THIS IS GREAT STUFF HERE AND I AM HAVING A BLAST SHARING IT! WE CONTINUE WITH THE AMAZING DETAIL LADEN TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLE MATTHEW REGARDING THE PROFOUND LIFE OF CHRIST. IN THIS SEGMENT, JESUS GIVES SOME OF HIS FINAL TEACHINGS TO THE APOSTLES AND THE PHARISEES, ALL THE WHILE FORESHADOWING HIS COMING DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
SAINT MATTHEW CHAPTER 20 SYNOPSIS:
CHRIST CONTINUES TEACHING HIS APOSTLES~
“FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A MAN WHO IS A HOUSEHOLDER WHICH WENT OUT EARLY IN THE MORNING TO HIRE LABORERS IN HIS VINEYARD. WHEN HE HAD AGREED WITH THE LABORERS FOR A PENNY A DAY, HE SENT THEM TO WORK.
AT THE THIRD HOUR HE WENT OUT AND SAW OTHERS STANDING IDLE IN THE MARKETPLACE. HE SAID TO THEM, ‘ GO YOU ALSO INTO THE VINEYARD AND WHATEVER IS RIGHT I WILL GIVE YOU.’ AND THEY WENT THEIR WAY.
“AGAIN HE WENT OUT THE SIXTH AND NINTH HOUR AND DID THE SAME.
AND ABOUT THE ELEVENTH HOUR HE WENT OUT, AND FOUND OTHER STANDING IDLE, AND SENT THEM TO HIS VINEYARD.
SO WHEN EVENING CAME, THE LORD OF THE VINEYARD SAID TO HIS STEWARD, ‘CALL THE LABORERS AND GIVE THEM THEIR HIRE, BEGINNING FROM THE LAST TO THE FIRST.’
“THE ELEVENTH HOUR LABORERS RECEIVED EVERY MAN A PENNY.
BUT WHEN THE FIRST CAME, THEY SUPPOSED THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED MORE; AND THEY LIKEWISE RECEIVED EVERY MAN A PENNY.
“AND WHEN THEY HAD RECEIVED IT, THEY MURMURED AGAINST THE GOODMAN OF THE HOUSE, SAYING, ‘THESE LAST LABORERS HAVE WORKED ONLY ONE HOUR, AND YOU HAVE MADE THEM EQUAL TO USE, WHICH HAVE BORNE THE BURDEN AND HEAT OF THE DAY.’
BUT HE ANSWERED, ‘I HAVE DONE YOU NO WRONG: DID YOU NOT AGREE WITH ME FOR A PENNY? TAKE YOUR MONEY AND GO: I WILL GIVE TO THE ELEVENTH HOUR PEOPLE THE SAME.’
“IS IT NOT LAWFUL FOR ME TO DO WHAT I WILL WITH MY OWN? IS YOUR EYE EVIL, BECAUSE I AM GOOD? SO THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST AND THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST: FOR MANY BE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN.”
(COMMENTARY: CHRIST USES THIS PARABLE ON HIRING AND LABOR AS A METAPHOR FOR THE WORK HIS FOLLOWERS ARE TO ENGAGE, IT MATTERS NOT WHAT TIME ONE BECOMES A CHRISTIAN PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE FOR ALL WILL BE TREATED TO THE SAME REWARDS. MANY ARE CALLED BY GOD TO SERVICE FOR HIS REASONS BUT FEW OF THEM HEAR HIS VOICE AND FOLLOW THROUGH AS A SERVANT TO CHRIST.)
AND JESUS GOING UP TO JERUSALEM TOOK THE TWELVE ASIDE, AND SAID,
“WE GO UP TO JERUSALEM; AND THE SON OF MAN SHALL BE BETRAYED TO THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE SCRIBES, AND THEY SHALL CONDEMN HIM TO DEATH. AND SHALL DELIVER HIM TO THE GENTILES TO MOCK, TO SCOURGE, AND TO CRUCIFY HIM: AND THE THIRD DAY HE SHALL RISE AGAIN.”
THEN CAME TO JESUS THE MOTHER OF ZEBEDEE’S CHILDREN (ZEBEDEE WAS THE FATHER OF DISCIPLES JAMES AND JOHN) WITH HER SONS, WORSHIPING HIM.HE SAID TO HER, “WHAT WILL YOU?”
SHE REPLIED, “GRANT THAT THESE MY TWO SONS MAY SIT, THE ONE ON THE RIGHT HAND, AND THE OTHER ON THE LEFT, IN YOUR KINGDOM.”
