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Texts -- Matthew 20:10-34 (NET)

Context
20:10 And when those hired first came , they thought they would receive more . But each one also received the standard wage . 20:11 When they received it, they began to complain against the landowner , 20:12 saying , ‘These last fellows worked one hour , and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day .’ 20:13 And the landowner replied to one of them , ‘Friend , I am not treating you unfairly . Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage ? 20:14 Take what is yours and go . I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you . 20:15 Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me ? Or are you envious because I am generous ?’ 20:16 So the last will be first , and the first last .”
Third Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection
20:17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem , he took the twelve aside privately and said to them on the way , 20:18 “Look , we are going up to Jerusalem , and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law . They will condemn him to death , 20:19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely and crucified . Yet on the third day , he will be raised .”
A Request for James and John
20:20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons , and kneeling down she asked him for a favor . 20:21 He said to her , “What do you want ?” She replied , “Permit these two sons of mine to sit , one at your right hand and one at your left , in your kingdom .” 20:22 Jesus answered , “You don’t know what you are asking ! Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink ?” They said to him , “We are able .” 20:23 He told them , “You will drink my cup , but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give . Rather , it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father .” 20:24 Now when the other ten heard this, they were angry with the two brothers . 20:25 But Jesus called them and said , “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them , and those in high positions use their authority over them . 20:26 It must not be this way among you ! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant , 20:27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve , and to give his life as a ransom for many .”
Two Blind Men Healed
20:29 As they were leaving Jericho , a large crowd followed them . 20:30 Two blind men were sitting by the road . When they heard that Jesus was passing by , they shouted , “Have mercy on us , Lord , Son of David !” 20:31 The crowd scolded them to get them to be quiet . But they shouted even more loudly , “Lord , have mercy on us , Son of David !” 20:32 Jesus stopped , called them , and said , “What do you want me to do for you ?” 20:33 They said to him , “Lord , let our eyes be opened .” 20:34 Moved with compassion , Jesus touched their eyes . Immediately they received their sight and followed him .

Pericope

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  • [Mat 20:21] Two Brothers Freely Cast Their Lot
  • [Mat 20:22] Son Of God Goes Forth To War, The
  • [Mat 20:23] Oh! What, If We Are Christ’s
  • [Mat 20:34] Jesus, Full Of All Compassion

Questions

Sermon Illustrations

Equal Pay for Unequal Work; Jesus Is King; Who Is Jesus Christ?

