Matthew 20
20
1 #
Mt 21.28,33. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius#20.2 The denarius was a day's wage for a laborer a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; 4and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. 5Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8#Lev 19.13; Deut 24.15. And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, 12saying, ‘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.’ 13#Mt 22.12; 26.50. But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. 15#Mt 6.23; Mk 7.22; Deut 15.9. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’#20.15 Or is your eye evil because I am good? 16#Lk 13.30; Mt 19.30; Mk 10.31. So the last will be first, and the first last.”
17 #
Mk 10.32-34; Lk 18.31-34; Mt 16.21; 17.12,22-23; 26.2. And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
20 #
Mk 10.35-41. #Mt 8.2; 9.18; 15.25; 18.26; Jn 9.38. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21#Mt 19.28. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22#Mt 26.39; Jn 18.11. But 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.” 23#Acts 12.2; Rev 1.9; Mt 13.11. 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.” 24And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25#Mk 10.42-45; Lk 22.25-27. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26#Mt 23.11; Mk 9.35; Lk 9.48. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; 28#Mt 26.28; 1 Tim 2.5-6; Jn 13.15-16; Tit 2.14; 1 Pet 1.18. even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
29 #
Mk 10.46-52; Lk 18.35-43; Mt 9.27-31. And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30And behold, two blind men sitting by the roadside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out,#20.30 Other ancient authorities insert Lord “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent; but they cried out the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32And Jesus stopped and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him.
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Matthew 20: RSV
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Matthew 20
20
Jesus told a story about work-men in a garden
1Jesus said to his followers, “This picture story is about the people that will be in God’s family. There was a man that owned a garden, and he wanted some work-men to get a job finished in one day. So he went out early in the morning, to the place in the town where men waited around looking for a job. 2He talked to the men there, and they agreed to work for him. He agreed to give them the right pay, the pay that men always get for a day’s work. Then he sent them to work in his garden.
3At 9 o’clock in the morning he went again to that place in the town, and he saw some other men standing around doing nothing. 4So he gave each of them a job too. He told them, ‘Come and work in my garden today, and I will pay you the right money at the end of the day.’ 5So they went to work in his garden.
Then, in the middle of the day, the boss went to that place in the town again. And he found some more men there, and he did the same for them. He gave them jobs. At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, he did the same thing. He found some more men and gave them jobs too.
6Then, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, he went into town again, and he saw some more men standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
7They said, ‘Because nobody gave us a job.’
The boss said to them, ‘All right, I’ll give each of you a job. Go and work in my garden.’
8At the end of the day, he told his manager, ‘Tell all the work-men to come here, and we will pay them their money. Tell the last work-men to come first.’#Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15 9So he paid the men that started their job at 5 o’clock, and he gave each of them a full day’s pay. Then he kept on paying the other men, and he gave each man a full day’s pay. 10Last of all, he paid the men that started their job early in the morning. They thought they were going to get more money, but they didn’t. Each of them got a full day’s pay, just like the other men. 11When they got their money, they complained to the boss. They said, 12‘Those men only worked for one hour, and you paid them just as much money as you paid us. That’s not fair. We worked all day in the hot sun.’
13The boss said to one of them, ‘My friend, I’m not cheating you. You agreed to work all day for one day’s pay, right? 14Well, take your money and go home. You see, I wanted to pay these last work-men the same as you. 15It’s all right for me to do what I want with my own money, right? If I’m good to somebody, don’t get upset with me.’ ”
16Then Jesus told them what that story means. He said, “One day, those people that are the last ones now, they will be the first ones. And those people that are the first ones now, they will be the last ones.”#Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30
(We have not yet translated 20:17—21:27. You can read that story and those messages in Mark 10:32—11:33.)
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