# Matthew 20 📖: The Last Will Be First [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Matthew Overview]] | [[Matthew 19]] | [[Matthew 21]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) #### Workers in the Vineyard **Principle**: All Receive God’s Goodness > [!illustration] **Danger of Comparison** > Scripture: [[Matthew 20|Matthew 20:1-19]] > Summary: Parable of workers complaining about their pay. > Point: Comparison destroys your blessings. > Tags: #illustration/comparison #illustration/complaining > Used: no [[#Verse 01]] “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  [[#Verse 02]] And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard.  [[#Verse 03]] When it was about nine o’clock in the morning, he went out again and saw others standing around in the marketplace without work.  [[#Verse 04]] He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is right.’  [[#Verse 05]] So they went. When he went out again about noon and three o’clock that afternoon, he did the same thing.  [[#Verse 06]] And about five o’clock that afternoon he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day without work?’  [[#Verse 07]] They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’  [[#Verse 08]] When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages starting with the last hired until the first.’  [[#Verse 09]] When those hired about five o’clock came, each received a full day’s pay.  [[#Verse 10]] And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage.  [[#Verse 11]] When they received it, they began to complain against the landowner,  [[#Verse 12]] saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’  [[#Verse 13]] And the landowner replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage?  [[#Verse 14]] Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you.  [[#Verse 15]] Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’  [[#Verse 16]] So the last will be first, and the first last.” #### Third Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection **Principle**: Jesus Knows, Yet Goes. Don’t fear a difficult future. Trust the Lord. [[#Verse 17]] As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve aside privately and said to them on the way,  [[#Verse 18]] “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death,  [[#Verse 19]] and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely and crucified. Yet on the third day, he will be raised.” #### A Request for James and John **Principle**: Jesus’ View of Leadership. (Serving.) [[#Verse 20]] Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor.  [[#Verse 21]] He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, “Permit these two sons of mine to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”  [[#Verse 22]] Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.”  [[#Verse 23]] He told them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give. Rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” [[#Verse24]] Now when the other ten heard this, they were angry with the two brothers.  [[#Verse 25]] But Jesus called them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them.  [[#Verse 26]] It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,  [[#Verse 27]] and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—  [[#Verse 28]] 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.” [^1] #### Two Blind Men Healed **Principle**: Declaring God’s Goodness Gets God’s Attention [[#Verse 29]] As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed them.  [[#Verse 30]] Two blind men were sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!”  [[#Verse 31]] The crowd scolded them to get them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”  [[#Verse 32]] Jesus stopped, called them, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”  [[#Verse 33]] They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”  [[#Verse 34]] Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. # ==📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ##### Verse 01 ##### Verse 02 ##### Verse 03 ##### Verse 04 ##### Verse 05 ##### Verse 06 ##### Verse 07 ##### Verse 08 ##### Verse 09 ##### Verse 10 ##### Verse 11 ##### Verse 12 ##### Verse 13 ##### Verse 14 ##### Verse 15 ##### Verse 16 ##### Verse 17 ##### Verse 18 ##### Verse 19 ##### Verse 20 ##### Verse 21 ##### Verse 22 ##### Verse 23 ##### Verse 24 ##### Verse 25 ##### Verse 26 ##### Verse 27 ##### Verse 28 ##### Verse 29 ##### Verse 30 ##### Verse 31 ##### Verse 32 ##### Verse 33 ##### Verse 34 ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. A denarius (20:2) was the usual wage for a day's work. 2. The Law required workers to be paid at the end of each day (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15). 3. Workers were hired at about 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. (20:1-6), since Jews counted the hours from sunrise. 4. The Greek of 20:15 literally asks, "Is your eye evil?" a Jewish idiom for envy or stinginess. 5. This is Jesus' third prediction of His death in Matthew (16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19) and the first to mention crucifixion. 6. Mark says James and John made the request (Mark 10:35), while Matthew says their mother asked. Both were likely involved. 7. The "cup" (20:22) was an Old Testament picture of God's judgment (Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15). 8. James became the first apostle to be martyred (Acts 12:2), and John was later exiled to Patmos (Revelation 1:9). 9. A ransom (20:28) was the price paid to free a slave or a prisoner. 10. Jericho (20:29) was about 15 miles from Jerusalem, and the road climbs over 3,000 feet in that distance. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (20:28). He drank the cup of suffering in our place (20:22; Isaiah 53:10-12). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The workers hired first grumbled that the latecomers received the same pay (20:11-15). What does this parable teach about God's grace? 2. James and John's mother asked for places of honor for her sons (20:20-21). How does Jesus redefine greatness (20:26-28)? 3. Two blind men kept crying out even when the crowd told them to be quiet (20:30-31). What does their persistence teach you? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 16: The last will be first, and the first last. - 📖 verses 26-27: Whoever wants to be great must be a servant. - 📖 verse 28: The Son of Man came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. - 📖 verse 34: Moved with compassion, Jesus touches the blind men's eyes, and they follow Him. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Ephesians 02#Verse 08.|Ephesians 2:8-9]] - Salvation as a gift of grace, not wages earned. - 🔗 [[Romans 09#Verse 20.|Romans 9:20-21]] - The potter's right over the clay. - 🔗 [[Matthew 16#Verse 21.|Matthew 16:21]] and [[Isaiah 53#Verse 03.|Isaiah 53:3-5]] - The suffering Messiah. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 51#Verse 17.|Isaiah 51:17]] and [[Matthew 26#Verse 39.|Matthew 26:39]] - The cup of suffering. - 🔗 [[Mark 09#Verse 35.|Mark 9:35]] and [[Luke 22#Verse 25.|Luke 22:25-27]] - The greatest is the one who serves. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 53#Verse 10.|Isaiah 53:10-12]] - The Servant bears the sin of many. - 🔗 [[1 Timothy 02#Verse 05.|1 Timothy 2:5-6]] - Christ gave Himself as a ransom for all. - 🔗 [[Philippians 02#Verse 05.|Philippians 2:5-8]] and [[John 13#Verse 12.|John 13:12-15]] - Christ took the form of a servant. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 35#Verse 05.|Isaiah 35:5]] - The eyes of the blind will be opened. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Matthew 20 - SOAP|Serve Like the King]] ## 📂 Internal Notes [^1]: [[Series_TheWay_Part5-Live.To.Give]]