Matthew 20:24

And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, For the exposition, see the notes at Mark 10:32....

Matthew 20:24._And when the ten heard it. _(660) Luke appears to refer this dispute to a different time. But any one who shall carefully examine that twenty-second chapter will plainly see that discourses delivered at different times are there brought together, without any regard to order. The dispute about the primacy, therefore which Luke mentions, flowed from this source, that _the sons of Zebedee _aspired to the first places in the kingdom of Christ. And yet the displeasure of the rest was far from being well-founded; for, while the foolish ambition of the _two disciples _was so severely blamed, that they retired from Christ with disgrace, what injury was it to the other _ten_, that those disciples foolishly wished what they did not obtain? (661) For though they had a good right to be offended at

20-28 The sons of Zebedee abused what Christ said to comfort the disciples. Some cannot have comforts but they turn them to a wrong purpose. Pride is a sin that most easily besets us; it is sinful ambition to outdo others in pomp and grandeur. To put down the vanity and ambition of their request, Christ leads them to the thoughts of their sufferings. It is a bitter cup that is to be drunk of; a cup of trembling, but not the cup of the wicked. It is but a cup, it is but a draught, bitter perhaps, but soon emptied; it is a cup in the hand of a Father, John 18:11. Baptism is an ordinance by which we are joined to the Lord in covenant and communion; and so is suffering for Christ, Ezekiel 20:37; Isaiah 48:10. Baptism is an outward and...

Verse Matthew 20:24. _WHEN THE TEN HEARD IT, THEY WERE MOVED_] The _ambition_ which leads to _spiritual lordship_ is one great cause of murmurings and animosities in religious societies, and has proved the ruin of the most flourishing Churches in the universe....

See also Mark 10:35. Matthew 20:20 THEN CAME TO HIM GIVE MOTHER OF ZEBEDEE’S CHILDREN ... - This was probably Salome, Mark 15:40; Mark 16:1. WITH HER SONS - The names of these sons were James and John, Mark 10:35 Mark says they came and made the request. That is, they made it, as appears from Matthew, through the medium of their mother; they requested her to ask it for them. It is not improbable that she was an ambi

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 20:1 _Parable of the labourers in the vineyard_._ _(Peculiar to St. Matthew.) MATTHEW 20:1 FOR. The following parable is intended to illustrate the apophthegm at the end of the last chapter, which is repeated almost in the same words at the close, "Many that are first," etc., and "The last shall be first," etc. It taught the apostles a lesson in answer to Peter's question (Matthew 19:27), "What shall we have therefore?" and the primary lesson was that the reward of the kingdom is not of debt, but of grace. There are many difficulties in the parable, which may be better noticed after we have expounded it

AND WHEN THEY TEN HEARD IT,.... The other ten apostles, who either were within hearing the request made, and Christ's answer, or had by some means information of it: THEY WERE MOVED WITH INDIGNATION AGAINST THE TWO BRETHREN; the two sons of Zebedee, James and John: they were not so much displeased with the mother of them, who asked the favour for them, as with her sons, knowing that they have put her upon making this motion to Christ; nor were they so much moved with indignation at the action, detesting all notions of superiority and preeminence; for they were all tinctured with the same carnal principle, and each was desirous of the chief place for himself; but they were angry, and out of all temper, that these two brethren should move for that, which they thought they had as good a right unto, as any of them: wherefore, as Mark says, "they began to be much displeased with" them, and t...

Matthew 20:1. _For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard._ It was a fair wage. It was for fair and healthful work which they were to do in the vineyard. They were happy men to be hired so early in the morning. Never do those that serve Christ reject him; and though in this parable some are represented as finding fault with their wages, yet Christ's true servants do not so. Their only request is, «Dismiss me not thy service, Lord.» They feel it to be reward enough to be permitted to go on working. Indeed, this is one way in which we get our wages during the day. If we keep one precept, God gives us grace to keep another. If we perform one duty, God gives us the privilege to perform another. S

8. THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD. The Healing of the Two Blind Men. CHAPTER 20 _ 1. The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. (Matthew 20:1 .) 2. The Third Prediction of His Death and Resurrection. (Matthew 20:17 .) 3. The Ambitiousness of the Disciples. (Matthew 20:20 .) 4. The Healing of the Two Blind Men. (Matthew 20:29 .)_ The Lord had spoken about the rewards to be given at the time when the kingdom is to be established on the earth in power and glory, the time of regeneration. His last word in the nineteenth chapter was the statement, “many that are first shall be last;

THE REQUEST OF THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. THE CHRISTIAN STANDARD OF GREATNESS (Mark 10:35 *, Luke 22:24). Mt. makes the mother of James and John ask the boon, but Jesus replies to them, not to her. For Mk.'s glory (Mat 20:37) he has kingdom; the meaning is the same. The references to baptism are omitted, and my Father is said to have prepared the places....