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MATTHEW 20:1-16 A PARABLE OF THE KINGDOM

1. FOR the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.

And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

The kingdom of heaven, is all of grace, and so is the service connected with it. Let thin be remembered in the exposition of this parable. The call to work, the ability, and the reward, are all on the principle of grace, and not upon that of merit. This was no common man that is an householder, and his going out to hire laborers into his vineyards was not after the usual manner of men, for they will have a full day’s work for a full day’s wage. This householder considered the laborers rather than himself. He was up before the dew was gone from the grass, and found laborers, and sent them into his vineyard. It was a choice privilege to be allowed to begin holy service so early in the morning. They agreed with the householder, and went to work on his terms. They might well be content, since they were promised a full day’s hire, and were sure to get it: a penny a day represented the usual and accepted wage. The householder and the laborers agreed upon the amount; and this is the point which has to be noted further on. Young believers have a blessed prospect: they may well be happy to do good work, in a good place, for good Master, and on good terms.

3, 4. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

Hating indolence, and grieving that he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, he hired more workers about the third hour. They would make only three-quarters of a day; but it was for their good to cease from loafing at the street-corner. These are like persons whose childhood is past, but who are not yet old. They are favored to have a good part of their day of life available for hallowed service. To these the good householder said: “Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. ” He pointed to those already in the field, and said, “Go ye also; ” and he promised them, not a definite sum, as he did those whom he first hired, but he said: “Whatsoever is right I will give you.” They went their way to their labor, for they did not wish to remain idlers; and as right-minded men, they could not quarrel with the householder’s agreement to give them whatsoever was right. Oh, that those around us, she are in their rising manhood, would at once take up their tools, and begin to serve the great Lord!

5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

Had it been altogether and alone a business transaction, the householder would have waited to begin a new day, and would not have given a whole day’s wage for a fraction of a day’s work. The entire matter was alone of grace; and therefore, when half the day was gone, about the sixth hour, he called in laborers. Men of forty and fifty are bidden to enter the vineyard.

Yes, and about the ninth hour men were engaged. At sixty, the Lord calls a number by his grace! It is wrong to assert that men are not saved after forty; we know to the contrary, and could mention instances.

God in the greatness of his love calls into his service men from whom the exuberance of useful vigor has departed; he accepts the waning hours of their day. He has work for the weak as well as for the strong. He allows none to labor for him without the reward of grace, even though they have spent their best days in sin. This is no encouragement to procrastination; but it should induce old sinners to seek the Lord at once.

6, 7. 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? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

The day was nearly over: only a single hour remained; yet about the eleventh hour he went out. The generous householder was willing to take on more workmen, and give them hire, though the sun was going down.

He found a group lingering at the loafers’ corner — standing idle. He wished to clear the whole town of sluggards, and so he said to them, “Why stand ye here all the day idle? ” His question to them may be read by making each word in its turn emphatic, and then it yields a fullness of meaning. Why are ye idle? What is the good of it? Why stand ye here idle where all are busy? Why all the day idle? Will not a shorter space suffice?

Why ye idle? You have need to work, you are able to do it, and you should set about it at once. Why is any one of us remaining idle towards God? Has nothing yet had power to engage us to sacred service? Can we dare to say, “No man hath hired us ”? Nearly seventy years of age, and yet unsaved!

Let us bestir ourselves. It is time that we went, without delay, to kill the weeds and prune the vines, and do something for our Lord in his vineyard.

What but rich grace could lead him to take on the eleven o’clock lingerers?

Yet he invites them as earnestly as those who came in the morning, and he will as surely give them their reward.

8. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

Days soon end, and to all the laborers even was come. This was pay-time, and the lord of the vineyard did not forget his agreements with the laborers, nor tell them to wait for their wages. Our Lord will rob no man of his reward. The householder in the parable sees to everything personally.

His is the hiring, and the order for the paying. Promptly he saith unto his steward, “Call the laborers, and give them their hire. ” We shall be called each one to receive our reward when our day is over. Happy are we to have been already first called into the vineyard: thus the second call to receive the hire becomes a welcome one.

The lord of the vineyard, whoso transactions in hiring had been of no ordinary kind, was equally peculiar in the manner of payment. He chose to arrange it so that those who first came were last served; which is not often the manner of men. It was not a transaction of a mercenary sort, but a display of free favor; and so the great quality of sovereignty comes in as to the very order of payment — “beginning from the last unto the first. ” The Lord will take care that, in the transactions of his grace, his sovereignty as well as his goodness shall be conspicuous.

