People simply do not and cannot MERIT salvation. Most scholars have also recognized in the many a clear reference to Isaiah. (Carson) By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities (Isaiah 53:11) He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many (Isaiah 53:12). We have here. Nothing shall be withheld that was promised. This furnishes occasion to the Pharisees to vent their unbelief: to them nothing is so offensive as grace, either in doctrine or in practice. After Paul had preached on Mars Hill, there were those who said, "We will hear you again about this" ( Acts 17:32). (1.) (v) These two blind men were grateful. It is easy to condemn the disciples, but the faith and the loyalty which lay behind the ambition must never be forgotten. We have the natural tie here brought into prominence; and this was a claim that Christ slighted not. Nothing can be simpler. Many be called, but few chosen - The meaning of this, in this connection, I take to be simply this: Many are called into my kingdom; they come and labor as I command them; many of them are comparatively unknown and obscure; yet they are real Christians, and shall all receive the proper reward. He never failed to tell men that, even if life ends in crown-wearing, it continues in cross-bearing. Is it not most sweet to see, that He who proves His divine glory at once associates us with Himself? ", 'The Lord Is My Savior, Shield, Refuge, and Stronghold'. 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. Reader, whosoever thou art, act in behalf of thy soul as these blind men did in behalf of their sight, and thy salvation is sure. Then comes the boast of Peter, though for others as well as himself. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. The violent man, Herod, guilty of innocent blood, then reigned in the land, in contrast with whom goes Jesus into the wilderness, showing who and what He was the Shepherd of Israel, ready and able to care for the people. 5. If there be a privilege more manifest than another which has dawned on us, it is what we have found by and in Jesus, that now we can say nothing is too great for us, nothing too little for God. Notice is taken of the several hours of the day, at which the labourers were hired. Not only were they healed, but they also followed the One who did great things for them. That's one of the two. He, on the contrary, insists not only that He was bound for the cross, but that its truth must be made good in any who will come after Him. To the end the events are put together, just as in Matthew 8:1-34, without regard to the point of time when they occurred. And now as they depart from Jericho. There is no greater mistake than to suppose, because there is the richest development of God's grace in new things, that He abandons or weakens natural relationships and authority in their place. New International Version (NIV). How many millions does the long-suffering of God lead to repentance! The parable itself displays a reversal of expectations "the last will be first and the first will be last"; this is not only the summary of the parable (20:16), but a critical aspect of New Testament theology. Then the mother of Zebedees sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. What care we for those who curse and blaspheme? As for the Gentile, the Lord's proffer to go and heal his servant brought out the singular strength of his faith. This finds its fitting place, not in Luke, but in Matthew, particularly as the details here (not in Mark, who only gives the general fact) cast great light upon God's dispensational ways. (Matthew 20:22-23) Jesus answers James and John: when you ask for a place of special status, do you know what you ask for? You must not claim a special honour and a special place because you were Christians before they were. As we have seen, the pay was 4 pence a day; and, if they were unemployed for one day, the children would go hungry at home, for no man ever saved much out of 4 pence a day. 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. The Lord hints at what the man's real desires were not Christ, not heaven, not eternity, but present things. Jesus of course was talking about His crucifixion and His death. The disciples should expect to be rewarded; but they should not be surprised if, when rewards are distributed, God will reward others in unexpected ways. To me it is evident, from a careful comparison of them all, as I think it is capable of clear and adequate proof to an unprejudiced Christian mind, that neither Matthew nor Luke confines himself to such an order of events. i. 4. The New Testament O Lord God, your grace to me is marvelous. Nevertheless, His ear was open to the call on behalf of Israel perishing, dying, dead. No matter what the great purpose might be, He was there for faith. Fasting, indeed, would follow when the Bridegroom was taken from them. He has His rejection before His eyes, as well as the presumptuous unbelief of this sordid, and self-confident, would-be follower. Minor Prophets People do not merit salvation either by works or by attitudes of trust. It was cruel, cutting, cursed scorn. (Spurgeon), v. And to crucify: Crucifixion was not the only way criminals were executed under the Romans, yet Jesus knew that this was how He would be put to death. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." In Matthew 16:1-28 we advance a great step, spite (yea, because) of unbelief, deep and manifest, now on every side. Though there be degrees of glory in heaven, yet it will be to all a complete happiness. It was with this declaration that the parable began and ended. You've never known them. Judgment will have early cut them off. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. He may therefore give or withhold his blessings, as he pleases. At its close we see the leper approaching the Lord, after He had been preaching throughout Galilee and casting out devils. 14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. And they went their way. 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 crown set before us is a crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge shall give. Note, All that by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality, shall undoubtedly obtain eternal life (Romans 2:7), not as wages for the value of their work, but as the gift of God. But the single eye of Jesus at once detects the snare of Satan into which natural thought led, or at least exposed, Peter to fall. 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. James was the first of the apostolic band to die a martyr ( Acts 12:2). But the Lord could not send her away without a blessing, and without a blessing reaching to His own glory. 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. When the account was taken; when the evening was come, then, as usual, the day-labourers were called and paid. When they heard that Jesus was passing by: They knew this might be their last time to meet Jesus. Jesus, nevertheless, owned all that could be owned in him. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. The evil eye was a jealous, envious eye. They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' (3.) Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink: Their answer (We are able) seems to come a little too quick. ". 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. This, then, I apprehend to be the reason why we End two demoniacs mentioned; whereas, in Mark or Luke for other purposes, the Spirit of God only draws attention to one of the two. 