BUT JESUS SAID,
“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ASK. ARE YOU ABLE TO DRINK OF THE CUP THAT I DRINK OF, AND TO BE BAPTIZED WITH THE BAPTISM THAT I AM BAPTIZED WITH?”
THEY REPLIED TO HIM, “WE ARE ABLE.”
HE SAID TO THEM, “YOU SHALL DRINK INDEED OF MY CUP, AND BE BAPTIZED WITH THE BAPTISM THAT I AM BAPTIZED WITH: BUT TO SIT ON MY RIGHT OR LEFT HAND, IS NOT MINE TO GIVE, BUT IT SHALL BE GIVEN TO THEM FOR WHOM IT IS PREPARED OF MY FATHER.”
AND WHEN THE OTHER 10 DISCIPLES HEARD THIS, THEY WERE MOVED WITH INDIGNATION, AGAINST THE TWO BRETHREN.
JESUS SAID TO THEM,
“YOU KNOW THE PRINCES OF THE GENTILES EXERCISE DOMINION OVER THEM, AND THEY WHO ARE LEADERS EXERCISE AUTHORITY OVER THEM.
BUT IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU: BUT WHOEVER WILL BE A LEADER AMONG YOU, LET HIM BE YOUR MINISTER. AND WHOEVER WILL BE CHIEF AMONG YOU, LET HIM BE YOUR SERVANT. EVEN AS THE SON OF MAN CAME NOT TO BE MINISTERED TO, BUT TO MINISTER, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY.”
(COMMENTARY: CHRIST MAKES IT CLEAR THAT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE SERVANTS AND MINISTERS TO ONE ANOTHER REGARDLESS OF THEIR POSITION. EVEN AS CHRIST GAVE HIS LIFE FOR ALL OF MANKIND’S SINS, WE ARE TO LIVE AS A SELF SACRIFICE TO HELP OTHERS WHILE ON EARTH. THE APOSTLES HEREIN LEARN THAT JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE SOME OF THE VERY FIRST FOLLOWERS AND TEACHERS FOR CHRIST IN WORLD HISTORY, THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BE REGARDED AS ANY MORE SPECIAL THAN THE SIMPLE CONVERT THAT EMBRACES CHRIST IN THE YEAR 2017!)
AS THEY DEPARTED FROM JERICHO, A GREAT MULTITUDE FOLLOWED.
JESUS HEALS TWO BLIND MEN ON THE ROAD AND THEY TOO BEGIN TO FOLLOW HIM.
SAINT MATTHEW CHAPTER 21 SYNOPSIS:
WHEN THEY CAME NEAR JERUSALEM AT BETHPHAGE, TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, JESUS SENT TWO DISCIPLES, SAYING,
“GO INTO THE VILLAGE AND RIGHT AWAY YOU SHALL FIND A DONKEY AND A COLT: LOOSE THEM, AND BRING THEM TO ME. AND IF ANY MAN SAYS ANYTHING TO YOU, YOU SAY, ‘THERE LORD HAS NEED OF THEM’; AND RIGHT AWAY HE WILL SEND THEM. THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET (IN ZECHARIAH 9:9) SAYING,
‘TELL THE DAUGHTER OF SION, BEHOLD, YOUR KING COMES TO YOU, MEEK, AND SITTING UPON A DONKEY.”
THE DISCIPLES BROUGHT THE DONKEY AND SET HIM THEREON.
A GREAT MULTITUDE SPREAD THEIR GARMENTS IN THE WAY; OTHERS CUT DOWN BRANCHES FROM THE TREES, AND STRAWED THEM IN THE WAY.
AND THE MULTITUDES WENT BEFORE AND BEHIND HIM SAYING, “HOSANNA (SAVE US NOW) TO THE SON OF DAVID: BLESSED IS HE THAT COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST.”
AND WHEN HE CAME INTO JERUSALEM, ALL THE CITY WAS MOVED, SAYING, “WHO IS THIS?”
AND THE MULTITUDE SAID, “THIS IS JESUS THE PROPHET OF NAZARETH OF GALILEE.”
AND JESUS WENT INTO THE TEMPLE OF GOD, AND CAST OUT ALL OF THEM THAT SOLD AND BOUGHT IN THE TEMPLE, AND OVERTHREW THE TABLES OF THE MONEYCHANGERS, AND THE SEATS OF THEM THAT SOLD DOVES. AND HE SAID TO THEM,
“IT IS WRITTEN, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED THE HOUSE OF PRAYER; BUT YOU HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES.”
