Matthew chapter 20

Matthew 20 continues the dialogue of Jesus from chapter 19 which ended with Jesus saying "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."

This principle of "many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first" was prompted by the Rich Young Man who had a high earthly status but would not sacrifice that wealth and status in order to follow Jesus. So he who would be first by the standards of the world, will not even enter the Kingdom of God.

In continuing this theme Jesus tells a Kingdom parable about the Workers in the Vineyard. This parable tells of "a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard." Over the course of the day he hires more workers at different times BUT once the day was through "the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first." Each worker was paid he same amount regardles of when he arrived or how much work he did. Naturally the men who worked he longest complained saying "These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day." To which the Landowner replied "Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"

This parable is an excellent demonstration of how Christians can sometimes feel 'ripped-off' by Jesus because Grace does not make sence to our human minds. A murderer or serial rapist who repents only moments before death may be forgiven and have eternal life in Heaven just as a man who gave his entire life to living according to God's word and preaching the Gospel of Jesus to the world.

How is this fair?

Grace simply is not fair. If it was, then it would not be Grace. When we are concerned about the 'fairness' of God forgiving someone who we believe does not deserve it we should remember Romans 3:22-24 and that "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." This is exactly the issue one of my friends has with Christianity and Jesus, that Christians can be hypocritical and jerks and be forgiven while 'good' people who are not Christians will go to hell. The 'foolishness' of the Gospel in addition to that Jesus died for our sin, is not that He died for some and not others but rather that He should have died for even one.

Jesus again predicts His death in detail, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" Jesus is God revealed in the Flesh and as such He knew/knows avarything, past present and future. He knew the suffering that was ahead and yet He still submitted to the Father and His purpose of Salvation for His children. He submitted to the most vile of executions and all for the sins He never would commit, and could not even stand to be near. The Suffering Servant paid the price of my Iniquity, my God, my Lord, my Saviour who died for me, for no gain of His own, but solely for my gain. That I might know Him.

In verses 20-34 we have two seeming unrelated events. Firstly a woman asks for her sons to be seated in Glory at the right and left Hands of Jesus in His coming Kingdom, and then two blind men cry out for healing. This passage explicitly contrasts this prayer for costless glory with a desperate prayer of true need. Both groups recognized Jesus as the coming King, but the first group sought Jesus for personal advancement, the latter out of genuine need. Jesus did not grant the positions of power "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father" but He did have "compassion on [the blind men] and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him." So the places of glory and honour in Heaven have already been prepared by the Father and as such again suggests not being earned and are positions of Grace and not Reward.

This passage also has Jesus asking "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" This refers to Jesus death and suffering and that to be a follower of Him we will suffer also. This principle became a standard teaching of early Christians (Rom 8:17; 2 Thess 1:5; 2 Tim 2:12). As R. A. Cole notes, "This price they will in any case pay, for this is not the price of Christian greatness but the price of following Christ at all." Now this death does not have to be a physical one, but we surly die to ourselves and our natures when we become followers of Jesus. When He begins to live in, and through us.

Jesus also repeats His longing for servant hearts in His followers, hearts that might reflect His servanthood. "Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - 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." Notice that serving simply to reap the rewards later and be numbered Great in His Kindom is not serving others at all but rather serving our own desires. We must be servants simply to be more like Christ, not to have any gain later from it, that is not a servants heart but a selfish one.