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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 20:8 - 20:16
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_20:8-16
8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.'9When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. 10When those hired first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.'13But he answered and said to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous? 16So the last shall be first, and the first last."
Mat_20:8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages'" We learn from the Mosaic Law that laborers were to be paid at the close of the work day so that they could buy food for their families (cf. Lev_19:13; Deu_24:15; Mal_3:5). Often landowners tried to withhold the wages until the next day in order to assure that their labor force would return, but this was against the Mosaic Law.
Mat_20:10 "When those hired first came, they thought they would receive more" The workers hired first were assuming that they deserved more money because those who worked less time received what they had contracted for (cf. Mat_20:2). This parable shows how the ways of God are so different from the ways of this world. We see from Mat_20:11 that when they did not receive more money, they grumbled continually. Their attitude of being grateful even to be employed turned to anger because they did not get all that they expected. They rationalized that because they had worked all day in the heat, they deserved more pay. The implication of this is striking in relationship to religious people and spiritual rewards (cf. Mat_19:30; Mat_20:16).
Mat_20:13-15 The landowner answers with three rhetorical questions. The landowner has freedom to act as he will (cf. Romans 9), but he chooses to act in grace!
Mat_20:15 This verse is the theological heart of the parable. God is sovereign and He has the right to act (i.e., Romans 9-10). He chooses to act in undeserved grace (cf. Romans 11). Can anyone fault Him for that? This is theologically parallel to the Prodigal Son recorded in Luk_15:11-32. Should God's mercy to some offend those who have also experienced His mercy?
NASB, NRSV "Or is your eye envious because I am generous"
NKJV "Or is your eye evil because I am good"
TEV "Or are you jealous because I am generous"
NJB "Why be envious because I am generous"
This relates to the Ancient Near Eastern metaphor of "the evil eye" (cf. Deu_15:9; 1Sa_18:9). In this context it referred to jealousy or envy (cf. Mar_7:22). See Special Topic at Mat_6:22-23.
Mat_20:16
NASB "So the last shall be first, and the first last"
NKJV "So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen"
NRSV "So the last will be first and the first will be last"
TEV "So those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last"
NJB " Thus the last will be first, and the first, last"
There is a phrase at the end of this verse "for many are called, but few chosen," which is found in the KJV, but is omitted in the NASB, NKJV, TEV, and JB. It seems to have been added from Mat_22:14. It does not appear in the Greek manuscripts à , B, L, or Z. The UBS4 gives its exclusion an " A" rating (i.e., certain).
There is an obvious relationship between Mat_19:30 and Mat_20:16. Rewards are not based on merit but on grace. This has been understood in two ways.
1. All believers will not receive equal rewards, but equal standing in the kingdom. This is the biblical tension between a free salvation and Christ-like discipleship.
2. The Jews who received the promises of God first will not receive greater rewards or blessings than Gentile believers (cf. Luk_13:30).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. What are the guidelines for interpreting parables? (See How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth, by Fee and Stuart, p. 135-148)
2. What is the literary context of this parable?
3. What does this parable have to say to the relationship between God's children and rewards?
4. What do you think is the relationship between this parable and the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15)?
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS FOR Mat_20:17-18
A. The parallel of this account, found in Mar_10:32 ff., sets the stage for the attitude and actions of the disciples.
B. It is obvious from this account that the disciples still had a fundamental misunderstanding of the Messianic kingdom. This was possibly related to Jesus' statement in Mat_19:28.
C. This is the third and most detailed prediction of Jesus' death and resurrection to the disciples (cf. Mat_16:21; Mat_17:9; Mat_17:22-23). He knew why He came! He controlled His own history (cf. Joh_10:17-18)!