9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

Our Lord’s pay is not a hire of deservings, but a gift of bounty. He paid on the scale of grace, and not at the rate of merit. He commenced in superb style, and to those who began to work at the eleventh hour, he gave every man a penny: here was a full day’s pay for one hour’s work. Herein was displayed the boundless bounty of the lord of the vineyard. That some, who have served the Lord but a very brief time, have equaled and even excelled those who have been for many years believers, is clear, for many short but blessed lives attest it. Converted late in life, they have been singularly diligent, specially consecrated, and memorably holy, and thus they have obtained the full result of grace at a speedy rate. God will place in heavenly glory those who turn to Christ even at the last. Did not our Lord say even to the dying thief, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”? To what better place could any venerable saint have been taken? Oh, the riches of the grace of God!

10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

Possibly the first felt their vanity wounded by being paid after the others.

They used their waiting time in considering their own superiority to the late-comers. Filled with legal principles, they kicked at the sovereignty of grace, and virtually in this matter rebelled against justice also. Those who are not friends to any one attribute of God are not in love with the others.

Sooner or later, those who rage at sovereignty resist justice also. They had what was promised them: what more would they have a fair wage was given: they received every man a penny. What more could they expect?

But they supposed — there was the difficulty: they had a theory to support, a supposition to justify; and so they were aggrieved because their supposition did not develop into a fact. God will not be bound by our supposings; and we do but deceive ourselves if we think he will.

11, 12. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 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.

As soon as the penny was in their hand, a murmur was in their mouth. It was a fair wage, and what they agreed to take; but yet, when they had received, it, they murmured against the goodman of the house. His only supposable fault was that, as a good man, he was too good to the shorttimers.

The Lord does often greatly bless men whose working lives are short, and even those who are saved late in life. He does not measure up work as we do, by the rod, or by the hour. He has his own gracious ways of estimating service, and the reckonings of grace are not like those of law.

At the sight of great grace envious hearts grow sour. The murmurers said, not that the generous Lord had lowered them, but that he had advanced others who had wrought but one hour . Their complaint was, “Thou hast made them equal unto us. ” In this he had used his own money as he pleased, even as God dispenses grace as he wills. He is never unjust to any; but in gifts of bounty he will not be bound by our ideas of equity. Had they been of the right sort, they would have rejoiced that they had been able to give to him a fair day’s work, since they had borne the burden and heat of the day.

At any rate, it is a great privilege to be serving the Lord throughout a long life, and those who have enjoyed this high favor are deeply indebted to the grace of God. Blessed be our heavenly Father, some of us have been his servants from our youth, and have endured no little labor for his name’s sake; but in this we rejoice greatly, and magnify his love.

13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

He did not fall into a dispute with the whole company; but he answered one of them, which was quite enough. They had been individually hired, and individually he argues with them. It is a calm and reasonable reply: “Friend, I do thee no wrong. ” If the Lord rewards us graciously for what we do, we are not wronged because another who has done less has a like recompense. The quiet personal question is one to which there is no answer: “Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? ” Yet the legal spirit will come in even concerning work which is all of grace. Even among the Father’s true sons, the elder brother gets touched with this alien spirit.

None of us are quite free from it: it seems bred in the bone of our proud nature, yet nothing is more unlovely or unreasonable.

14, 15. Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

The good man stands to his determination of bounty. He will not be driven from liberality by envious tongues. What he gives is his own, and he maintains his right to do as he pleases with it. This is a fine illustration of the sovereignty of divine grace. Each man shall have all he can claim. “Take that thine is; ” and having it, let him rest content: “Go thy way .” The Lord will not be ruled by our regulations, but declares, “I will give unto this last, even as unto thee .” It is condescending on his part to say a word in defense of his most fit and fair position: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will saith my own? ” If mercy be the Lord’s own, he may give it as he pleases; and if the reward of service be wholly of grace, the Lord may render it according to his own pleasure. Be ye sure that he will do so. In words of thunder he says, both under the law and under the gospel, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

That was a home question for each of the grumblers to answer, — Is thine eye evil, because I am good? ” Does it make you jealous to see others enjoy my bounty? Because I am good to these who deserved so little, does this deprive you of the good which I have granted to you?

Let us never envy late converts their joy or their usefulness; but applaud the sovereignty which blesses them so largely. We share the mercy with them; let us give them an equal portion of our Joy.

