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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. So our goal as disciples is to value things now as God does. 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. Our job as disciples is to keep searching and including the lost, the last, and the least in the Kingdom and not just those who can bring us some benefit. Free Challenge: Mr & Mrs Smith. Let them read their error in One who was evidently superior to the condition and the ruin of man in Israel. 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. A complete new set of values has been brought into life. 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. 45. Again he went out about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, [noon and three in the afternoon], he did likewise. In Christianity there must always be this invincible optimism in the moment when things are conspiring to drive a man to despair. The market-place was the equivalent of the labour exchange. 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. Wisdom Literature Yet is He the Son of man who hath power on earth to forgive sins; and He uses His authority. No matter when a man comes to Christ, he is equally dear to him. People do not merit salvation either by works or by attitudes of trust. A Roman coin was once found with the picture of an ox on it; the ox was facing two things an altar and a plough; and the inscription read: Ready for either. (Barclay), ii. The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, 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. 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. 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Start FREE. Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. To be like Christ he went to live in the slums, even though he himself was suffering from tuberculosis. 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. They did not see why they should be allowed to stake their claims to preeminence. In particular, to represent to us that concerning the kingdom of heaven, which he had said in the close of the foregoing chapter, that many that are first shall be last, and the last, first; with which this parable is connected; that truth, having in it a seeming contradiction, needed further explication. 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. The evil eye was an idiom used to refer to jealousy (cf. Because Matthew's object is the display of the change of dispensation through, or consequent on, the rejection of Jesus by the Jews. "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof" He had only to say in a word, and his servant should be healed. 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. 111. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister [or servant]; And whosoever will be the chief among you, let him be the bondslave ( Matthew 20:23-27 ): Jesus here is teaching the servanthood of the ministry and the path to greatness. He had brought out the kingdom before in view of that which betrayed to Him the unpardonable blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. Nothing was more a mystery in the gospel dispensation than the rejection of the Jews and the calling in of the Gentiles; so the apostle speaks of it (Ephesians 3:3-6); that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs: nor was any thing more provoking to the Jews than the intimation of it. I do not believe that God would just allow His Son to take all of that suffering, if there were not some value to be received from that suffering. Suffering from great humiliation and degradation. The idea was you were to confess the crimes that you had committed against Rome, and as you confessed your crimes, the man who was administering that scourging would go easier and easier on you. They said to His disciples, "Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?" Rome might at any time have recruited her armies by volunteers from such a mass of well-educated, hardy soldiers but she thought proper, to use the words of the Abbe Mably, that the honour of being chosen to serve in the wars should be the reward of the accomplishments shown by the citizens in the Campus Martius, that the soldier should have a reputation to save; and that the regard paid him, in choosing him to serve, should be the pledge of his fidelity and zeal to discharge his duty. There is no note of the time when he came, but simply the fact that he did come. Thus the end is as the beginning, and even far, far worse. Isaiah prophesied the fact that He would be scourged, but in prophesying the fact, Isaiah tells us the reason. A man came there first thing in the morning, carrying his tools, and waited until someone hired him. 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. He said unto them, Go also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that is what you shall receive. But Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you ask. They looked for a conqueror; they received one broken on a cross. yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee. . 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. . No sooner had Peter pronounced to Jesus the truth of His person, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," than Jesus holds the secret no longer. Now he started out at about six o'clock in the morning, and hired these men who were standing in the marketplace to go out and work in his vineyard. 3. International Standard Version "In the same way, the last will be first, and the first will be last, because many are called, but few are chosen." 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. The discontent arose not because of any injustice in the landowner, but because of jealousy in the all-day workers (Matthew 20:9-15). Who hires them? The people whose hearts are yielded to him will be recognized as his children no matter their rank or riches by worldly standards. The circumstances of this serve to adorn the parable; but the general scope is plain, that the last shall be first. It is the end of the account of Jesus itinerant ministry, and its setting as they went out of Jericho points forward to the next town on the road, Jerusalem. (France). Descending then upon the plateau, He delivered what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. But what, it may be asked, has this to do with the subject of our parable? They never did make front page or even back page. Set a timer for 20 minutes (no peeking) and start eating. In the chapter that follows we have a companion picture, carrying on, no doubt, the lord's presentation to Israel, but from a different point of view; for inMatthew 9:1-38; Matthew 9:1-38 it is not merely the people tried, but more especially the religious leaders, till all closes in blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. 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.. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him ( Matthew 20:29-34 ). So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. 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. 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. 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. He promised to pay all the later workers fairly. Thus the old link with the flesh, with Israel, is now disowned; and the new relationships of faith, founded on doing the will of His Father (it is not a question of the law in any sort), are alone acknowledged. The Rabbis had a saying, "Some enter the Kingdom in an hour; others hardly enter it in a lifetime." (SeeMatthew 9:32-33; Matthew 9:32-33.) Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness. Therefore what shall we have? It is always thus. I Will Build My Church (16:13-20) The . A new tribe presented other four soldiers, and the second legion chose first. He said to them, 'Go you also to the vineyard.' 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. In this laying aside of authority, he gives a silent rebuke to our self-seeking. (Spurgeon). No doubt it is a tie of nature for this life only. 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 . Now notice, the mother is the one doing the speaking, but the boys are right there behind her. We can never repay God for what he has done for us but we can always be grateful to him. Lastly, Here is the application of the parable (Matthew 20:16; Matthew 20:16), in that observation which occasioned it (Matthew 19:30; Matthew 19:30); So the first shall be last, and the last first. 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. And now as they depart from Jericho. They confess their faith, and He touches their eyes. Now the parable: A landowner went out early in the morning (6 am) to hire laborers for his vineyard. NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. He is not going to lower Himself to a human measure. He is first of all betrayed by Judas to the chief priests, because Judas made a bargain with the priests to turn Jesus over to them. a great multitude followed Him. A man who wanted to work came there first thing in the morning, carrying his tools, and waited until someone hired him. So in this case there was brought to Him a paralytic man, lying upon a bed, "and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." The point in the beginning of the next chapter (Matthew 20:1-34) is not reward, but the right and title of God Himself to act according to His goodness. Zion may say of the Lord who laboured in vain, whom the nation abhorred, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me." It does not seem exactly as a pictorial view of what the Lord was doing, or going to do, but rather the repeated pledge, that they were not to suppose that the evil He had judged in the elders of Jerusalem, or the grace freely going out to the Gentiles, in any way led Him.