Matthew 20:23 | 1739
20:8 b Lev 19:13; Dt 24:15
20:11 c Jnh 4:1
20:12 d Jnh 4:8; Lk 12:55; Jas 1:11
20:13 e Mt 22:12; 26:50
20:15 f Dt 15:9; Mk 7:22
20:16 g Mt 19:30
20:18 h Lk 9:51 i Mt 8:20
j Mt 16:21; 27:1, 2
20:19 k Mt 16:21 l Ac 2:23 m Mt 16:21
n Mt 16:21
20:20 o Mt 4:21 p Mt 8:2
20:21 q Mt 19:28
20:22 r Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 49:12;
Mt 26:39, 42; Mk 14:36; Lk 22:42;
Jn 18:11
20:23 s Ac 12:2; Rev 1:9
3“ About nine in the morn ing he went out and saw oth ers stand ing in the mar ket place doing nothing. 4 He told them,‘ You also go and work in my vine yard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“ He went out again about noon and about three in the af ter noon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the af ter noon he went out and found still oth ers stand ing around. He asked them,‘ Why have you been stand ing here all day long do ing noth ing?’ 7“‘ Be cause no one has hired us,’ they an swered.“ He said to them,‘ You also go and work in my vine yard.’ 8“ When eve ning came, b the owner of the vine yard said to his fore man,‘ Call the workers and pay them their wages, be gin ning with the last ones hired and go ing on to the first.’
9“ The work ers who were hired about five in the af ter noon came and each re ceived a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they ex pected to re ceive more. But each one of them also re ceived a de nar ius. 11 When they re ceived it, they be gan to grumble c against the land owner. 12‘ These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said,‘ and you have made them equal to us who have borne the bur den of the work and the heat d of the day.’
13“ But he an swered one of them,‘ I am not be ing un fair to you, friend. e Didn’ t you agree to work for a de nar ius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’ t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ f
16“ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” g
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
20:17-19pp— Mk 10:32-34; Lk 18:31-33
17 Now Jesus was go ing up to Je ru sa lem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18“ We are going up to Jerusalem, h and the Son of Man i will be de liv ered over to the chief priests and the teach ers of the law. j They will con demn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gen tiles to be mocked and flogged k and crucified. l
On the third day m he will be raised to life!” n
A Mother’ s Request
20:20-28pp— Mk 10:35-45
20 Then the mother of Zeb e dee’ s sons o came to Jesus with her sons and, kneel ing down, p asked a fa vor of him. 21“ What is it you want?” he asked. She said,“ Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your king dom.” q 22“ You don’ t know what you are ask ing,” Jesus said to them.“ Can you drink the cup r I am go ing to drink?”“ We can,” they an swered. 23 Jesus said to them,“ You will in deed drink from my cup, s but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places be long to those for whom they have been pre pared by my Father.”
20:3 – 7 If there was a bumper crop and bad weather required a fast harvest, a farmer might need quite a bit of extra help on a given day, though it would be unusual for him to return to a central marketplace this frequently. No specific amount is promised to these partial-day workers other than“ whatever is right”( v. 4). 20:8 – 12 The reversal of order in which the workers are paid enables those who worked longer to see how much those who worked less were paid. The full-day workers expected to receive more than the denarius they were originally promised, so they“ grumble [ d ] against the landowner”( v. 11) when they did not get it. 20:13 – 15 The employer reminded them that he in no way cheated them out of what he had promised. He was just choosing to be generous to others. Had the full-day workers not known what the partial-day workers received, they would never have felt any injustice. 20:15 are you envious because I am generous? Captures the force of the Greek idiom that literally reads,“ Is your eye evil because I am good?” Evil eyes were often believed to be able to place curses on others. 20:16 last will be first... first will be last. The parable ends with the same two-part saying as in 19:30( see note there), only the order of the parts has been reversed to correspond to the order of payment in the story. In reality, because all the workers are paid the same, they all wind up equal. 20:17 – 19 Jesus predicts his death a third time( see notes on 16:21 – 28; 17:22 – 23). Here Jesus supplies the fullest details about his coming suffering. 20:20 – 28 Although Matthew attributes the request for privileged positions in Christ’ s kingdom to“ the mother of Zebedee’ s sons”
( v. 20), Mark 10:35 attributes the request to Zebedee’ s sons, James and John, who were no doubt the true impetus behind their mother’ s request. Immediately after Jesus’ third passion prediction( see Matt 20:17 – 19), the request reflects the height of arrogance and misunderstanding. They will have a privileged position, but it will be one of suffering, in keeping with Jesus’ own mission. 20:21 sit at your right and... at your left. Means to hold the first and second most powerful and honorable roles in God’ s reign after Jesus himself. 20:22 drink the cup. In the OT it often means to experience God’ s wrath( e. g., Job 21:20; Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15). Jesus’ disciples will experience the wrath of other humans because of their allegiance to him. James will be martyred( Acts 12:2), and John will be exiled( Rev 1:9). 20:23 drink from my cup. See note on v. 22.