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Matthew 20

1

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

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And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

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And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

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And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

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Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

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And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

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They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

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So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

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And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

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But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

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And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,

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Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

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But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

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Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

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Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

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So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

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And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,

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Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,

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And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

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Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.

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And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.

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But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.

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And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but 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.

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And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.

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But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

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But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

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And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

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Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

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And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.

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And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

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And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

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And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?

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They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

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So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

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Matthew 20

The parable of the vineyard workers given equal pay for unequal hours illustrates the first-last reversal of chapter 19's final verse: the landowner's generosity to the last-hired is not injustice to the first-hired (who received what they agreed to) but an expression of freedom to be generous. The third and most detailed passion prediction follows: the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and teachers of the law, condemned to death, handed to the Gentiles, mocked, flogged, crucified, and on the third day raised. The request of James and John's mother (one on your right and one on your left in the kingdom) provokes the teaching on servant leadership: whoever wants to become great must be your servant; 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. The two blind men of Jericho crying son of David close the chapter; Jesus stops, heals them, and they follow him — the Gospel's model of what sight-giving faith produces.

Matthew 20:10

Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius. The early workers' expectation — they thought they would receive more — communicates the logic of proportional reward that the parable will challenge. The each of them also received a denarius is the parable's central fact: the same wage for radically different amounts of work.

Matthew 20:26

It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant. The kingdom's contrast: it shall not be so among you. The greatness that the kingdom recognizes is the greatness of the servant. The must communicates the necessity of the reversal: the disciple who wants to be great in the kingdom has no choice but to become the servant of others.

Matthew 20:27

And whoever would be first among you must be your slave. The slave — the lowest possible social position — is the position that the one who wants to be first must occupy. The escalation from servant (verse 26) to slave (verse 27) communicates the totality of the reversal: the kingdom's hierarchy is the complete inversion of the world's hierarchy.

Matthew 20:1

For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard — introduced with for, connecting it to the first-last reversal of 19:30 — is the illustration of the kingdom's grace-driven economy. The landowner who hires workers throughout the day is the parable's central figure; the vineyard is the kingdom's work.

Matthew 20:2

After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. The agreed-upon wage for the early-morning workers is a denarius — the standard daily wage for a laborer in the ancient world. The agreement establishes the contract: a day's work for a day's wage. The parable's drama will arise from what happens when workers hired later in the day receive the same wage.

Matthew 20:3

And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. The third hour (about 9 AM) finds more unemployed workers in the marketplace. The idle standing is not laziness but unemployment: they are available for work but have not been hired. The master who goes out repeatedly through the day is the landlord who is maximizing his vineyard's productivity by hiring whoever is available.

Matthew 20:4

And to them he said: you go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. So they went. The promise of whatever is right — without specifying an amount — is the basis on which the third-hour workers go into the vineyard. The open-ended promise creates the ambiguity that the day's end will resolve: what is right according to the kingdom's economy may differ from what is right according to the labor market's economy.

Matthew 20:5

Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. The noon and three-PM hires follow the same pattern: idle workers found, sent into the vineyard, promised whatever is right. The pattern of repeated hiring through the day communicates the landowner's active concern for maximizing the vineyard's work and providing for the available workers.

Matthew 20:6

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them: why do you stand here idle all day? The eleventh hour (about 5 PM) workers are found still unemployed — they have stood in the marketplace all day without being hired. The question why do you stand here idle all day is not a rebuke but an inquiry: they have not been hired despite their availability.

Matthew 20:7

They said to him: because no one has hired us. He said to them: you go into the vineyard too. The frank answer — no one has hired us — communicates the workers' situation: a full day of unemployment, now with one hour left before sunset ends the working day. The go into the vineyard too is the landowner's gracious offer of an hour's work at the end of the day.

Matthew 20:8

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman: call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first. The payment order — last first, first last — is the structural reversal that creates the parable's tension. The eleventh-hour workers are paid first, and the early-morning workers are paid last. The order is deliberately designed to make the equal payment visible to the early workers.

Matthew 20:9

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. The eleventh-hour workers each receive a denarius — a full day's wage for one hour's work. The landowner's generosity to those who worked the least creates the expectation in the early workers' minds that they will receive proportionally more.

Matthew 20:11

And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house. The grumbling — the same word used for Israel's grumbling in the wilderness (Exodus 16:7–8) — communicates the early workers' complaint against the landowner's decision. The complaint is not about the wage they agreed to but about the wage others received. The grumbling is the comparison that the kingdom's economy does not support.

Matthew 20:12

Saying: these last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. The specific complaint: the eleventh-hour workers worked one hour in the cool of the late afternoon, and the early workers worked all day in the scorching heat. The these last worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us is the grumbler's accurate description of the situation and the kingdom's economy's precise point.

Matthew 20:13

But he replied to one of them: friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? The landowner's response: you received what we agreed to. The friend address — not a close friend but a formal address — communicates the landowner's courtesy in the face of the complaint. The did you not agree is the reminder: the contract was honored. The complaint is not about justice (you received what was agreed) but about grace to others.

Matthew 20:14

Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. The take what belongs to you and go is the firm conclusion of the contract argument. The I choose communicates the sovereign freedom of the landowner to give generously beyond the contract's terms to those who have less. The equal gift to the eleventh-hour workers is not an injustice to the early workers but a grace to the late ones.