16. So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chosen.

Here our :Lord repeats his famous saying, which we noted in chapter

19. verse 30, and lets us know that precedence in the kingdom of heaven is according to the order of grace. The King will rule in his own courts; and who shall question his will? As he is King, it is his right to rule. Loyal subjects are ever ready to support their sovereign. Our King reigns by right divine, and cannot do wrong. It was said of David, “Whatsoever the king did pleased all the people.” Let this be true of David’s Son and his people.

Jesus tells us that, while many men are called to service, few reach the standard of choice men. Some of the last shall be first, for abounding grace is seen in their brief hour of work; but some of the first shall be last, for they are not always diligent throughout their longer day, and so fall back in the race, or their legal notions put them far behind those who were called later in life, but who are better instructed in the principles of divine grace.

MATTHEW 20:17-28 THE KING ON HIS WAY TO THE CROSS 17-19.

And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Marching up, towards the guilty capital, with resolute and vigorous step, Jesus outwalked the trembling disciples, who forsaw some dire tragedy would transpire. They went with him, and that was something; and showed that, if timid, they were sincere. His words were true and significant: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. ” He thought it wise to tell them yet again of the dark future which was now drawing very near, so he took the twelve disciples apart in the way. That is the best communion when Jesus himself takes us apart. He knows the fittest seasons for fullest revelations.

Possibly, in this, his human soul was seeking fellowship; but how little of it he found among his feeble followers! Lord, when thou cost take me apart, prepare me for full communion, lest I miss a golden opportunity!

The heart of Jesus was full of his sacrifice. Mark how he dwells on the details from the beginning to the end of his sufferings, death, and resurrection. He uses very much the same terms as when they abode in Galilee. We noticed that statement while reading in chapter 17:22, and this is very like a repetition of it. It was a subject too grave to be set forth with variety of expressions. He calls their attention to the fact that they were going up to Jerusalem, the place of sacrifice: the journey of his utmost grief was now beginning: the end was hastening on. What a pang shot through his heart as he said, “The Son of man shall be betrayed ”! This he said in the hearing of the disciple who would act as the traitor: did no compunction visit his base heart? The twelve knew that Jesus had no more cruel foes than “the chief priests and scribes ”, the men of the Sanhedrim: these, by a mock trial, would “condemn him to death ”, but as they could not carry out the sentence themselves, they would “deliver him to the Gentiles. ” How accurately the Lord traces the line of action! He omits none of the shameful details. He says that they would deliver him to the Romans, “to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him .” Here were three sharp swords: one scarcely knows which had the keenest edge Our hearts ought to melt as we think of this threefold sorrow: scorn, cruelty, death.

Our blessed Master, however, added a word which overpowered the bitterness of the death - draught. Here was the bright lining of the black cloud: “The third day he shall rise again. ” This poured a flood of light on what else had been a sevenfold midnight.

Did our Lord thus dwell on his passion, and should not we? Yes, it should be our life-long theme. They say, in this hour of defection: “Think of his life rather than of his death; “but we are not to be duped by them. “We preach Christ crucified.” “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

20, 21. Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.

While the mind of Jesus was occupied with his humiliation and death, his followers were thinking of their own honor and ease. Alas, poor human nature! The mother of Zebedee’s children only spoke as others felt. She, with a mother’s love, sought eminence, and even pre-eminence, for her sons; but the fact that the other disciples were displeased showed that they were ambitious also. Doubtless, they wanted to fill the positions, that the mother of James and John craved for them. She approached the Savior reverently, worshipping him. Yet there was too much familiarity in her request to be granted an unnamed thing: desiring a certain thing of him.

Our Lord here sets us the example of never promising in the dark. He said unto her, “What wilt thou? ” Know what you promise before you promise.

Great was this woman’s faith in the Lord’s ultimate victory and occasion to the throne, since she regards his enthronement as so certain, that she prays that her two sons should sit in his courts on his right and left hand. Was she aware of what our Lord had told his disciples? We half think so, for the words are,—Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children. If she knew and understood all that wont before, she was willing that her sons should share the lot of Jesus, both as to his cross and his crown; and this sets her petition in a bright light. Still, there was a good deal of a mother’s partiality in the request. See how she speaks of “these my two sons ” with a touch of pride in her action. How grandly she describes the desired situation — “may sit the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom ”! She had evidently very courtly notions of what the kingdom would ultimately become. In any case, her request had in it much of trust, and much of loyal union to Christ, though somewhat. also of self.