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The rest of the chapter describes the distribution of plunder from this battle. The amount of space the writer devoted to this revelation shows that he intended to stress it.David returned to his 200 exhausted followers at th...
  • The Israelites contributed to the rebuilding of the temple as they had to the construction of the Mosaic tabernacle (Exod. 25:4-7; 35:2-9). Probably the Greek gold drachma is in view and the Babylonian silver mina (v. 69).55I...
  • 49:5-6 This rhetorical question sets forth the folly of fearing when wicked people oppose the righteous. It introduces the revelation that the prosperous ungodly enjoy a false security (vv. 7-12).49:7-9 Material wealth cannot...
  • Like the third "woe"(ch. 30), this fourth one deals with the folly of trusting in Egypt for security rather than the Lord. It applies particularly the principles set forth in the first part of the second "woe"(29:1-14), as is...
  • God had not forgotten nor was He unable to deliver His people. Their redemption was certain."This vision of what God will accomplish through his Servant is so exciting that Isaiah breaks into the ecstatic hymn of praise (vv. ...
  • Four messages announce God's judgment on Jerusalem for her unfaithfulness (vv. 22-27, 28-31, 32-34, 35).23:22-24 Because of her behavior the Lord promised to turn Oholibah's soldier-lovers against her, even the Babylonians, C...
  • The Lord repeated His accusation against Israel's leaders (vv. 7-8) and then announced what He planned to do about the situation (vv. 9-31).34:7-8 These false shepherds needed to listen to God's word to them because they had ...
  • The story now reaches its climax. God revealed to Jonah how out of harmony with His own heart the prophet, though obedient, was. He contrasted Jonah's attitude with His own.Compassion (Heb. hus, concern [NIV], be sorry for [N...
  • 2:15 God would judge Babylon because the Babylonians had deceived their neighbor nations with the result that they were able to take advantage of them. The Babylonians had behaved like a man who gets a woman drunk so she will...
  • Matthew often grouped his material into sections so that three, five, six, or seven events, miracles, sayings, or parables appear together.27Jewish writers typically did this to help their readers remember what they had writt...
  • I. The introduction of the King 1:1-4:11A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17B. The King's birth 1:18-25C. The King's childhood 2:1-231. The prophecy about Bethlehem 2:1-122. The prophecies about Egypt 2:13-183. The prophecies about...
  • Matthew began his Gospel with a record of Jesus' genealogy because the Christians claimed that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. To qualify as such He had to be a Jew from the royal line of David (Isa. 9:6-...
  • The first sentence in this pericope (section) serves as a title for the section, as the sentence in verse 1 did for 1:1-17. Matthew recorded the supernatural birth of Jesus to demonstrate further His qualification as Israel's...
  • It was common when Jesus lived for forerunners to precede important individuals to prepare the way for their arrival. For example, when a king would visit a town in his realm his emissaries would go before him to announce his...
  • Jesus' genealogy and virgin birth prove His legal human qualification as Israel's King. His baptism was the occasion of His divine approval. His temptation demonstrated His moral fitness to reign. The natural question a thoug...
  • Comparison of John's Gospel and Matthew's shows that Jesus ministered for about a year before John the Baptist's arrest. John had criticized Herod Antipas for having an adulterous relationship with his brother Philip's wife (...
  • That evening many other people brought their afflicted friends and relatives to Jesus for healing. In the Jewish inter-testamental literature the writers spoke of demons as responsible for making people ill.384Jesus cast out ...
  • 9:27-28 This is the first time in Matthew's Gospel that someone called Jesus the "Son of David"(cf. 1:1; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30, 31; 21:9, 15). This was a messianic title, and the blind men's use of it undoubtedly expressed thei...
  • 16:21 This is only the second time in the Gospel that Matthew used the phrase apo tote erxato, "from that time"(cf. 26:16). The first time was in 4:17 where Jesus began to present Himself to Israel as her Messiah. Here it ann...
  • Jesus proceeded to clarify the way of discipleship. In view of Jesus' death His disciples, as well as He, would have to die to self. However, they could rejoice in the assurance that the kingdom would come eventually. Glory w...
  • This section of the Gospel continues Jesus' instruction of His disciples in preparation for their future (19:3-20:34). Then Jesus presented Himself formally to Israel as her King with His triumphal entry (21:1-17). This resul...
  • 19:23-24 "Truly I say to you"or "I tell you the truth"introduces another very important statement (cf. 5:18; et al.). Jesus evidently referred to a literal camel and a literal sewing needle (Gr. rhaphidos) here. His statement...
  • This parable explains why the last will become first. It begins with a well known scene but then introduces surprising elements to make a powerful point."Jesus deliberately and cleverly led the listeners along by degrees unti...
  • There is a theological connection between this section and the former one. The death of Jesus provided the basis for God's gracious dealings with believers in His Son. This connection is clear to Matthew's readers because Mat...
  • This pericope shows that the disciples did not understand what Jesus had said (cf. Luke 18:34)."Despite Jesus' repeated predictions of his passion, two disciples and their mother are still thinking about privilege, status, an...
  • Even on the way to give His life a ransom for many Jesus continued to serve, as this pericope shows. Rather than delivering Himself from the fate He foresaw, He mercifully and compassionately delivered others from their affli...
  • Matthew stressed Jesus' cleansing of the temple as the work of David's Son (vv. 9, 15). This activity had great messianic significance.77221:12 The Mosaic Law required that the Jews pay a half-shekel temple tax, which they pa...
  • This first parable condemned the conduct of these leaders. It showed that they condemned themselves by judging Jesus as they did.21:28 Jesus evidently launched into this parable immediately. His introductory question, unique ...
  • Jesus proceeded immediately to tell another parable. Luke wrote that Jesus addressed it to the crowds in the temple courtyard (Luke 20:9). The chief priests and elders continued to listen (vv. 45-46).21:33-34 Jesus alluded to...
  • 22:34 The Pharisees learned that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees. In other words, they learned that the Sadducees would no longer oppose Him publicly. Consequently the Pharisees decided to renew their attack against Him.22:3...
  • 23:1 As we have seen, there were three groups of people present in the temple courtyard. These were the disciples of Jesus, His critics, namely the various groups of Israel's leaders, and the crowds of ordinary Israelites. Je...
  • Having given a general description of conditions preceding His return and the end of the present age, Jesus next described one particular event that would be the greatest sign of all.24:15 "Therefore"or "So"(Gr. oun) ties thi...
