Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
Matthew 20
- About the title: “Judas Didn’t ‘Get It’” But Maybe Mary Magdalene Did. What Is It?”
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Matthew 20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
Matthew 20:2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Matthew 20:3 And he went out about the third hour (9 AM) and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Matthew 20:4 and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.
Matthew 20:5 Again he went out about the sixth (Noon) and the ninth hour (3 PM), and did likewise.
Matthew 20:6 And about the eleventh hour (5 PM) he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’
Matthew 20:7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’
Matthew 20:8 “So when evening had come (6 PM), the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’
Matthew 20:9 And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour (5 PM), they each received a denarius.
Matthew 20:10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.
Matthew 20:11 And when they had received it, they complained (grumbled) against the landowner,
Matthew 20:12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour (5 PM – 6 PM), and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’
Matthew 20:13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
Matthew 20:14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
Matthew 20:15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’
Matthew 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”
- The meaning of this parable is that God is just.
- Those who believe late in their lives and “work” for God receive the same eternal life as those who believe early in their lives and also “worked” for God.
Jesus a Third Time Predicts His Death and Resurrection
Matthew 20:17 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them,
Matthew 20:18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death,
Matthew 20:19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”
- Was Mary Magdalene there? Was she listening a little harder than the disciples? If so, how does one put together the concept “rise again”?
Greatness Is Serving
Matthew 20:20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.
Matthew 20:21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?”
She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.”
Matthew 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They said to Him, “We are able.”
Matthew 20:23 So He said to them, “You will indeed drink 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 is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”
Matthew 20:24 And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.
- The ten heard it about the two. Therefore all twelve disciples were present including Judas who Jesus is speaking of when He just said He would be betrayed. None of the disciples got it, including Judas.
- However: If Mary Magdalene was present she would have “got it”, causing her to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and anoint Him with perfumes for His death. (She would have understood about His death, but not about His resurrection.)
Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.
Matthew 20:26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
Matthew 20:27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—
- In verse 16 Jesus said the first will be last and the last will be first.
- Being “chosen” by God means being “chosen” to serve God, His agenda, His people, in His kingdom.
The First is the Slave !
Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
- This is the fulfillment of being baptized. To come out of the sea of people to serve God and others. This is what is meant by a baptism of “death to self” – coming out of the waters to serve. This is being “born again”, resurrected to a new kind of life.
Two Blind Men Receive Their Sight
Matthew 20:29 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.
- Jericho and Damascus vie for the oldest cities in the world.
- Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. In Deuteronomy 34:3 Jericho is called the city of Palm Trees.
Matthew 20:30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”
- To call Jesus the Son of David is the term Jews used for the awaited Messiah. They acknowledged their belief that Jesus was their Messiah.