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. In Matthew 13:1-58 we have the well-known sketch of these new ways of God. He never doubted that James and John would maintain their loyalty. But that they might not be carried away by ambition or vain confidence in themselves, it was necessary also to remind them that others, who would long afterwards be called, would be partakers of the same glory, because God is not limited to any person, but calls freely whomsoever He pleases, and bestows on those who are called whatever rewards He thinks fit. And He prophesied so accurately the things.First of all, He is going to be betrayed. [2.] He had no reason to quarrel with the master; for what he gave was absolutely his own, Matthew 20:15; Matthew 20:15. And there were also with Him other little ships. 13. But every Scripture that treats of that time proves what dread, what anxiety, what dark clouds will be ever and anon. (Ken Chumbley, The Gospel of Matthew, commentary, p.#351). 2 And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 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.. This parable of the labourers in the vineyard is intended. 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. The men who were hired at the eleventh hour who worked only about one hour were obviously elated about being paid first, and being paid for a full day. 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. It is probable that James and John were closely related to Jesus. And every Jewish mother wants the best for her son. . c. Betrayed they will condemn Him to death deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. 20:1-16 The direct object of this parable seems to be, to show that though the Jews were first called into the vineyard, at length the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, and they should be admitted to equal privileges and advantages with the Jews. 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. (iv) Here, also, is the infinite compassion of God. Paul was as one born out of due time, yet came not behind the chiefest of the apostles, and outdid those that were in Christ before him. They confess their faith, and He touches their eyes. The devil was tricked by God. [5.] This attitude threatened to be carried forward into the Christian Church. And the third day He will rise again.. 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. In gentleness, in sympathy, and in love, with never an impatient word, he seeks to lead them to the truth. & Sanhedrim, fol. Had there been a single thing good in Israel, their choicest guides would have stood that test. It is true, we have only one in Mark, as in Luke; whereas in our gospel we have two. But Jesus called them unto him, and he said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. Matthew 20. He often fell down exhausted, and the rough men of the slums carried him gently back to his hut. Far from lowering the position of His servant, He declares there was none greater among mortal men. The first is, as it has been said, "All service ranks the same with God." Rudolf Bultmann writes: "In the Cross of Christ Jewish standards of judgment and human notions of the splendour of the Messiah are shattered." Historical Books Yet He confidently said it would happen. 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. It was His meat to do the will of God. "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse." 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. 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. He evinces, that at the very time when Peter forgot the vision and the Father's voice, virtually reducing Him to mere man, He was God manifest in the flesh. It was necessary to complete the picture. 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. Herein is where the prophecy of Isaiah really stands out: "As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth"( Isaiah 53:7 ). Nonetheless God had the right to give just as great reward to those whose service was not as long. Note, God will be sure not to be behind-hand with any for the service they do him: never any lost by working for God. Secondly, Obedient believers agree with God for their penny in the other world, and they must remember that they have so agreed. This was an entirely normal arrangement. The true disciple is motivated by love not lust. It is not for us surely to think this impossible. With God, as nothing is impossible, so no one, small or great, is despised: all is seen and put in its just place; and grace, which rebukes creature pride, can afford to deal divinely with the smallest as with the greatest. 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. last will be on the same footing as the first, and the first as the last, those who esteem themselves last shall be first, and those who esteem themselves first shall be last, . Only tradition will not do this work, nor will human thoughts or feelings. It probably was no more than a grave though passing difficulty, which he desired to have cleared up with all fulness for their sakes, as well as his own. 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. What He was introducing could not mix with Judaism. 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. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary. The parable teaches one truth, and but one; and where Jesus has explained it, we have no right to add to it, and say that it teaches anything else. Thus it is shown that, though we have rich grace to the Gentile, there is the remembrance of natural relationship still. And He said to her, What do you wish? She said to Him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.. I feel sure that no Christian harbours a doubt about it. The prisoner would be tied to a post in such a way, as your back would be stretched. 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). No doubt it is a tie of nature for this life only. The New Testament Start for FREE. "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. He had been there before. Thus, the present dealings of God in grace, the actual shape taken by the kingdom of heaven, the calling of the Gentiles, the formation of the Church, are all passed completely over. This is a wonderful, simple question God has not stopped asking. c. And they immediately followed Him: This was a great result. 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. You both must wear five pieces of clothing. Outwardly it was a condition of comparative cleanness. The axiom of this verse and of chapter nineteen, verse 30, sets the tone for Jesus entire ministry and the church. Copyright 1996 - 2023 All rights reserved. When they received it, they grumblingly complained against the master. Jesus came to give his life a ransom for many. (2.) First, it sheds a light on the disciples. When Paul, that faithful labourer, departs, he is with Christ presently. The Old Testament Such is the perversity of man, that he who is not called thinks he can follow Jesus whithersoever He goes. Jesus will use this story to answer a question from Matthew 19:27: See, we have left all and followed You. Jesus instructs His little band that discipleship is never designed as a quid pro quo formula of compensation. In that market-place men stood waiting because no one had hired them; in his compassion the master gave them work to do. "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased." Follow Christ's journey to the Cross. b. 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? They had heard of the miracles that He had wrought, up in the area of Galilee, around Capernaum. See Deuteronomy 24:15. It is a very significant story, for it paints a picture of the spirit and of the attitude of mind and heart to which the most precious gifts of God are open. This signifies the jealousy which the Jews were provoked to by the admission of the Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. ), 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.
Which Botez Sister Is Better At Chess,
Mole Valley Council Planning,
Gatlinburg Police Patch,
How Many Times Can You Get Married In Missouri,
Articles M