We need not censure her; but we may question ourselves as to whether we think as much of our Lord as she did.

22. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.

The petition of the mother was that of the sons also; for Jesus answered and said, “Ye know not what ye ask. ” As from the mother, the request was probably of better quality than as from the sons; for our Lord speaks to them rather than to her. They had asked, through the mother, but they may have asked in greater ignorance than she; and had they known what their request included, they might never have presented it. At any rate, our Lord treats the petition as theirs rather than their mother’s; and as it was about themselves, he questions them as to how far they were prepared for the consequences. To be near to the throne of the King would involve fellowship with him in the suffering and self-sacrifice by which he set up his spiritual kingdom: were they ready for this? Had they strength to endure to the end? “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? ” They say unto him, “we are able. ” Perhaps this was too hasty an answer; and yet it may under the aspect have been the best they could give. If they were looking alone to their Lord for strength, they were, through his grace, quite able to bear anything. But, when they thought of his throne, had they remembered the cup , and the baptism, without which there would be no enjoying the kingdom?

23. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of 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 shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Hearing their professed willingness to have fellowship with himself in all things, our Lord assures them that he does not refuse to be associated with them; but he points them to the immediate and certain result of that fellowship. Our practical present business is not to aim at eminence in the kingdom, but submissively to drink the cup of suffering, and plunge into the deeps of humiliation which our Lord appoints for us. It is a great honor to be allowed to drink of his cup and to be baptized with his baptism: this he grants to his believing disciples. This fellowship is the essence of the spiritual kingdom. If our cup be bitter, it is his cup; if our baptism be overwhelming, it is the baptism that he is baptized with; and this sweetens the one, and prevents the other from being a death-plunge. Indeed that the cup and the baptism are his, makes our share in them to be an honor bestowed by grace.

Other rewards of the kingdom are not arbitrarily granted, but fittingly bestowed. Jesus says that the high places in the kingdom will be given to them for whom they are prepared of his Father. He has no hesitation in speaking of what his Father has “prepared.” Everything about our Lord’s Kingdom is divinely arranged and fixed; nothing is left to chance or fate.

Even Jesus will not interfere with the divine appointment concerning his kingdom. As a friend, he may not be solicited to use a supposed private influence to alter the arrangements of infinite wisdom. Eternal purposes are not to be changed at the request of ill-advised disciples. In a sense, Jesus gives all things; but as Mediator, he comes not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him, and so he correctly says of rank in his kingdom, It is not mine to give. How thoroughly did our Lord take a lowly place for our sakes! In this laying aside of authority, he gives a silent rebuke to our self-seeking. It may be that he intended to reprove, not only the mother of Zebedee’s children, but all the disciples, who were constantly seeking great things for themselves. 24-26. And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.

Naturally, the other ten apostles did not relish the attempt of the sons of Zebedee to steal a march upon them. We never hear that they resented our Lord’s preference of Peter, James, and John; but when two of these sought precedence for themselves they could not bear it. Peter was with them in this, for we read, When the ten heard it. Unanimously they were angry with upstarts. That they were moved with indignation, was a proof that they were ambitious themselves, or at least that they were not willing to take the lowest place. Because they were guilty of the same fault, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren Here was a sad division in the little camp; how could it be healed? Jesus called them unto him: he personally dealt with this rising evil, and bade the twelve come aside, and listen to something meant only for their private ear.

They were confounding his kingdom with the ordinary government of men, and therefore they dreamed of being great, and exercising dominion in his name; but he wished them to correct their ideas, and turn their thoughts another way. It was true, that to be his followers was a highly honorable thing, and made them partakers of a kingdom; but it was not like earthly kingdoms. In the great Gentile monarchies, princes ruled by authority force, and pomp; but in his kingdom the rule would be one of love, and the dignity would be that of service. He who could serve most would be the greatest. The lowliest would be the most honored: the most self-sacrificing would have most power. Whenever we see the nobles of earth contending for precedence, we should hear our Master say, “But it shall not be so among you. ” We must for ever quit hunting after honor, office, power, and influence. If we aim at greatness at all, it must be by being great in service, becoming the minister or servant of our brethren.

27. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: To rise in Christ’s kingdom we must descend. He who would be chief, or first, among saints, must be their servant, bondsman, or slave. The lower we have stooped, the higher we have risen In this kind of rivalry we shall be allowed to excel without exciting the indignation of the brethren.

28. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

AssuredlyHE who is greatest and chief among us has set us the example of the utmost love-service. No servants waited on him. He was Master and Lord; but he washed his servants’ feet. He came not to be served, but to serve. He received nothing from others; his was a life of giving, and the giving of a life. For this purpose he was the Son of man ; with this design he came; to this end he gave his life a ransom for many. No service is greater than to redeem sinners by his own death, no ministry is lowlier than to die in the stead of sinners.

MATTHEW 20:29-34 THE KING OPENING THE EYES OF THE BLIND

29, 30.

And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out saying, Have mercy on US, O Lord, thou son of David.

On Jericho a curse had rested; but the presence of Jesus brought it a blessing. We suppose he must needs go through Jericho as once before he must needs go through Samaria. Our Lord departed from Jericho, and a vast crowd attended him; for his fame had spread far and wide. Nothing striking is noted concerning his doings till two beggars come upon the scene. Mercy needs misery to give it an occasion to work. Behold, two blind men sitting by the way side. They could not behold Jesus, but we are asked to behold them. They had taken up a hopeful position by the way side, for there they would be likely to hear any good news, and there they would be seen by the compassionate. They had ears if they had not eyes, and they used their hearing well. On enquiry, they learned that Jesus passed by , and believing that he could restore their sight, they grew earnest in prayer to him: they cried out. Their plea was pity: “save mercy on us. ” Their appeal was to the royal heart of Jesus: “O Lord, thou son of Israel. ” Our Lord’s sermon was interrupted by the repeated outcries of these two blind beggars of Jericho; but this never displeased him; neither would true preachers of the gospel be disconcerted if some of their hearers were to cry out with similar eagerness for salvation.

31. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

The crowd desired to hear Jesus, but could not do so because of the shouts of the blind men: therefore his multitude rebuked them. Did they upbraid them for ill manners, or for noise, or for harshness of tone, or for selfishly wishing to monopolize Jesus? It is always easy to find a stick when you wish to beat a dog. The people wanted them to be quiet, and hold their peace, and found plenty of arguments why they should do so. This was all very well for those who were in possession of their faculties; but men who have lost their sight cannot be quieted if there is an opportunity of obtaining sight; and as that opportunity was rapidly passing away from these poor men, they became vehement in their earnestness. Unhindered by the threats of the crowd, they cried the more. Some men are urged onward by all attempts to pull them back. When we are seeking the Lord, we shall be wise to make every hindrance into a stimulus. We may well bear rebukes and rebuffs when our great aim is to obtain mercy from Jesus.

Unvarying was the blind beggars’ cry: “Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David ” Variety of words they had no time to study. Having asked for what they needed, in words which leaped from their hearts, they repeated their prayer and their plea, and it was no vain repetition.

32. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?

Jesus stood still. At the voice of prayer, the Sun of righteousness paused in his progress. Believing cries can hold the Son of God by the feet. He called them: and this because they had called him. What comfort that call yielded them! We are not told that they came to him: there is no need to tell us that. They were at his feet as soon as the words were uttered. How sadly blind are those who, being called a thousand times by the voice of mercy, yet refuse to come!

Our Lord enlightened minds as well as eyes, and so he would have the blind men intelligently feel and express their needs. He puts to them the personal enquiry: “What will ye that I shall do unto you? ” It was not a hard question, yet it is one which many an attendant at our places of worship would find it difficult to answer. You say you “wish to be saved”: what do you mean by those words?

33. They say unto him, lord, that our eyes may be opened.

Just so. They needed no time for second thoughts. Oh, that our people were as quick to pray, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened ”! They went straight to the point. There is not a word to spare in their explanatory prayer. No book was wanted, no form of words; the desire clothed itself in simple, natural, earnest speech.

34. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

So, that is, since they thus stated their desire, and had so great a need, Jesus had compassion on them, pitying their loneliness in the dark, their deprivation of enjoyment, their loss of power to follow a handicraft, and their consequent poverty. He touched their eyes. What hands were those which undertook such lowly fellowship with human flesh, and wrought such deeds of power! Immediately their eyes received sight. Only a touch, and light entered. Time is not necessary to the cures of Jesus. Proof of their sight was at once forthcoming, for they followed him. We best use our spiritual sight when we look to Jesus, and keep close to his heel.