(COMMENTARY: CHRIST CLEANSED THE TEMPLE OF PROFITEERS ON TWO OCCASIONS OF PASSOVER IN SCRIPTURE. THIS FIRST TIME IS FOUND IN JOHN CHAPTER 2 AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS MINISTRY, THE SEOND TIME HERE IN MATTHEW AT THE END OF HIS MINISTRY. BOTH TIMES HE ASSERTED HIS AUTHORITY OVER THE TEMPLE IN FULL VIEW OF THE JEWS.)
AND THE BLIND AND THE LAME CAME TO HIM IN THE TEMPLE, AND HE HEALED THEM.
WHEN THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND SCRIBES SAW THE WONDERFUL THINGS HE DID, AND THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM CRYING IN THE TEMPLE, AND SAYING, “HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID”; THEY WERE SORELY DISPLEASED.
AND THEY SAID TO HIM,
“DO YOU HEAR WHAT THESE ARE SAYING?” AND JESUS SAID,
“YES; HAVE YOU NEVER READ, OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES AND SUCKLINGS YOU HAVE PERFECTED PRAISE?”
JESUS LEFT THEM AND WENT OUT OF THE CITY INTO BETHANY; AND HE LODGED THERE.
NOW IN THE MORNING, AS HE RETURNED TO THE CITY, HE SAW A FIG TREE IN THE WAY AND HE FOUND NOTHING THEREON BUT LEAVES. HE SAID TO IT,
“LET NO FRUIT GROW ON YOU HENCEFORWARD FOR EVER. AND PRESENTLY THE FIG TREE WITHERED AWAY.
THE DISCIPLES MARVELED AT HOW QUICKLY THE TREE WITHERED.
JESUS SAID TO THEM,
“TRULY I SAY TO YOU, IF YOU HAVE FAITH, AND DON’T DOUBT, YOU SHALL NOT ONLY DO THIS WHICH IS DONE TO THE FIG TREE, BUT ALSO IF YOU SHALL SAY TO THIS MOUNTAIN, BE REMOVED, AND BE YOU CAST INTO THE SEA, IT SHALL BE DONE. AND ALL THINGS, WHATSOEVER YOU SHALL ASK IN PRAYER, BELIEVING, YOU SHALL RECEIVE.”
(COMMENTARY: WE ALL HAVE TO PRAY BELIEVING WHAT WE PRAY FOR WILL HAPPEN; OTHERWISE PRAYER BECOMES AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY.)
WHEN JESUS CAME INTO THE TEMPLE, THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE ELDERS CAME TO HIM AS HE WAS TEACHING, AND SAID,
“BY WHAT AUTHORITY DO YOU TEACH THESE THINGS? AND WHO GAVE YOU THIS AUTHORITY?”
JESUS ANSWERED THEM,
“I ALSO WILL ASK YOU ONE THING, WHICH IF YOU TELL ME, I LIKE WISE WILL TELL YOU BY WHAT AUTHORITY I DO THESE THINGS. THE BAPTISM OF JOHN, WHERE DID IT COME FROM? FROM HEAVEN, OR OF MEN?”
AND THEY REASONED WITH THEMSELVES, SAYING, “IF WE SAY. FROM HEAVEN; HE WILL SAY; WHY DID YOU NOT THEN BELIEVE HIM? BUT IF WE SHALL SAY, OF MEN; WE SHOULD FEAR THE PEOPLE; FOR EVERYONE HOLDS JOHN AS A PROPHET.”
AND THEY ANSWERED JESUS, “WE CANNOT TELL.”
AND HE SAID TO THEM,
“NEITHER DO I TELL YOU BY WHAT AUTHORITY I DO THESE THINGS.
BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK? A CERTAIN MAN HAD TWO SONS; AND HE CAME TO THE FIRST AND SAID, ‘SON, GO WORK TO DAY IN MY VINEYARD.’
HE ANSWERED AND SAID, ‘I WILL NOT:’ BUT AFTERWARD HE REPENTED, AND WENT.
“THE MAN CAME TO THE SECOND SON, AND SAID LIKEWISE.
AND THE SON ANSWERED, ‘I GO, SIR:’ AND REALLY DID NOT.
“WHICH ONE OF THE TWO DID THE WILL OF HIS FATHER?”
THE PRIESTS AND SCRIBES ANSWERED, “THE FIRST.”
