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. Poetical Books There are gates on the East which is the direction of the dawn, and whereby a man may enter in the glad morning of his days; there are gates on the West which is the direction of the setting sun, and whereby a man may enter in his age. The crown set before us is a crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge shall give. That they had reason to fear, lest they themselves should be found hypocrites at last; for many are called but few chosen. All other things, although important, are secondary. From God they will both receive the same welcome, for both Jesus Christ is waiting, and for neither, in the divine sense, has life ended too soon or too late. When Paul, that faithful labourer, departs, he is with Christ presently. Finally, this parable that illustrates the principle that Gods manner of rewarding is not like mans practice of giving rewards. Before he reads his Bible let him help the beggar.". This, of course, is not the moment to unfold it. The woman of Canaan, out of the borders of Tyre and Sidon, appeals to Him; a Gentile of most ominous name and belongings a Gentile whose case was desperate; for she appeals on behalf of her daughter, grievously vexed with a devil. Many are called, c.] This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. Reviewing, then, these closing incidents of the chapter (ver. The Lord then had been shown such as He was towards Israel, had Israel in their leprosy come to Him, as did the leper, even with a faith exceedingly short of that which was due to His real glory and His love. Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem: This was not a surprise to the disciples. 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. a. This utter, growing rejection of Jesus was coming out now rejection, at first allowed and whispered in the heart, soon to be pronounced in words like drawn swords. The Incarnation, he said, was a divine stratagem to catch the great leviathan. The English translators have thus given the sense well; for the expression really conveys this slight, though the word "fellow" is printed in italics. They will condemn Him to death: Jesus confidently predicted that the religious leaders would do this; yet this was not something He could plan. What is mine, is mine to do with as I please." "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased." It shall not be so among you, but whoever wishes to prove himself great among you must be your servant; and whoever wishes to occupy the foremost place will be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.". For many are called, but few chosen.. Then inside the house we have not only the Lord explaining the parable, the history from first to last of the tares and wheat, the mingling of evil with the good which grace had sown, but more than that, we have the kingdom viewed according to divine thoughts and purposes. With them, to be unemployed for a day was disaster. He sits on the dust heap among the prison convicts. If we accept it as the true reading, it adds something to the warning of the previous clause. 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. To the proud inhabitant of Jerusalem, both one and the other were but a choice and change within a land of darkness. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? And thus He, whose glory was so forgotten by His disciples Jesus, Himself thinks of that very disciple, and says, "For me and thee.". But Israel had no sense of their leprosy; and they valued not, but despised, their Messiah, albeit divine I might almost say because divine. The amazing thing about Jesus is that he never lost patience and became irritated. 1. 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. What Does It Really Mean That Your Body Is a Temple? Beracot, fol. how is it that ye have no faith? They gave Him full honor with this title. How little they had learnt the divine lesson of grace, not ordinances! 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he . 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? "Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?" Thus Matthew, called at the very receipt of custom, follows Jesus, and makes a feast for Him. But they in turn will deliver Him to the Gentiles, who will first of all mock Him. The New Testament That the same night that in which Jesus was betrayed, He took bread, and when He had broken it, He said, take eat this is my body which is broken for you. . "I have seen the children of the world to come (elsewhere (e) it is, of the chamber), , "and they are few".''. He was there for the express purpose of glorifying God. Jesus gave everything to bring men back to God; and we must walk in the steps of him who loved to the uttermost. What instrument so suitable? But I am convinced that there are others who will receive either as great or even greater honor than will Billy Graham who you have never heard of. Now a penny was a denarius and it was just a day's wage, the average day's wage. It is not a question of bringing in law to govern the kingdom or guide the Church. This world looks at the outward appearance, but God knows our hearts. C. G. Montefiore calls this parable "one of the greatest and most glorious of all." Start FREE. They mock the calm utterance of Him who chooses things that are not; and the Lord turns out the unbelievers, and demonstrates the glorious truth that the maid was not dead, but living. When they had received the boon for which they craved, they did not go away and forget; they followed Jesus. He now takes His place of rejection; for Him it is manifest even now by their inmost thoughts of Him when revealed. About the third hour, [nine o'clock in the morning], he saw others standing idle in the market place, and he said unto them; Go into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. For many are called, but few chosen.". What are they hired to do? Humble service is the great prerequisite, as shown by Jesus own ministry. If God shall bless your brother, and make him ten times more useful than you are, then you see that he is blessing you not only blessing him, but you. And, 2. i. Is it not most sweet to see, that He who proves His divine glory at once associates us with Himself? b. The New King James Version (NKJV) organises this chapter as follows: . Grace forms the hearts of those that understand it, according to the great manifestation of what God is, and what man is, too, given us in the person of Christ. The true disciple rests easy in the assurance that because his pay is from a Master of grace, it will be gracious. The spirit, as well as the form, was alien. 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. So the last shall be first, and the first last,. 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 the Jews in general were, by Christ and his apostles; but, few chosen; in Christ from all eternity, both to grace and glory; and in consequence, and as an evidence of it, but few among the Jews; as also in the Gentile world, comparatively speaking: and even but a few of those that are outwardly called, are inwardly and effectually called by the powerful grace of God, out of darkness into marvellous light, into the grace and liberty of the Gospel, into communion with Christ, and to the obtaining his kingdom and glory, according to the eternal purpose of God. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. It is all of grace and not of debt; nor does that exclude obedience. 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. Then the mother of Zebedees sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. In Mark 10:35-45 it is James and John who come to Jesus with this request. The delivered demoniacs are, to my mind, clearly the foreshadow of the Lord's grace in the latter days, separating a remnant to Himself, and banishing the power of Satan from this small but sufficient witness of His salvation. The New Testament 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. Far from lowering the position of His servant, He declares there was none greater among mortal men. 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. He makes some more useful than others, without regard to the time which they serve, and he will reward them accordingly. Cecil Northcott in Famous Life Decisions tens of what Kagawa did. Many words are not now required for that which is happily familiar to most here. Though God is a debtor to none, yet he is graciously pleased to make himself a debtor by his own promise, for the benefit of which, through Christ, believers agree with him, and he will stand to his part of the agreement. 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. To eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man. . Here I close tonight. b. b. . I injure no one, and have a right to do what I will with my own. Thus explained, this parable has no reference to the call of the Gentiles, nor to the call of aged sinners, nor to the call of sinners out of the church at all. Finally, he was to be crucified; there we see the ultimate suffering of death. Prophets c. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you: The landowner did nothing to explain why he did it, other than simply to say I wish. The reasons for the landowners generosity were completely in the landowner himself, and not in the ones who received. God does not permit Scripture to be thus used without losing its force, its beauty, and the grand object for which it was written. The hours in the parable were the normal Jewish hours. 22 But Jesus answered by saying to . WATCH TO FIND OUT WHAT THE CHALLENGE WAS Hey, Im Tia and my aim is to travel the world with my camera and of course my wonderful partner is coming along and enjoying the ride with me ! 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. 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. They looked for a conqueror; they received one broken on a cross. 3. c. For many are called, but few chosen: This was said in the context of this illustration of grace. For a day. 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. It adds to the reason for this interpretation, that Christ was conversing about the rewards that should be given to his followers, and not about the numbers that should be called, or about the doctrine of election. The Lord shows that such unbelief justly and necessarily excludes itself, but not others, from blessing. Thus it is shown that, though we have rich grace to the Gentile, there is the remembrance of natural relationship still. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Compare Luke 17:7; Luke 17:8; Luke 12:37. It is clear that the unclean spirit, returning, brings idolatry back again. Jesus of course was talking about His crucifixion and His death. Inattention to this has perplexed many. b. The indulgence of the selfish, murmuring temper might hinder their election even to that work. This was testing matters more closely. So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first. And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. The only reason we will receive any reward is that God has called us to be His workers. Having left Nazareth, as we saw, He takes up His abode in Capernaum, which was henceforth "His own city." He was tricked by the seeming helplessness of Jesus; he took Jesus to be a mere man; he tried to retain hold of Jesus, and in trying to do so, he lost his power and was broken for ever. It may well be that we who have been Christian for so long have much to learn from those younger Churches who are late-comers to the fellowship of the faith. 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. There were many who died right there as the result of the scourging itself. NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Beracot, fol. They glorified God. a. "And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us." 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. ], "Any union leader worth their salt would protest at such employment practices. The point of the parable was that God will graciously do more for some of those who work for Him than His justice demands. That means that James and John were full cousins of Jesus; and it may well have been that they felt that this close relationship entitled them to a special place in his Kingdom. Matthew 20:16 - Bible Verse Meaning and Commentary - Bible Study Tools We are in his hand, as clay in the hands of a potter; and it is not for us to prescribe to him, or strive with him. Thus, the fourth chapter of Mark coincides, marked with such data as can leave no doubt. For less than $5/mo. Jesus was passing by. Secondly, Whatsoever is right,Matthew 20:4-7; Matthew 20:4-7. 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. In this he had laboured, as he said, from his youth up: "What lack I yet?" The priest, in chap. His wounds are those which he receives in the house of his friend. (Spurgeon). 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. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And so they didn't really remember that He said He was going to rise the third day, until after the resurrection. (Matthew 20:17-19) Jesus again reveals the fate waiting for Him at Jerusalem. Or, are you grudging because I am generous?' To him who compares this with Luke 6:1-49, there need not remain a question as to the identity of the scene. The world knows quite well that a good man is a man who serves his fellow-men. What special mercy and tenderness, not only in the end, but also in the way the Lord deals with Israel! Matthew 20 - Wikipedia Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. He tells him that those he envied should fare as well as he did; "I will give unto this last, even as unto thee; I am resolved I will." In what follows we have that which is necessary, to complete the picture of the other side. "And Jesus heard their cry and stood still. It is simply designed to teach that in the church, among the multitudes who will be saved, Christ makes a difference. None are hired at the twelfth hour; when life is done, opportunity is done; but "while there is life, there is hope." I love that family strength among them.