CHAPTER XX. The Parable of the Laborers, Request of James and John, and Cure of the Blind Man. 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 2 laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. lowing parable, to which it belongs; though it is found in Mark, where no parable succeeds it, and where we must suppose it connected with the preceding remarks, as we may conjecture it to be in some degree also in Matthew, for the conversation was continuous. It is a proverbial phrase, generally understood to apply to the reception of Christianity by the Gentiles, earlier than by the more favored Jews; but more likely, from its connexion with foregoing remarks, designed to teach the disciples, that the priority of time of their becoming followers of Christ would not entitle them to any higher rewards than later converts would receive, would not elevate them to loftier dignities, as they erroneously supposed, in the new kingdom. Character, not the time of conversion, would give them distinction one above another. CHAP. XX. 1. The parable of the laborers is connected with the last verse of the preceding chapter, as is indicated by the word for. The kingdom of heaven, or the dealings of God under the Christian_dispensation, may be likened, said Jesus, to the treatment of his laborers by the owner of a vineyard. We have here a continuation of the conversation in the last chapter, and the parable can only be understood with reference to that. Peter had inquired respecting the rewards of discipleship. The Saviour replies, that the Apostles would attain the highest honors, next to himself, and that all other disciples would receive abundant rewards, both in this life, and in that which is to come. But, he adds, do not suppose that the earlier converts under the Gospel dispensation will, on that account, be any more meritorious, or better rewarded, than those who, being called later, manifest an equal fidelity and zeal. The virtue and acceptableness of the act consisted, not in the time, but in the prompitude and conscientiousness with which the call was obeyed, whenever it came. Yea, even the first, as to time and privileges, may become inferior to the last, and the last become first. This parable has been supposed generally to refer to the calling of the Gentiles, and the equality they would hold with the Jews; but the interpretation above covers that ground and much more, and is more consistent with the general strain of the conversation. It hardly need be stated, that it has not a particle of allusion to the individual age at which persons become Christians, nor furnishes one iota of encouragement, for the efficacy of death-bed repentance. The successive hours correspond to different periods of the Christian dispensation, not to the seasons of human life. An householder. A master of a family. Early in the morning, i. e. the first hour, at six o'clock. Vineyard. The cultivation of the grape was an important part of Jewish agriculture. 2. A penny. The Roman denarius or penny is equal to the Gre 3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing 4 idle in the market-place; and said unto them: Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right I will give you. And 5 they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and 6 ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them: 7 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 re8 ceive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward: Call the laborers, and give them their hire, 9 beginning from the last, unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every 10 man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received 11 every man a penny. And when they had received it, they 12 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. cian drachm; about fourteen cents. This was the usual pay of laborers and soldiers. Tobit v. 14. 3. Third hour, i. e. nine o'clock. - Idle in the market-place. Meaning, unemployed. This was the usual place for persons to resort to, in order to obtain hire, as well as to sell and buy goods. 4. Whatsoever is right. Or, reasonable. No specific agreement was made with those last hired. 5, 6. Sixth-ninth-eleventh hour. At twelve, three, and five o'clock respectively. The different periods are here represented at which persons became the disciples of Jesus, according as they had opportunities of doing it. Why stand ye here all the day idle? "The God of glory walks his round, From day to day, from year to year; And warns us each, with awful sound, 'No longer stand ye idle here!' Recall us to thy vineyard, Lord! 8. When even was come. Or, six o'clock. Steward. The overseer of the domestic economy. From the last unto the first. This was done so that the first might not go away, but be present at the dialogue which followed. 9. The price may have been left unsettled with those who went last into the vineyard, that they might labor the more strenuously, by knowing that they would be paid according to the amount of work done, and not according to the time of labor. 11. The goodman of the house. The word is translated householder in verse 1. It is an old English term, now obsolete, to express the head of a family, without regard to moral quality. 12. Have wrought but one hour. As they were hired at the eleventh hour, or five o'clock, and left their work at even, or at six o'clock. But he answered one of them, and said: Friend, I do thee no 13 wrong; didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way. I will give unto this last even as 14 unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine 15 own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall 16 be first; and the first, last. For many be called, but few chosen. And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples 17 apart in the way, and said unto them: Behold, we go up to 18 Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn 19 him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock, Reference is made in this part of the parable, it would seem, to Peter's inquiry, in chap. xix. 27, made as if he and his associates expected a greater reward than others, who entered later into Jesus' service. 15. Thine eye evil. Or, envious. An evil eye is used as an emblem of envy. Art thou jealous and grudging, because I am good, or gracious and liberal. The master of the house performed his promise, and therefore wronged no one by his generosity to the last laborers. God will dispense his gifts according to his own pleasure and benignity, and deal justly with all, however some may murmur at their own, or envy the lot of others. He is no respecter of persons, and Gentiles, as well as Jews, will share in his impartial love. 16. So. According to the illustration now given. Not the first called, but the most industrious, would be the most approved. The period of becoming disciples would make no difference in the rewards. Many be called, but few chosen. A further proverbial expression, thought by some eminent critics to be an interpolation. An allusion is made, according to some, to the selection of soldiers for an army. Many shall be called to be disciples, but few shall be chosen, i. e. choice disciples. 