JESUS SAID TO THEM, “TRULY I SAY TO YOU, THAT THE PUBLICANS AND THE HARLOTS GO INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD BEFORE YOU. FOR JOHN CAME TO YOU IN THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND YOU DIDN’T BELIEVE HIM: BUT THE PUBLICANS AND THE HARLOTS BELIEVED HIM: AND YOU, WHEN YOU HAD SEEN IT, DID NOT REPENT AFTERWARD, THAT YOU MIGHT BELIEVE HIM.”
“HEAR ANOTHER PARABLE:
A CERTAIN HOUSEHOLDER, PLANTED A VINEYARD, AND HEDGED IT, AND DUG A WINEPRESS IN IT, BUILT A TOWER, AND LEASED IT TO A HUSBANDMAN (FARMER), AND WENT INTO A FAR COUNTRY: AND WHEN THE TIME OF HARVEST DREW NEAR, HE SENT HIS SERVANTS TO THE FARMER, THAT THEY MIGHT RECEIVE THE FRUITS OF IT.
THE FARMER TOOK THE HOUSEHOLDER’S SERVANTS, BEATING ONE, KILLING ANOTHER, AND STONING ANOTHER.
“AGAIN, THE HOUSEHOLDER SENT OTHER SERVANTS, MORE THAN THE FIRST, AND THE FARMER DID TO THEM LIKEWISE.
BUT LAST OF ALL THE HOUSEHOLDER SENT HIS SON SAYING, ‘THE FARMER WILL REVERENCE MY SON.’
“BUT THE FARMER SAID, ‘LET US KILL THE SON, AND SEIZE HIS INHERITANCE. AND THEY (FARMER AND COMPANY) KILLED THE SON.
“WHEN THE LORD OF THE VINEYARD COMES, WHAT WILL HE DO TO THOSE FARMERS?
“HE WILL MISERABLY DESTROY THOSE WICKED MEN, AND WILL LEASE HIS VINEYARD TO OTHER FARMERS, WHICH SHALL INDEED RENDER TO HIM THE FRUITS IN HARVEST TIME.”
JESUS SAID FURTHER,
“DID YOU NOT EVER READ IN THE SCRIPTURES, THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THE SAME HAD BECOME THE CORNERSTONE: THIS IS THE LORD’S DOING, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES? THEREFORE I SAY TO YOU, THE KINGDOM OF GOD SHALL BE TAKEN FROM YOU, AND GIVEN TO A NATION BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF.”
(COMMENTARY: THIS IS A PROPHETIC REFERENCE FROM CHRIST THAT SOON THE GOSPEL WILL GO TO THE GENTILES (THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD) INSTEAD OF ISRAEL, WHOM REJECTS CHRIST’S MESSAGE.)
“AND WHOSOEVER SHALL FALL ON THIS STONE SHALL BE BROKEN: BUT ON WHOMSOEVER IT SHALL FALL, IT WILL GRIND HIM TO POWDER.”
(COMMENTARY: CHRIST REFERS TO HIMSELF AS THE ROCK OF OFFENSE/ THE STONE OF STUMBLING TO THE HARD HEARTED UNBELIEVING JEWS. THE JEWS IN HISTORY WOULD BE BROKEN (PROPHETIC REFERENCE TO THE HOLOCAUST AND THE COMING TRIBULATION) UNTIL THEY COME TO HIM, AS WILL BE ANY HUMAN THAT RESISTS. THIS IS A DIRECT REFERENCE THAT IT IS COMMON FOR THE BROKEN-HEARTED THROUGHOUT ALL OF END TIME HISTORY TO COME TO CHRIST.
“GRIND HIM TO POWDER” REFERENCES ANY RECALCITRANT INDIVIDUAL THAT FINDS THE WRATH AND JUDGEMENT OF GOD WILL BE DESTROYED, (ALSO A PROPHETIC REFERENCE TO THE UTTER DESTRUCTION OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER OF THE LAST DAYS DURING THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. SEE DANIEL 2:34-35 THE STONE IS CHRIST, THE FEET OF IRON AND CLAY IS THE NEW WORLD ORDER FINAL WORLD GOVERNMENT TO BE CRUSHED BY CHRIST.)
WHEN THE CHIEF PRIESTS, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES HEARD HIS PARABLE THEY PERCEIVED THAT HE SPOKE OF THEM.
BUT WHEN THEY SOUGHT TO LAY HANDS ON HIM, THEY FEARED THE MULTITUDE, BECAUSE THEY TOOK HIM FOR (BELIEVED HE WAS) A PROPHET.
NEXT— WE CONTINUE WITH THE AMAZING RECORD OF MATTHEW ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST