard Version 16 So the last will be first, and the first last." Read full chapter Matthew 20:16 in all English translations Matthew 19 Matthew 21 English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Seeking the Gospel in Malachi, the Last Book of the Old Testament. Jesus summed up his whole life in one poignant sentence: "The Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many." Changes, to us inexplicable, occur: many first last, and last first. Matthew 20. This parable explains why the last will become first. Does this scribe offer to follow Jesus? "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." Here is the first mention of the mode of Jesus death and of the Gentiles part in it (only the Romans could crucify people). (Carson). They never did make front page or even back page. For many are called, but few chosen." a. To lose all for heavenly treasure, to come and follow the despised Nazarene here below what was it to compare with that which had brought Jesus to earth? Possibly the first felt their vanity wounded by being paid after the others. 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. Many are called, c.] This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. 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. It shows us his kindness. And they said unto him, Because no man has hired us. Then comes the boast of Peter, though for others as well as himself. His reply came in stages. It is as if Jesus said to them, "You have received the great privilege of coming into the Christian Church and fellowship very early, right at the beginning. (v) These two blind men were grateful. [4.] b. Friend, I am doing you no wrong. (Matthew 20:11-15) The complaint of the early workers. In Matthew we have no distinction of their call from their mission. The moment to act goes past; the impulse to decide fades. ), 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. He goes to raise the dead, and the woman with the issue of blood touches Him by the way. In gentleness, in sympathy, and in love, with never an impatient word, he seeks to lead them to the truth. The evil eye was an idiom used to refer to jealousy (cf. It was with this declaration that the parable began and ended. 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. c. Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant: In the Kingdom community, status, money, popularity should never be the prerequisites for leadership. 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 which was the first in order chose the four citizens who were judged the most proper to serve in the war; and the six tribunes who commanded the first legion chose one of these four, whom they liked best. That scourging was for you. 2. He will never be less than fair, but reserves the right to be more than fair as pleases Him. As their conduct showed, all they were concerned with was to get as much as possible out of their work. The idea is that His people were in bondage as slaves, and He paid their price. He received nothing from others; his was a life of giving, and the giving of a lifeNo service is greater than to redeem sinners by his own death, no ministry is lowlier than to die in the stead of sinners. (Spurgeon), ii. John 3:16, Jesus faith love), The Whole Bible The crowd commanded them to stop their shouting; they were making a nuisance of themselves. 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. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." They next proceeded to the creation of subaltern officers, whom the tribunes chose from among the soldiers of the greatest reputation. So the last shall be first, and the first last The GENTILES, who have been long without the true God, shall now enjoy all the privileges of the new covenant; and the Jews, who have enjoyed these from the beginning, shall now be dispossessed of them; for, because they here rejected the Lord, he also hath rejected them. 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. Thus, in the scene of the leper, we have Jesus presented as "Jehovah that healeth Israel," as man here below, and in Jewish relationships, still maintaining the law. ", 'The Lord Is My Savior, Shield, Refuge, and Stronghold'. 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. The Whole Bible When it gets to where I have to sneak in the back door at the last minute, and sneak out before things are over, then I need to find something else to do, when you can no longer take time to minister to individuals.Now these men of course do give to us a very beautiful picture of people who are blind in sin, and there is the spiritualizing of the text, crying out for Jesus. Time would fail now to dwell on this chapter, interesting as it is. IfPsalms 8:1-9; Psalms 8:1-9 goes farther, surely that was for the Son of man, who for the suffering of death was exalted. The fact is, in judging others we judge ourselves. Warning them against that casual, careless attitudes in which many of them were receiving it. Notice that these people didn't go in on their own accord, the Lord sent them into the vineyard. 2. It is all of grace and not of debt; nor does that exclude obedience. This made it to be plainly and only a difficulty for God to solve. i. 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. 16.So the first shall be last. Jesus was moved with compassion to the depths of his being, and touched their eyes; and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. The faithful and true witness, it was His to display that power in goodness which shall be put forth fully in the world to come, the great day when the Lord will manifest Himself to every eye as Son of David, and Son of man too. Would any man make of the Messiah a mere man and a mere subject of the law given by Moses? Here we find our Lord, after sending out the chosen witnesses of the truth (so momentous to Israel, above all) of His own Messiahship, realizing His utter rejection, yet rejoicing withal in God the Father's counsels of glory and grace, while the real secret in the chapter, as in fact, was His being not Messiah only, nor Son of man, but the Son of the Father, whose person none knows but Himself. b. And then Paul warned the Corinthians about the manner in which they did partake of the Lord's supper. That they had reason to fear, lest they themselves should be found hypocrites at last; for many are called but few chosen. The landowner did exactly as promised, but their supposition of more pay than promised was disappointed. If he will do it, it is not for us to gainsay; for he is in one mind, and who can turn him? General Epistles Barclay, William "The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2" (The New Daily Study Bible, Matthew 11-28) (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975), Bruce, Alexander Balmain "The Synoptic Gospels: The Expositor's Greek Testament" Volume 1, Section 1 (Matthew-Luke) (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1897), Carson, D.A. And He prophesied so accurately the things.First of all, He is going to be betrayed. 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. 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. Taken together, the entire picture is one of great suffering. They said to His disciples, "Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?" And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard . When Paul, that faithful labourer, departs, he is with Christ presently. We begin with the comparatively limited significance it originally had. [Note: Norman A. Huffman, "Atypical Features in the Parables of Jesus," Journal of Biblical Literature 97 (1978):209. Luke, too, tells how Jesus took the disciples to himself alone that he might try to compel them to understand what lay ahead ( Luke 18:31-34). Well, he did not come to get your service; he came to give you his services; not that you might first do him honor, but that he might show you mercy. (Spurgeon). The design is, I think, manifest: the Spirit of God is here giving a vivid picture of the manifestation of the Messiah, of His divine glory, of His grace and power, with the effect of this manifestation. First of all, because the sacrifice that was offered to God could not have any blemish, any broken bones. Who hires them? He takes accordingly the title of the "Son of man" for the first time in this gospel. Successful service to God is the gift of His grace. ". There is simply the great, tremendous truth that without Jesus Christ and his life of service and his death of love, we could never have found our way back to the love of God. But Jesus answered and said, You don't know what you are asking. He who had just confessed the glory of the Lord would not hear His Master speaking thus of His going to the cross (by which alone the Church, or even the kingdom, could be established), and sought to swerve Him from it. 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. When the world and the devil begin to rebuke, in this case, it is a proof that the salvation of God is nigh; therefore, let such cry out a great deal the more. (Clarke). And then they would take a leather whip, with little bits of lead and glass, embedded in it. A double action follows. After this (what makes it still more unquestionable) comes the case of the demoniac. 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.
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