17-19. Parallel to Mark x. 3234. Luke xviii. 31–34. 17. Going up to Jerusalem. This was his last journey towards the holy city. As many others were probably on their way to the festival of the passover, he withdraws his disciples apart to communicate something of the deepest interest. Mark says, that Jesus went before them, and that they followed him in amazement and fear, thinking, perhaps, that their safety and lives would be endangered at Jerusalem. The fearless bearing of their Master awed and astonished them. 18, 19. The Son of Man. See note on chap. xi. 19. – Shall be betrayed, &c. The minuteness of this prediction, and its exact fulfilment, is a clear proof of the Saviour's prophetic and divine knowledge. This is the third time he had spoken of the unwelcome subject. Condemn him to death. The Jewish Sanhedrim could not pass a judicial sentence of death upon him, or carry it into execution, but they could judge him to deserve such a sentence. Matt. xxvi. 66, xxvii. 2. - To the Gentiles. They would even call in the aid of the Gentiles, whom they abominated, to help and to scourge, and to crucify him; and the third day he shall rise again. 20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children, with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. 21 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 22 hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 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 them in their bloody crime. All these particulars were exactly fulfilled. He was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the chief priests and Scribes. By them he was adjudged worthy of death. He was handed over to Pontius Pilate, was mocked by Herod and the soldiers, was scourged, crucified, and on the third day was raised from the dead. None but a supernatural foresight could have anticipated these particulars; for, as has been observed, humanly speaking, it was much more probable that he would be privately assassinated, or stoned in some transport of popular fury, or by order of the Sanhedrim, than that he should be thus sentenced to crucifixion, a Roman punishment, with which he had never been threatened. Notwithstanding the plainness of his declarations, Luke tells us, that his disciples "understood none of these things," for they still labored under the infatuation of expecting his temporal glory. 20-28. Parallel to Mark x. 35 - 45. 20. Though the curtain of a dark future had just been lifted by Jesus, this infatuation was illustrated anew by the mother of two of the Apostles, James and John. Her name was Salome. Matt. xxvii. 56; Mark xv. 40, xvi. 1. Her own services to Jesus, the special favors he had bestowed upon her sons, and the promise in Matt. xix. 28, emboldened her to prefer this ambitious request. According to Mark, the sons themselves, James and John, are the supplicants. Both the mother and her children were probably concerned in the application; for Matthew states, she came with her sons. They shielded themselves under their mother's mediation, from the rebuke which had already been administered to the aspiring. Matt. xviii. 3. 21. One on thy right hand, and the other on the left. Their imagination was possessed with the figure which Jesus had used of sitting upon thrones. That glittering prospect dazzled their eyes, and they could not see or understand, that sufferings and death awaited their Master and themselves, before they could reign in their spiritual glory. In reference to eastern customs, they desire the highest places of confidence and honor with Jesus, indicated by sitting on his right and left hand. 22. Ye know not what ye ask. For they mistook the nature of his kingdom. How many parents know not what they ask for their children, when they desire pleasures, possessions, and honors of this world, for them! For, without the jewel of virtue, they will be poor and miserable indeed, however rich or distinguished. Cup that I shall drink of. An image of his future suffer the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him : We are able. And he saith unto them: Ye shall drink in- 23 deed 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. And when the ten heard it, they 24 were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But 25 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 26 among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, 27 ings. Ps. xi. 6, lx. 3; Isa. li. 17; Matt. xxvi. 39; John xviii. 11. The baptism that I am baptized with. Another illustration, to the same purport. Martyrdom was called the baptism of blood; repentance, the baptism of tears, in oriental speech. Can you meet the dangers and sufferings I am destined to undergo? This clause is, however, expunged from the text in this and the next verse, as spurious, by Griesbach and other great critics. We are able. Little they knew of the thorny path they were to tread. Their fancied strength was weakness, their bright hopes a bubble. Still, their words were, in some sense, prophetic; for in due time they were able to do and suffer gloriously, submitting to banishment and death, on account of their crucified Master. Acts xii. 2; Rev. i. 9. 23. You shall, is the spirit of the reply, share in my toils and sufferings; the cup of sorrow, the baptism of blood, shall be yours; but to bestow the dignities of my kingdom is not in my power, except as they are allotted by my Father. The words in Italics were introduced by the translators, and had better be omitted. The reference of his own will to his Father's shows us, as clearly as language can show, that he was a created, dependent being, not the original, uncaused Power. 24. They were moved with indignation. The ten were offended with the other two, as making a request against their interests. Ambition is always indignant at ambition. 25. As Jesus had before rebuked their ambition by the presence of a child, so now he uses a new illustration, to quell their aspiring temper. Calling them together, he directs their attention to the political rulers of the times, among pagan nations, who domineered and tyrannized over their subjects. Luke xxii. 25. Among them, ambition and rivalry were to be expected. But 26, 27. It shall not be so among you. Rather, let it not be so among you. Such a grasping disposition is wholly inconsistent with the principles of my religion, and the office your are to sustain in proclaiming it to the world. Your minister. Your servant. The true greatness of my followers will spring from humility and the benevolent offices of charity and good will. The useful are the great, the good are the glorious. Only in loving companionship with his fellows does man feel safe, only in reverently bowing 66 |