  • Jesus concluded the Olivet Discourse with further revelation about the judgment that will take place at the end of the present age when He returns. He had referred to it often in the discourse, but now He made it a special su...
  • 26:1-2 These verses record the fourth major prediction of Jesus' death that He gave His disciples (cf. 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19). Matthew just finished recording Jesus' claim to judge humankind (25:31-46). Now he wrote that ...
  • 26:6-7 This event evidently happened on the previous Saturday evening (John 12:1).971The reference to two days before the Passover in verse 2 dates the plot to seize Jesus, not the anointing in Simon's house.972Apparently He ...
  • 26:26 "And"introduces the second thing Matthew recorded that happened as Jesus and His disciples were eating the Passover meal, the first being Jesus' announcement about His betrayer (v. 21). Jesus took bread (Gr. artos, 4:4;...
  • This pericope illustrates the importance of facing temptation with vigilance and prayer. What is more important, it reveals Jesus' attitude toward what He was about to do. Until now, Jesus seems to have been anticipating His ...
  • Pilate was a cruel ruler who made little attempt to understand the Jews whom he hated.1047He had treated them unfairly and brutally on many occasions, but recently Caesar had rebuked him severely.1048This probably accounts fo...
  • Matthew's emphasis in his account of Jesus' crucifixion was on the mocking of the onlookers.27:32 Jesus was able to carry the crosspiece of His cross until He passed through the city gate (cf. Mark 15:21 John 19:17). Normally...
  • 27:45 That "land"(Gr. ge) was abnormally dark from noon until 3:00 p.m. Matthew's use of geprobably indicates Israel. Darkness in Scripture often represents judgment and or tragedy (cf. Exod. 10:21-22; Amos 8:9-10). Matthew's...
  • 28:1 The NASB translation of the Greek preposition opseas "late"is misleading. The word can also mean "after,"and it makes better sense if translated as such here.1082The women waited until after the Sabbath to go to Jesus' t...
  • 28:11 Some of the guards left the others at the tomb and reported the earthquake, the angel, and the empty tomb to the chief priests.28:12-14 The action of these Sanhedrin members proves that their promise to believe in Jesus...
  • Whereas the chief priests used bribe money to commission the soldiers to spread lies, the resurrected Jesus used the promise of His power and presence to commission His disciples to spread the gospel.1091This is the final add...
  • Abbott-Smith, G. A. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1937.Albright, W. F. and Mann, C. S. Matthew. The Anchor Bible series. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.Alford, Henry. The Greek Testa...
  • This topic sentence summarizes Jesus' whole ministry in Galilee. It identifies when it started, where it happened, and the essence of what Jesus' proclaimed that was the basis of His ministry.1:14 Jesus began His Galilean min...
  • Jesus used the incident just past to teach His disciples about riches. Matthew's account is the fullest.10:23 The case of this unbeliever had important significance for Jesus' believing disciples. Rather than being a preview ...
  • This pericope parallels 9:30-37. Both sections deal with true greatness, and both follow predictions of Jesus' passion. This second incident shows the disciples' lack of spiritual perception and their selfishness even more th...
  • Mark probably included this incident in his Gospel because it illustrates how Jesus would open the spiritual eyes of His disciples that were still shut (cf. 8:22-26). This is the last healing miracle that Mark recorded."This ...
  • Another question led to this teaching. The thematic connection with Jesus' words about the small beginning of the kingdom (vv. 19, 21) should be obvious. As elsewhere, Luke recorded Jesus teaching lessons and using illustrati...
  • 15:25-27 Jesus pictured the older brother, symbolic of the Pharisees and scribes, as working hard for the father. The Jews as well as the Jewish religious leaders likewise enjoyed the privileged status of an older brother in ...
  • Luke's primary purpose for including this incident in his narrative seems to have been to show that God, through Jesus, can give insight to those who humbly call on Him for mercy. Here was another humble outcast similar to th...
  • Following Jesus' announcement of His self-sacrifice and the announcement of His betrayal, the disciples' argument over who of them was the greatest appears thoroughly inappropriate (cf. Matt. 20:17-28; Mark 10:32-45). Jesus u...
  • Jesus often used a grapevine to describe the nation of Israel (cf. Matt. 20:1-16; 21:23-41; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 13:6-9; 20:9-16). The vine as a symbol of Israel appears on coins of the Maccabees.474Here Jesus used the vine meta...
  • 18:1 "These words"evidently refer to all of what Jesus had said in chapters 13-17 all of which He probably spoke in the upper room. The Kidron Valley formed the eastern boundary of Jerusalem. The Kidron was also a wadior dry ...
  • "Peter's rescue from prison is an unusually vivid episode in Acts even when simply taken as a story about Peter. Because it is not connected with events in the chapters immediately before and after it, however, it may seem ra...
  • Paul began by explaining the concept of justification.92"We now come to the unfolding of that word which Paul in Chapter One declares to be the very heart of the gospel . . ."933:21 The "righteousness of God"here refers to Go...
  • 1:7 The "Him"in view is the beloved Son (v. 6).Redemption (Gr. apolytrosin) means release from slavery (cf. v. 14; 4:30; Luke 21:28; Rom. 3:24; 8:23; 1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:15; 11:35). It involves buying back and sett...
  • 3:1-2 Paul returned to the report of his plans (2:17-18). He explained that by the time he, Silas, and Timothy had reached Athens they felt they could not stay away from their young converts in Thessalonica any longer. They d...
  • 5:1 In view of the inevitability of trials and God's judgment Peter gave a special charge to the elders (overseers) of the congregations of his readers. Peter himself was an elder as well as an apostle. As an elder he spoke f...
  • This pericope has strong ties to what precedes (16:17-18:24). It is the concluding revelation concerning the fall of Babylon, the latter-day Egypt and Tyre, and Antichrist, the ultimate Pharaoh of the Exodus and King of Tyre....

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Matthew 9-28
  • 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.'--Matt. 20:23.You will observe that an unusually long supplement is inserted by our translators...
  • Even as the Son of Man Came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.' Matt. 20:28.IT seems at first sight strangely unsympathetic and irrelevant that the ambitious request of James and John and their foolish mother, that t...
  • The Son of Man came, to give His life a ransom for many.'--Matt. 20:28.WE hear a great deal at present about going back to the Christ of the Gospels.' In so far as that phrase and the movement of thought which it describes ar...
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