Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year. The offence taken (Matthew 20:11; Matthew 20:12); They murmured at the good man of the house; not that there is, or can be, any discontent or murmuring in heaven, for that is both guilt and grief, and in heaven there is neither; but there may be, and often are, discontent and murmuring concerning heaven and heavenly things, while they are in prospect and promise in this world. It is often more agonizing to contemplate the painful future than it is to actually live it. The indignation of the ten doubtless sprang less from humility than jealousy plus fear that they might lose out. (Carson). The first is the defence of the disciples, grounded on analogies taken from that which had the sanction of God of old, as well as on His own glory now. Yet He confidently announced to His disciples that this would happen. Gregory of Nyssa saw the glaring fault in that theory. Laborers in the Vineyard. Wisdom Literature In immediate juxtaposition to this stands the Gentile centurion, who seeks healing for his servant. In what sense did Jesus, our Lord, take their infirmities, and bear their sicknesses? Grant that these two sons of mine may sit: Asking on behalf of her sons (note to whom Jesus replies in Matthew 20:22-23), she wanted prominent positions for them in the messianic administration of Jesus. Imagine a slave being given leadership! (Carson). Secondly, In all the dispensations of his grace, God gives or withholds the means of grace, and the Spirit of grace, as he pleases. Let them read their error in One who was evidently superior to the condition and the ruin of man in Israel. 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 right hand and left hand suggest proximity to the Kings person and so a share in his prestige and power. (Carson), ii. Far different this was from the errand on which He was intent; but He was there for faith. The scribe had no heart for the hidden glory. Such is His grace, such His wisdom. Therein is greatness. [5.] And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and you've made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden of the heat of the day. Start for FREE. So many people, both in things material and in things spiritual, get what they want, and then forget even to say thanks. When we are converted, we become members of Christs living body; and as we grow in grace, and get the true spirit that permeates that body, we shall say, when any member of it is honored, This is honor for usIf any brother shall be greatly honored of God, I feel honored in his honor. General Epistles As the elder brother, in the parable of the prodigal, repined at the reception of his younger brother, and complained of his father's generosity to him; so these labourers quarrelled with their master, and found fault, not because they had not enough, so much as because others were made equal with them. Notice the flow of the narrative as the . It was an imperfect faith but they acted on it; and Jesus accepted it. The scourging was an extremely painful experience. 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. 2. I have endowed them with apostolic gifts or with superior talents, and suited them for wider usefulness. (iv) These two blind men were not afraid to bring a great request. 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. Set a timer for 20 minutes (no peeking) and start eating. God, by his gospel, is hiring labourers into his vineyard, to dress it, and keep it, paradise-work. He said to them, 'Go you also into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' In verse 13 our Lord "goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. The Lord works in delivering power; but withal the power of Satan fills and carries away the unclean to their own destruction. We shall find something of these mysteries later on in this gospel; but here it is simply a Jewish testimony of Jehovah-Messiah in His unwearied love, through His twelve heralds, and in spite of rising unbelief, maintaining to the end what His grace had in view for Israel. 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. 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. This as yet draws out wonder, at least from the witnessing multitudes, that God had given such power unto men. When He reaches the house, minstrels were there, and people, making a noise: the expression, if of woe, certainly of impotent despair. Verse 4 seems quite adverse to the idea that great multitudes were witnesses of the cure; for why "tell no man," if so many knew it already? No doubt the ship was covered with the waves; but how could that imperil the Lord of all? Of course, the facts of the cross were necessary to give it an evident and literal fulfilment; but we have it first apparent in His life, and it is blessed to see it thus accomplished, as it were, in what passed with Himself; fully realized in His own spirit, and the results exposed before the external facts gave the fullest expression to Jewish unbelief. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. We are dependent, therefore, for determining this case, on the fact that Mark does habitually adhere to the chain of events. 11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. Shall we turn to Matthew's gospel chapter twenty, and continue our book-by-book study through the Word of God? Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem: This was not a surprise to the disciples. II. Where did they come from? Matthew 20:16 New International Version 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Read full chapter Matthew 20:16 in all English translations Matthew 19 Matthew 21 New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. Succa, fol. Three things the master of the house urges, in answer to this ill-natured surmise. Certainly, He did not arrange His own betrayal. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. is written by Phil Ware and is available in book form. Will be betrayed: Conceivably, Jesus could have been delivered to the religious authorities without this. Had there been a single thing good in Israel, their choicest guides would have stood that test. Beyond the curtain of suffering lay the revelation of glory; beyond the Cross was the Crown; beyond the defeat was triumph; and beyond death was life. And so anti what Jesus has declared. The plucking of the corn, and the healing of the withered hand, had taken place long before. It shows us his kindness. James was the first martyr among the apostles, and John was the only apostle to not die through martyrdom though not from a lack of trying. Christ only meant to say that every one who has been called before others ought to run with so much the greater alacrity, and, next, to exhort all men to be modest, not to give themselves the preference above others, but willingly to share with them a common prize. So the last shall be first, and the first last. Prophets 1. In his defilement he came to Jesus and sought to be cleansed, before the delivery of the sermon on the mount. Let us set them down. He welcomed his bed-fellow. v. Living under grace is sort of a two-edged sword. 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. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with what is my own? The Gospels 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. 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. So the last will be first, and the first last: Peter and the disciples knew they had given up a great deal to follow Jesus. 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. New International Version (NIV). The Whole Bible And it really was a heavy bondage trip. One of these people might have been the rich young man if he had become a disciple (Matthew 20:16-22). It was as Son of David that they addressed Jesus. Evidently it is the change of dispensation that is in question and at hand, the cutting off of the fleshly seed for their unbelief, and the bringing in of numerous believers in the name of the Lord from among the Gentiles. 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. It ought to be so with every forgiven soul. Going back just a little bit further, Peter had said to Jesus, "Lord, we have left all to follow thee"( Matthew 19:27 ). Thereon the Lord also has His word to say, first reminding Peter of his new name suitably to what follows. essayed to destroy the testimony with their utmost and blasphemous contempt. They glorified God. It is as if Jesus was going to gather in upon himself every possible kind of physical and emotional and mental suffering that the world could inflict. There were two; but the Spirit of God chose out, in Mark and Luke, the more remarkable of the two, and traces for us his history, a history of no small interest and importance, as we may feel when we come to Mark; but it was of equal moment for the gospel of Matthew that the two demoniacs should be mentioned here, although one of them was in himself, as I gather, a far more strikingly desperate case than the other. Observe that it is at this point the chapter begins with vindicating the sanctity of marriage. Thank you for registering. The impression is that the landowner was surprised to find people idle, because he had plenty of work to give them. This place seems to refer to the ancient Roman custom of recruiting their armies. "Day laborers" would be readily available in the market place. Many are called, c.] This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. They forgot His glory in their own anxiety and selfishness. 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 ). Then says the unclean spirit, "I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. i. There is one very revealing little difference between Matthew's and Mark's account of this incident. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor.