18 See, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be given into the hands of the chief priests and scribes; and they will give orders for him to be put to death,
Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of the people so foolish? The kings of the earth have taken their place, and the rulers are fixed in their purpose, against the Lord, and against the king of his selection, saying, Let their chains be broken, and their cords taken from off us.
<To the chief music-maker on Aijeleth-hash-shahar. A Psalm. Of David.> My God, my God, why are you turned away from me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my crying? O my God, I make my cry in the day, and you give no answer; and in the night, and have no rest. But you are holy, O you who are seated among the praises of Israel. Our fathers had faith in you: they had faith and you were their saviour. They sent up their cry to you and were made free: they put their faith in you and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man; cursed by men, and looked down on by the people. I am laughed at by all those who see me: pushing out their lips and shaking their heads they say, He put his faith in the Lord; let the Lord be his saviour now: let the Lord be his saviour, because he had delight in him. But it was you who took care of me from the day of my birth: you gave me faith even from my mother's breasts. I was in your hands even before my birth; you are my God from the time when I was in my mother's body. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; there is no one to give help. A great herd of oxen is round me: I am shut in by the strong oxen of Bashan. I saw their mouths wide open, like lions crying after food. I am flowing away like water, and all my bones are out of place: my heart is like wax, it has become soft in my body. My throat is dry like a broken vessel; my tongue is fixed to the roof of my mouth, and the dust of death is on my lips. Dogs have come round me: I am shut in by the band of evil-doers; they made wounds in my hands and feet. I am able to see all my bones; their looks are fixed on me: They make a division of my robes among them, by the decision of chance they take my clothing. Do not be far from me, O Lord: O my strength, come quickly to my help. Make my soul safe from the sword, my life from the power of the dog. Be my saviour from the lion's mouth; let me go free from the horns of the cruel oxen. I will give the knowledge of your name to my brothers: I will give you praise among the people. You who have fear of the Lord, give him praise; all you seed of Jacob, give him glory; go in fear of him, all you seed of Israel. For he has not been unmoved by the pain of him who is troubled; or kept his face covered from him; but he has given an answer to his cry. My praise will be of you in the great meeting: I will make my offerings before his worshippers. The poor will have a feast of good things: those who make search for the Lord will give him praise: your heart will have life for ever. All the ends of the earth will keep it in mind and be turned to the Lord: all the families of the nations will give him worship. For the kingdom is the Lord's; he is the ruler among the nations. All the fat ones of the earth will give him worship; all those who go down to the dust will make themselves low before him, even he who has not enough for the life of his soul. A seed will be his servant; the doings of the Lord will be made clear to the generation which comes after. They will come and make his righteousness clear to a people of the future because he has done this.
<To the chief music-maker; put to Shoshannim. Of David.> Be my saviour, O God; because the waters have come in, even to my neck. My feet are deep in the soft earth, where there is no support; I have come into deep waters, the waves are flowing over me. I am tired with my crying; my throat is burning: my eyes are wasted with waiting for my God. Those who have hate for me without cause are greater in number than the hairs of my head; those who are against me, falsely desiring my destruction, are very strong; I gave back what I had not taken away. O God, you see how foolish I am; and my wrongdoing is clear to you. Let not those who have hope in you be put to shame because of me, O Lord God of armies: let not those who are waiting for you be made low because of me, O God of Israel. I have been wounded with sharp words because of you; my face has been covered with shame. I have become strange to my brothers, and like a man from a far country to my mother's children. I am on fire with passion for your house; and the hard things which are said about you have come on me. My bitter weeping, and my going without food, were turned to my shame. When I put on the clothing of grief, they said evil of me. I am a cause of wonder to those in authority; a song to those who are given to strong drink. But as for me, let my prayer be made to you, O Lord, at a time when you are pleased; O God, give me an answer in your great mercy, for your salvation is certain. Take me from the grip of the sticky earth, so that I may not go down into it; let me be lifted up from the deep waters. Let me not be covered by the flowing waters; let not the deep waters go over my head, and let me not be shut up in the underworld. Give an answer to my words, O Lord; for your mercy is good: be turned to me, because of your great pity. Let not your face be covered from