Matthew 20:1-16
How often do you hear a familiar story and instantly relate the details to your situation? If, for example you heard an allusion to the Wizard of Oz, you immediately understand the context of the story. (Open your Bible or App and read the scripture above.) Yeshua in this parable gave them a parable that they understood well. Isaiah had written a story about a vineyard that was planted, well-tended and groomed to perfection. In the end it produced bad fruit. The vinedresser abandoned the vineyard to ruin. Isaiah associated the vineyard with Jerusalem and the men of Judah. After abandoning the vineyard, different vinedressers are brought in from the nations. The dirge is one of judgment (Isa 5). Later the disastrous vineyard becomes a protected vineyard which the Lord (YHVH) Himself tends. Instead of being a place of judgment it becomes a place of peace, comfort and protection from the evil elements. The sin of Jacob has been forgiven and has returned to Torah. It is a story of victory. It is the day when those who have been dispersed among the nations are called home (Isa 27). The story of the vine pops up all through the Old Testament as a familiar tale with many different facets.
When Yeshua began speaking about the vineyard, the audience was immediately familiar with the allegory and instantly attuned to see where He was going with the story. The vineyard that Yeshua talked about was one that was very successful. It demanded a large workforce to manage it. The owner of the vineyard drew men to it over several significant times of the day.
He hired men at 6, 9, 12, 3 and 5pm. The times are significant since they hit the 9 and 3 pm prayer times. The word for “idle” is a word which means “lazy or useless”. The spiritual implication is huge. Men out of work were lazily hanging out in the market place during times of prayer instead of being involved. The vineyard owner sought out worthless workers to work his vineyard instead of being sought out by them for employment. The ones who were on the original crew are an unknown, but appear to be ones who sought the work. You can see how that the story parallels the one that Isaiah told regarding both the worthless vineyard and the profitable one.
Yeshua brings the story to focus on the workers. Their wages are the key to the story. The ones who were hired in the 11th hour only worked one hour and received a full day’s pay. The rest received the same pay. The story now takes a spiritual twist. Those who had worked the entire day were jealous of the newcomers who had received the same pay. The implication is simple. The Jewish people have had Torah from the beginning and were responsible for tending God’s vineyard. As time was rapidly drawing to a close, new workers were being called into the vineyard to work.
We know today that Yeshua was setting up a new order. He was establishing the New Covenant that was promised by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-32). This covenant was similar to the two vineyards, the first covenants were ignored by the recipients. The later New Covenant was not written on stone, but on the very hearts of the receivers. Therefore, those who had spent ages following the first covenant will be joined by the ones under the New Covenant. The wages of the two covenants are the same.
The generosity of the Lord of the Vineyard is demonstrated by the fact that He hired workers later and gave them the same wages as the ones already employed. What is the significance of this? His answer follows: “The last shall be first, and the first, last”. The better covenant is one which was written on the hearts of men. The wages are the same.
We are talking about “salvation”. Note that all the workers worked. When we tie the context of the last chapter and this one we realize that the message is only about Salvation. Yeshua brings this full circle when He tells the disciples that he is soon to be delivered over and crucified. Then He will rise on the third day. His blood was to be shed, and new life was to be brought. It paralleled the tragedy of the original vineyard and the later one. The fruits of the original vineyard was sparse while the fruits of the new vineyard are abundant so much that there is never enough workers.
Matthew 20:17-19
Yeshua forewarns His disciples that He is soon to be delivered up and crucified. He did not want the disciples to be caught flat footed when the event takes place. The evidence from the following scriptures indicate that they did not understand that Yeshua was fulfilling the role of the suffering Messiah. He had to die for the redemption of men. This warning follows on the previous chapter and ties together the context of the redemptive role of the Messiah (Matthew 19:28-30)
Yeshua had to die. It was the only way to be the perfect lamb which would pay the penalty of sin and offer forgiveness for man. In the following few chapters we will be looking at the redemption story that was necessary according to purchase man back and to reestablish His vineyard. When He calls a man to salvation, regardless if it is in the beginning of his life, or at the end, the reward is still the same, his sin is covered, and the blood of Jesus forever redeems him. I am going to list a number of scriptures dealing with the forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. Most of them are self-explanatory, look them up and read them in context. These are just a few of many that set our mind on the role of Yeshua as Messiah:
Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 1:7; Ephes. 5:26-27; 2 Peter 1:9; Rev. 5:9; Rev. 12:11; Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 13:12; 1 Peter 1:18-19
There was only one set of works that qualified us for heaven, and that was when Jesus died on the cross. We are forgiven through His shed blood, not by anything that we have ever done, or ever will do. Our purification comes as a matter of grace, we don’t deserve salvation, just like the workers hired in the last hour didn’t “deserve” the same wages as the ones who were there all day, (according to human standards.) What more can be said regarding this, a study on the blood of Jesus can clearly span both the Old and New Testaments and go into pages upon pages explaining the concept, but for our study, this should be sufficient.
