The King gives the parable of the workers in the vineyard
20
📚“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. 2 📚And when he had agreed with the labourers for a silver coin 📖 for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 📚And he went out about nine in the morning, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,20:3 The third hour was 9 AM. It is a sad fact that even though there is much work in God's kingdom to do, many are doing nothing.⚜
4 📚and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ And they went.
20:4 There was no bargaining; they made no demands. They trusted the landowner and went to work. This is the attitude all Christ's disciples should have.⚜
5 📚“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon, and did the same. 6 📚And about five in the afternoon he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day long?’
20:6 The eleventh hour was 5 PM. There was only an hour before the day's work would be over.⚜
7 📚They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will get what is right.’
20:7 They were willing to work but had lacked opportunity. There are some laborers for God whom He calls late in their lives and who are able to work only a brief time.⚜
8 📚“So when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the labourers and give them their wages, beginning with the last group up to the first.’
9 📚“And when those who were hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a silver coin.
20:9 They worked only an hour but received a full day's wage. This revealed the kindness of the landowner. They had not earned a full day's wage but just as those who worked all day, they needed one. Such is God's grace. He will give a full reward for faithful work done for even a little while.⚜
10 But when the first group came, they supposed that they would receive more, but each of them too received a silver coin.
20:10 On the basis of justice they had no right to expect more. They had agreed to one denarius (v 2). This parable does not teach that God always gives the same reward to all of His servants. That would be contrary to His teaching in places like 1 Cor 3:10-15. But when it pleases Him He may give equal rewards for service well done, whether it be for a long time or a brief time. But for a full reward work must be done in the right way and from a right motive.⚜
11 📚And when they received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 📚saying, ‘This last group worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and heat of the day.’
20:11-12 They showed the bad spirit that Jesus is teaching His disciples not to have. They grumbled against an act of kindness and goodness. The landlord was guilty of no injustice.⚜
13 📚“But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am not doing you any wrong. Didn't you agree with me for a silver coin? 14 📚Take yours and go your way. I choose to give to this last group the same as I gave you.
20:13-14 The Lord will not be happy with complaining disciples who are envious of His goodness to others.⚜
15 📚Is it not lawful for me to do what I choose with what I have? Is your eye evil, 📖 because I am good?’
20:15 This is a principal point of the parable. What God has is God's, and He may do with it as He pleases. He is perfectly free to show grace and kindness to whom He will. Those who trust Him, and are willing to labour for Him according to the word “I will give you whatever is right” (v 4), will find that God's heart is full of grace and goodness. They who have a bargaining spirit with God, or a grasping spirit, or a selfish, envious spirit, will find that they cannot change God's mind.⚜
16 📚“So the last will be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few chosen”.
20:16 Those who entered the vineyard last became, it seems, first in the landowner's favor and esteem, and vice versa. Let us never forget that no matter how we work for God we are still “unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10), and really deserve nothing.⚜
The King again speaks of His death and resurrection
17 📚And going up to Jerusalem Jesus took the twelve disciples aside on the way and said to them, 18 📚“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes. And they will condemn him to death, 19 📚and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and be beaten with a whip and to be crucified. And the third day he will rise again”.
20:17-19 Verse 28; Matt 16:21; 17:23; Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-33. Once again Jesus speaks of the chief reason He came to earth.⚜
20:19 For the first time He foretells that it would be the Gentiles who would actually put Him to death and that the method would be crucifixion. On crucifixion see Matt 27:22.⚜
The King teaches about true greatness, and tells why He came to earth
20 📚Then the mother of Zebedee's children came with her sons to him, worshipping him, and asking him for something. 21 📚And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Grant that these, my two sons, may sit in your kingdom, the one at your right hand, and the other at the left”.
20:20-21 Zebedee's sons – James and John – joined their mother in this request. See Mark 10:35-37. None of them had yet learned the lesson Jesus taught in Matt 18:4; 20:16. Nor, it seems, had they realized that Jesus was not then going to establish a visible kingdom on earth.⚜
22 📚But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am going to drink, and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, “We are able”.
20:22 See Matt 26:39, 42. Drinking His cup means to share in His rejection and sufferings. They said they could drink His cup, but little did they then realize what they were saying.⚜
23 📚And he said to them, “Indeed you will drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit at my right hand and at my left, is not mine to give, but it will be given to those for whom it is prepared by my Father”.
24 📚And when the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.
20:24 Did not they themselves want the chief places in the kingdom? Compare Rom 2:1.⚜
25 📚But Jesus called them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 📚But it shall not be so among you. But whoever wants to be great among you, must be your servant, 27 📚and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave,
20:25-27 Verse 16; Matt 18:4. Some lessons need to be taught again and again, even to the best of men. It is not those who selfishly strive for greatness whom God counts great, but the humble, the lowly servant of all. See Jer 45:5. There are two kinds of mentality. The “master” outlook and the “service” outlook. We must reject the one and cultivate the other, and write on our hearts this lesson Jesus taught. The disciples at that time were all for self-promotion. Jesus was for self-sacrifice. We know who was greatest.⚜
28 📚just as the Son of man came to serve, 📖 not to be served, and to give his life a ransom 📖 for many”.
The King heals blind men in Jericho
29 📚And as they were leaving Jericho 📖, a great crowd followed him.
20:1-2 Note on the kingdom of heaven at Matt 4:17. This teaching is connected with the thoughts in the preceding chapter. See Matt 19:27 – where Peter appears almost as a labourer trying to bargain for wages. In Matt 19:30 Jesus teaches that a wrong attitude can cause the first to be last. In this parable He shows what should be the attitude of disciples toward God in the matter of service and rewards. The landowner signifies God. The vineyard signifies His work in the world. God is always looking for workers for His vineyard. Compare Matt 9:36-38; 21:28. The word “agreed” suggests bargaining on their part.⚜
30 📚And, suddenly, two blind men sitting by the wayside, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David”.
20:30 Note on Son of David at Matt 1:1.⚜
31 📚And the crowd rebuked them so that they would keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David”.
32 📚And Jesus stood still and called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”
20:32 Cries for mercy from the poor and helpless always reach the ears of the Lord Jesus (Matt 8:3; Ps 34:6; Rom 10:12-13). This verse indicates His desire to serve and to help those who call to Him.⚜
33 📚They said to him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened”.
34 📚So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.