your servant, for I am in trouble; quickly give me an answer. Come near to my soul, for its salvation: be my saviour, because of those who are against me. You have seen my shame, how I was laughed at and made low; my haters are all before you. My heart is broken by bitter words, I am full of grief; I made a search for some to have pity on me, but there was no one; I had no comforter. They gave me poison for my food; and bitter wine for my drink. Let their table before them be for their destruction; let their feasts become a net to take them. Let their eyes be blind so that they may not see; let their bodies for ever be shaking. Let your curse come on them; let the heat of your wrath overtake them. Give their houses to destruction, and let there be no one in their tents. Because they are cruel to him against whom your hand is turned; they make bitter the grief of him who is wounded by you. Let their punishment be increased; let them not come into your righteousness. Let their names be taken from the book of the living, let them not be numbered with the upright. But I am poor and full of sorrow; let me be lifted up by your salvation, O Lord. I will give praise to the name of God with a song; I will give glory to him for what he has done. This will be more pleasing to the Lord than an ox, or a young ox of full growth. The poor will see it and be glad: you who are lovers of God, let your hearts have life. For the ears of the Lord are open to the poor, and he takes thought for his prisoners. Let the heavens and the earth give praise to him, the seas, and everything moving in them. For God will be the saviour of Zion, and the builder of the towns of Judah; so that it may be their resting-place and heritage. The seed of his servants will have their part in it, and there the lovers of his name will have rest.
Who would have had faith in the word which has come to our ears, and to whom had the arm of the Lord been unveiled? For his growth was like that of a delicate plant before him, and like a root out of a dry place: he had no grace of form, to give us pleasure; Men made sport of him, turning away from him; he was a man of sorrows, marked by disease; and like one from whom men's faces are turned away, he was looked down on, and we put no value on him. But it was our pain he took, and our diseases were put on him: while to us he seemed as one diseased, on whom God's punishment had come. But it was for our sins he was wounded, and for our evil doings he was crushed: he took the punishment by which we have peace, and by his wounds we are made well. We all went wandering like sheep; going every one of us after his desire; and the Lord put on him the punishment of us all. Men were cruel to him, but he was gentle and quiet; as a lamb taken to its death, and as a sheep before those who take her wool makes no sound, so he said not a word. They took away from him help and right, and who gave a thought to his fate? for he was cut off from the land of the living: he came to his death for the sin of my people. And they put his body into the earth with sinners, and his last resting-place was with the evil-doers, though he had done no wrong, and no deceit was in his mouth. And the Lord was pleased ... see a seed, long life, ... will do well in his hand. ... ... made clear his righteousness before men ... had taken their sins on himself. For this cause he will have a heritage with the great, and he will have a part in the goods of war with the strong, because he gave up his life, and was numbered with the evil-doers; taking on himself the sins of the people, and making prayer for the wrongdoers.
Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place. Have then the certain knowledge that from the going out of the word for the building again of Jerusalem till the coming of a prince, on whom the holy oil has been put, will be seven weeks: in sixty-two weeks its building will be complete, with square and earthwork. And at the end of the times, even after the sixty-two weeks, one on whom the holy oil has been put will be cut off and have no ...; and the town and the holy place will be made waste together with a prince; and the end will come with an overflowing of waters, and even to the end there will be war; the making waste which has been fixed. And a strong order will be sent out against the great number for one week; and so for half of the week the offering and the meal offering will come to an end; and in its place will be an unclean thing causing fear; till the destruction which has been fixed is let loose on him who has made waste.
His words against God have come to your ears: what is your opinion? And they all said it was right for him to be put to death. And some put shame on him and, covering his face, gave him blows and said to him, Now say what is to come: and the captains took him and gave him blows with their hands.
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Commentary on Matthew 20 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 20
Mt 20:1-16. Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.
This parable, recorded only by Matthew, is closely connected with the end of the nineteenth chapter, being spoken with reference to Peter's question as to how it should fare with those who, like himself, had left all for Christ. It is designed to show that while they would be richly rewarded, a certain equity would still be observed towards later converts and workmen in His service.
1. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, &c.—The figure of a vineyard, to represent the rearing of souls for heaven, the culture required and provided for that purpose, and the care and pains which God takes in that whole matter, is familiar to every reader of the Bible. (Ps 80:8-16; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Lu 20:9-16; Joh 15:1-8). At vintage time, as Webster and Wilkinson remark, labor was scarce, and masters were obliged to be early in the market to secure it. Perhaps the pressing nature of the work of the Gospel, and the comparative paucity of laborers, may be incidentally suggested, Mt 9:37, 38. The "laborers," as in Mt 9:38, are first, the official servants of the Church, but after them and along with them all the servants of Christ, whom He has laid under the weightiest obligation to work in His service.
2. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny—a usual day's hire.
he sent them into his vineyard.
3. And he went out about the third hour—about nine o'clock, or after a fourth of the working day had expired: the day of twelve hours was reckoned from six to six.
and saw others standing idle in the market place—unemployed.
4. And said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right—just, equitable, in proportion to their time.
I will give you. And they went their way.
5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour—about noon, and about three o'clock in the afternoon.
and did likewise—hiring and sending into his vineyard fresh laborers each time.
6. And about the eleventh hour—but one hour before the close of the working day; a most unusual hour both for offering and engaging
and found others standing idle, and saith, Why stand ye here all the day idle?—Of course they had not been there, or not been disposed to offer themselves at the proper time; but as they were now willing, and the day was not over, and "yet there was room," they also are engaged, and on similar terms with all the rest.
8. So when even was come—that is, the reckoning time between masters and laborers (see De 24:15); pointing to the day of final account.
the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward—answering to Christ Himself, represented "as a Son over His own house" (Heb 3:6; see Mt 11:27; Joh 3:35; 5:27).
Call the labourers and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first—Remarkable direction this—last hired, first paid.
9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny—a full day's wages.
10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more—This is that calculating, mercenary spirit which had peeped out—though perhaps very slightly—in Peter's question (Mt 19:27), and which this parable was designed once for all to put down among the servants of Christ.
11. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house—rather, "the householder," the word being the same as in Mt 20:1.
12. Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat—the burning heat.
of the day—who have wrought not only longer but during a more trying period of the day.
13. But he answered one of them—doubtless the spokesman of the complaining party.
and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? &c.
15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?—that is, "You appeal to justice, and by that your mouth is shut; for the sum you agreed for is paid you. Your case being disposed of, with the terms I make with other laborers you have nothing to do; and to grudge the benevolence shown to others, when by your own admission you have been honorably dealt with, is both unworthy envy of your neighbor, and discontent with the goodness that engaged and rewarded you in his service at all."
16. So the last shall be first, and the first last—that is, "Take heed lest by indulging the spirit of these murmurers at the penny given to the last hired, ye miss your own penny, though first in the vineyard; while the consciousness of having come in so late may inspire these last with such a humble frame, and such admiration of the grace that has hired and rewarded them at all, as will put them into the foremost place in the end."
for many be called, but few chosen—This is another of our Lord's terse and pregnant sayings, more than once uttered in different connections. (See Mt 19:30; 22:14). The "calling" of which the New Testament almost invariably speaks is what divines call effectual calling, carrying with it a supernatural operation on the will to secure its consent. But that cannot be the meaning of it here; the "called" being emphatically distinguished from the "chosen." It can only mean here the "invited." And so the sense is, Many receive the invitations of the Gospel whom God has never "chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2Th 2:13). But what, it may be asked, has this to do with the subject of our parable? Probably this—to teach us that men who have wrought in Christ's service all their days may, by the spirit which they manifest at the last, make it too evident that, as between God and their own souls, they never were chosen workmen at all.
Mt 20:17-28. Third Explicit Announcement of His Approaching Sufferings, Death, and Resurrection—The Ambitious Request of James and John, and the Reply. ( = Mr 10:32-45; Lu 18:31-34).
For the exposition, see on Mr 10:32-45.
Mt 20:29-34. Two Blind Men Healed. ( = Mr 10:46-52; Lu 18:35-43).
For the exposition, see on Lu 18:35-43.