One last thought on this passage, the workers worked. The ones who toiled from the beginning of the day worked hard all day. The ones called in the last hour worked hard for the last hour. There wasn’t a party atmosphere; they were all diligent about working for the landowner. That tells us that God expects us to work when we are called. He doesn’t call us to be couch potato Christians, or armchair quarterbacks. We are to go out and get our hands dirty for the Kingdom of God. First of all, when we work for the Kingdom, we have to know how to use the tools, that is why we have the Bible before us. Then we have to put it into action and that is what the world is for. We are all placed here as ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), and expected to share what we know before the world. Another example of this is the way that Paul develops the thought of the Church being the body of Christ. Everyone has to do their own part in order to cause the body to function effectively, it involves work, and otherwise, the body looks like it belongs to a disfigured person (1 Cor. 12:14-31).
Spiritual gifts are important to the health of the Christian Church. More important than the gifts though are the effort that is put forth by the Christian body to exercise their Christianity. The workers in the vineyard were called to work, they were expected to fulfill a purpose by the landowner, the same is true once we accept Jesus as our savior, we are expected to put forth the effort to learn to use the tools and to effectively use them for the Kingdom of God.
Works is a hot issue for a lot of people, they feel that works are not necessary since we have accepted Jesus as savior and His blood has covered our sin (Romans 3:28). I hold that although works are not necessary for salvation, they are necessary to stay in fellowship with God. Without works, where is the evidence of our salvation in our lives? (James 2:18-26)
Now, let’s roll up our sleeves and go to work. I would encourage each one of you to look for ways to become more involved in your local churches, and find ways to encourage and build up other believers. I would encourage each one of you to make a commitment before God to do the work, holding to the purity that we are called to and to reach out to those who do not know God encouraging them to come and meet the Savior. Yeshua warned the disciples that He was soon to die, and rise again. They did not understand this, but in retrospect we do. We were called to work in God’s vineyard, not to sit on our couches and pass through life at ease.
Matthew 20:20-28
It was a quest for power by two brothers, James and John, who were also referred to as the “sons of thunder”, (Mark 3:17; 10:41). These two were fired up and excited about Yeshua, it seems that they got their enthusiasm from their mother. You can be sure that the apostles all suffered greatly for following Jesus. All the others died by various forms, hanging, crucifixion, drawn and quartered, dragged to death, and they attempted to boil John in oil, but it didn’t work. James was put to death by sword in Acts 12:1-2. Legend has it that John died a martyr’s death. He is the only one that does not have his death recorded, which causes me to wonder if he never died.
Jesus continues to build on the idea of the workers in the vineyard. Jesus came to serve, and not to assert His authority over them. He pointed out that just as the workers in the vineyard did not have a conventional set of rules determining their wages versus the hours worked, in the same way the servanthood of the Messiah is unconventional to human understanding. When we think of a king coming to redeem the land, we expect everyone to bow down to the king. Jesus took the role of a servant, setting the example for all of us to be servants first, and not to seek positions of authority. Jesus purposefully refused to lord over man so that we can see the proper way that we are to relate to each other. Agape love is built upon serving our brother, not upon our brother serving us.
Yeshua warned the disciples that he was soon to be delivered up and would be killed (Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19, 28). The warning was falling on deaf ears. The disciples knew that Yeshua was the Messiah. They knew the prophesies that were in place through the scriptures that the Messiah would set up an earthly kingdom and rule with an iron fist. Since they were confident of this, they expected that the Messiah would set up an earthly kingdom during their lives. This was a reasonable expectation.
Notice also that the ten were indignant with the two brothers (Matthew 10:24). Think this through. Judas was included in the ten. I am convinced that one of the reasons Judas surrendered the Messiah to the authorities was for this very reason. He felt that if the Messiah was delivered over, the angels of heaven would come immediately to His defense and the earthly kingdom would be ushered in immediately. He also gets a bonus of 30 pieces of silver. Once the kingdom was set up, he was standing to take the role as treasurer.
Yeshua sought to corrects this misunderstanding by teaching them the difference between earthly kings and His kingdom. He reiterated a fourth time in a few chapters that He was to die. The purpose was to ransom the occupants of His kingdom.
Matthew 20:29-34
The blind men in this story are quick to call out to Yeshua as Messiah. They recognized that as the “Son of David” Yeshua was actually the “branch of David” that was prophesied (Jer 14:17). Jeremiah said that the Messiah will cause Israel to live in righteousness. That the Messiah will “save” Jerusalem. Let’s consider whether or not this is the attitude actual scripture that the blind men were alluding to is beyond our ability to discern. The characteristic of the time and understanding about the Messiah scripture carries forth in their request.
The scriptures fortold that YHVH will bear the name “Yeshua” (Ps 96:2). The mighty deeds of Yeshua are spoken of by David (Ps 71:15). These bind men connected the dots which established that Yeshua was certainly the promised “son of David”. This led them to believe that this “son” was extraordinary, and they concluded that this was the foretold savior (Yeshua) that the scriptures spoke of. When Yeshua questioned the Pharisees concerning the Messiah, they identified Him as the Son of David (Matt 22:41-46).
The Pharisees understood that the Messiah (Christ) would certainly be the Son of David. Yeshua clarified this further by establishing that the Messiah will certainly be a Son of David (Ps 110). However, He will be much more than a “son”, He will also be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 110 is a powerful messianic Psalm. The point being that the people of the time understood clearly that the Messiah would certainly come from the lineage of David. You can almost be certain that the reason Yeshua questioned the Pharisees concerning the Messiah was because they clearly understood and taught that the Messiah would be from the lineage of David. Yeshua gave the Pharisees a trick question that demanded an answer. The nature of question pointed to His role as Messiah, the office of Messiah was to be filled with a “son of David”, therefore if they answered, they would have to consider further that Yeshua was the Messiah. The Pharisees quickly saw the direction of the interrogation and chose not to answer.
Blind people are often more perceptive than sighted people realize. Their interpretation of the events around them gave them enough conviction that they were willing to shout out for healing. These men did not remain silent but spoke out declaring what they knew to be true after the healing. This is the essence of the word “faith”. They heard of the healing of many various diseases and of the little girl being raised. Connecting the dots drew them to the conclusion that He was the promised Messiah: “Son of David”. They acted upon the faith that they had by calling out. Faith is a verb and they were actually “faithing”. Yeshua touched their eyes and healed them.
Yeshua does not command the healed men to be quiet like He did the previously (Matt 9:27-31) These two men embraced the knowledge that Yeshua could heal, moved on the knowledge and were healed. They demonstrated faith in their lives that brought about healing. Their faith was so strong that they were not willing to bow to the pressure from the crowd to keep silent.
Specifically named by Mark and Luke narrow the story down to one man: Bartimaeus for loudly calling out to the Messiah for healing. Matthew does not name him and places a fellow blind man with him. The elements of the story demonstrate that in the three synoptic Gospels, this is most likely the same event. The reasoning for this is because it is placed just prior to the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt 21:-9; Mk 11:1-10; Lk 19:29-38).
Endnote:
Jesus made every effort in this chapter to show that leadership in the Kingdom of heaven is not contingent upon the rules of leadership in the human world. In order to be the greatest, you have to be willing to serve others and move from a position of great authority to great servanthood. Imagine the impact that a president would have on his country if he adopted these principles. The secret service would go nuts! Imagine the impact that a minister would have in his church if he took off his suit and went into his flock helping them by cutting lawns, or helping to repair their cars, turning wrenches with his own hands. We need to take a different view on leadership in our churches, as spiritual leaders; we need to be physical servants and as well as spiritual servants of our fellow man. This is what is missing in our society; we have human-ized Christianity, and have thrown out the idea of servanthood. We have created a hierarchy of power, with the church leaders being at the top and the new members being at the bottom working their way up through the matrix. Jesus indicated that we have our hierarchy upside down, those who lead must be servants.
Our churches have become formal and the needs of the members often go unattended due to the inability of anyone to develop intimacy with each other. Needs cannot be met if people are not willing to share what they need. In an effort to fit into the hierarchy, people deny that they have needs and do not allow others to serve them. It is complicated; the need to serve others also leaves open the door for others to serve you. In other words a vulnerability must be developed, we have to risk allowing others to know what we need, as well as we have to risk probing to find out the needs of others. Otherwise if you are only serving others, and not allowing them to serve you, then you are stealing their spiritual blessing.
As I contemplate this concept, Ephesians 5:21 comes to mind, “and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ”. The following verses in Ephesians 5:22-6:9 develops the thought of servanthood. Then to wrap up his statement, Paul discusses putting on the full armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-17. The only way to dawn the armor of God is to be a servant of God’s people. If you think about it, the armor of God is not necessary for someone who is not a servant, they are not a threat to the devil, therefore he will not attack them. A person who is walking with the Lord seeking to follow Him and willing to put on servanthood is a threat to the devil because he will effect a change in the hearts of his fellow man. Jesus said that if you want to be the greatest, you must be the servant or slave of all (Mark 9:35; 10:44).