Matthew 20:15

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.

Matthew 20:16

So the last will be first, and the first last. The return of the first-last-last-first reversal from 19:30: the chapter that will narrate James and John's mother asking for the first positions (verses 20–28) opens and closes with the kingdom's reversal of the human status hierarchy. The parable is the teaching; the disciples' competition is the application.

Matthew 20:17

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them. The third passion prediction in Matthew's Gospel occurs as Jesus goes up to Jerusalem — the physical ascent to the city where he will be killed. The taking aside of the twelve communicates the private, intentional character of the teaching: this is the most explicit passion prediction yet.

Matthew 20:18

See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. The third passion prediction names the agents of the condemnation for the first time: the chief priests and scribes. The delivered over (paradidomi) is the word of betrayal — the delivering that Judas will perform and that the Father will use for the atonement (Romans 8:32).

Matthew 20:19

And they will deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day. The most detailed of the three passion predictions: mocked, flogged, crucified — and raised on the third day. The specificity of the suffering and the specificity of the resurrection communicate the completeness of Jesus' foreknowledge. He goes to Jerusalem knowing exactly what is waiting for him.

Matthew 20:20

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. The third passion prediction is immediately followed by the mother of James and John asking for the best positions for her sons. The juxtaposition is striking: Jesus has just predicted his suffering, death, and resurrection; the mother is asking for her sons' status. The kneeling communicates the posture of request — but the request that follows reveals the persistent misunderstanding of the kingdom's character.

Matthew 20:21

And he said to her: what do you want? She said to him: say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom. The request — right hand and left hand positions in the kingdom — is the status-seeking that the Community Discourse addressed (Matthew 18:1–4) and the first-last parable challenged (Matthew 20:1–16). The in your kingdom communicates that the disciples still understand the kingdom in terms of political hierarchy and privilege.

Matthew 20:22

Jesus answered: you do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? They said to him: we are able. The cup that Jesus is about to drink is the cup of suffering — the cup that Gethsemane will reveal in its full intensity (Matthew 26:39). The we are able communicates the disciples' confident but uninformed willingness: they do not yet understand what the cup contains.

Matthew 20:23

He said to them: you will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father. The confirmation that James and John will drink the cup (James martyred in Acts 12:2; John exiled to Patmos in Revelation 1:9) paired with the withholding of the status-grant: the positions are the Father's to assign, not the Son's to grant on request. The preparation language communicates the sovereign arrangement of the kingdom's final structure.

Matthew 20:24

And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. The ten disciples' indignation at James and John's status-seeking is not moral superiority but competitive response: the ten are indignant because James and John tried to get ahead of them. The competition that James and John's mother's request exposed is the same competition that runs through all twelve.

Matthew 20:25

But Jesus called them to him and said: you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Jesus' call of the ten and the teaching that follows is the Community Discourse's first-last principle applied to the specific situation of status competition among the twelve. The Gentile pattern of leadership is characterized by lording it over and exercising authority — the exercise of power over those beneath.

Matthew 20:28

Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. The christological grounding of the servant-leadership teaching: the Son of Man's own coming was not to be served but to serve — and to give his life as a ransom for many. The ransom (lytron) is the redemption price paid to free someone from bondage. The giving of his life as a ransom connects the servant-leadership teaching to the passion that the third prediction (verses 18–19) has just announced.

Matthew 20:29

And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. The geographical progress toward Jerusalem: Jesus and the disciples leave Jericho (the last major city before the ascent to Jerusalem) followed by a great crowd. The two blind men who call out from the roadside are the last healing narrative before the entry into Jerusalem.

Matthew 20:30

And behold, two blind men sitting by the roadside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out: Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David! The two blind men of Jericho — sitting by the roadside, hearing that Jesus passes by, crying out — are the contrast to the sighted disciples who cannot see the kingdom's character despite everything they have witnessed. The Son of David title, used by the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:22) and now by two blind men, is the messianic designation that faith perceives.

Matthew 20:31

The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more: Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David! The crowd's rebuke and the blind men's louder crying communicates the persistent faith that overcomes the social obstacle. The more that the crowd commands silence, the more the blind men cry out. The faith that persists through opposition is the faith that receives its answer.

Matthew 20:32

And stopping, Jesus called them and said: what do you want me to do for you? Jesus stops — halts the entire processional toward Jerusalem — to ask two blind beggars what they want. The what do you want me to do for you is the same question asked of the disciples-through-their-mother (verse 21) and will be asked of Jesus in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:42). The stopping for the blind communicates the kingdom's priorities: the processional toward the cross pauses for those on the roadside who cry for mercy.

Matthew 20:33

They said to him: Lord, let our eyes be opened. The request — let our eyes be opened — is the simplest, most direct possible petition. The no elaboration, no theological framing, just the specific need: they cannot see, and they want to see. The directness and simplicity of the request is the directness and simplicity of faith.

Matthew 20:34

And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. The pity-driven touch and the immediate sight-restoration are the immediate answer to the faith that persisted through the crowd's rebuke. The followed him after receiving their sight communicates the natural response to encountering Jesus: those who receive sight from him become his followers. The two blind men who became disciples are the chapter's final image of the kingdom's inversion: the blind who see (and follow) contrast with the sighted disciples who ask for status.