Sign in
MATTHEW 20:15 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 20:14Matt 20:16
“Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?”
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? The two rhetorical questions: Is the landowner not free to do as he will with his own money? And is the grumbler's eye evil (the literal translation of do you begrudge my generosity is is your eye evil?) — the eye of envy that cannot bear the prosperity of another? The evil eye of the grumbler is the obstacle to receiving the kingdom's grace.

Church Fathers on Matthew 20:15

To establish the truth of this saying, 'There are many first that shall be last, and last first,' the Lord subjoins a similitude.

Remigius · 9th century

The Master of the household is Christ, whose house are the heavens and the earth; and the creatures of the heavens, and the earth, and beneath the earth, His family. His vineyard is righteousness, in which are set divers sorts of righteousness as vines, as meekness, chastity, patience, and the other virtues; all of which are called by one common name righteousness.

Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century

Or; The Master of the household, that is, our Maker, has a vineyard, that is, the Church universal, which has borne so many stocks, as many saints as it has put forth from righteous Abel to the very last saint who shall be born in the end of the world. To instruct this His people as for the dressing of a vineyard, the Lord has never ceased to send out His labourers; first by the Patriarchs, next by the teachers of the Law, then by the Prophets, and at the last by the…

Gregory the Great · 6th century · Hom. in Ev., xix, 1
Read all 47 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
Matthew 20:15 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy