spdjeanne wrote:
Ragtime wrote:
Likewise, every person who goes to Heaven has a different amount of "rewards" based on their good works on Earth. Good works don't get you into Heaven, but they give you added rewards when you get there.
Same goes for good works. Jesus referred to the widow who dropped her last few coins into the temple collection box. He said she had given more than those rich folk who gave much, much more in physical quantity, because she gave all she had, out of extreme sacrifice. His considering this to be noteworthy indicates that her gifts in Heaven will be great.
Fascinating. Well then what do you make of this verse?
Mathew 20:8-16'
"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.' When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. How when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
The passage in context:
Matthew 20:1-16 KJV
(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.
(2) And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
(3) And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
(4) And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
(5) Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
(6) And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
(7) They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
(8) So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
(9) And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
(10) But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
(11) And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
(12) Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
(13) But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
(14) Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
(15) Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
(16) So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
The passage including commentaries of learned theologians:
Matthew 20:1-16 KJV
(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.
(Barnes) For the kingdom of heaven ... - The word for shows that this chapter should have been connected with the preceding. The parable was spoken expressly to illustrate the sentiment in the last verse of that chapter: Many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first. The kingdom of heaven means here the church, including, perhaps, its state here and hereafter. See the notes at Mat 3:2. It has reference to rewards, and the meaning may be thus expressed: Rewards shall be bestowed in my kingdom, or on my followers, in the same manner as they were by a certain householder - in such a way that the last shall be equal to the first, and the first last.
A householder - A master of a family. One at the head of family affairs.
His vineyard - No inconsiderable part of Judea was employed in the culture of the grape. Vineyards are often used, therefore, to represent a fertile or well-cultivated place, and hence the church, denoting the care and culture that God has bestowed on it. See the notes at Isa 5:7. Compare Jer 12:10. For the manner of their construction, see the notes at Mat 21:33.
(2) And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
(Barnes) A penny a day - The coin here referred to was a Roman coin, equal in value, at different periods, to 15 cents or 17 cents (7 1/2 d. to 8 1/2 d.) (circa 1880s). The original denotes the Roman denarius de, a silver coin, which was originally equivalent to ten ases (a brass Roman coin), from which it gets its name. The consular denarius bore on one side a head of Rome, and an X or a star, to denote the value in ases, and a chariot with either two or four horses. At a later period the casts of different deities were on the obverse, and these were finally superseded by the heads of the Caesars. Many specimens of this coin have been preserved.
It was probably at that time the price of a days labor. See Tobit 5:14. This was the common wages of a Roman soldier. In England, before the discovery of the mines of gold and silver in South America, and consequently before money was plenty, the price of labor was about in proportion. In 1351 the price of labor was regulated by law, and was a penny a day; but provisions were of course proportionally cheap, and the avails of a mans labor in articles of food were nearly as much as they are now.
(3) And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
(Barnes) About the third hour - The Jews divided their days into twelve equal parts, or hours, beginning at sunrise and ending at sunset. This was, therefore about nine oclock in the morning.
Standing idle in the market-place - A place where provisions are sold in towns. Of course, many resort to such places, and it would be the readiest place to meet persons and find employers. They were not, therefore, disposed to be idle, but were waiting in the proper place to find employers.
(4) And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
(Barnes) Whatsoever is right - Whatsoever it shall appear you can earn. The contract with the first was definite; with this one it depended on the judgment of the employer.
(5) Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
(Barnes) The sixth and ninth hour - That is, about twelve oclock and three oclock.
(6) And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
(Barnes) The eleventh hour - About five oclock in the afternoon, or when there was but one working hour of the day left.
(7) They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
(8) So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
(Barnes) When even was come - That is, when the twelfth hour had come; the day was ended, and the time of payment was come.
The steward - A steward is one who transacts business in the place of another. He was one who had the administration of affairs in the absence of the householder, who provided for the family, and who was entrusted with the payment of laborers and servants. He was commonly the most trusty and faithful of the servants, raised to that station as a reward for his fidelity.
Beginning from the last unto the first - It was immaterial where he began to pay, provided he dealt justly by them. In the parable this order is mentioned to give opportunity for the remarks which follow. Had those first hired been first paid, they would have departed satisfied, and the point of the parable would have been lost.
(9) And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
(Barnes) They received every man a penny - There was no agreement how much they should receive, but merely that justice should be done, Mat 20:4-5, Mat 20:7. The householder supposed they had earned it, or chose to make a present to them to compensate for the loss of the first part of the day, when they were willing to work, but could not find employment.
(10) But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
(Barnes) They supposed that they should have received more - They had worked longer - they had been in the heat; they supposed that it was his intention to pay them, not according to contract, but according to the time of the labor.
(11) And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
(Barnes) Murmured - Complained; found fault with.
The goodman of the house - The original here is the same word which in Mat 20:1 is translated householder, and should have been so translated here. It is the old English way of denoting the father of a family. It expresses no moral quality.
(12) Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
(Barnes) The burden and heat of the day - The burden means the heavy labor, the severe toil. We have continued at that toil in the heat of the day. The others had worked only a little while, and that in the cool of the evening, and when it was fax more pleasant and much less fatiguing.
(13) But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
(Barnes) Friend, I do thee no wrong - I have fully complied with the contract. We had an agreement: I have paid all that I promised. If I choose to give a penny to another man if he labors little or not at all if I should choose to give all my property away to others, it would not affect this contract with you: it is fully met; and with my own with that on which you have no further claim I may do as I please. So, if Christians are just, and pay their lawful debts, and injure no one, the world has no right to complain if they give the rest of their property to the poor, or devote it to send the gospel to the pagan, or to release the prisoner or the captive. It is their own. They have a right to do with it as they please. They are answerable, not to people, but to God, and infidels, and worldly people, and cold professors in the church have no right to interfere.
(14) Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
(Barnes) Take that thine is - Take what is justly due to you what is properly your own.
(15) Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
(Barnes) Is thine we evil because I am good? - The Hebrews used the word evil, when applied to the eye, to denote one envious and malicious, Deu 15:9; Pro 23:6. The eye is called evil in such cases, because envy and malice show themselves directly in the eye. No passions are so fully expressed by the eye as these. Does envy show itself in the eye? is thine eye so soon turned to express envy and malice because I have chosen to do good?
(16) So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
(Barnes) So the last shall be first ... - This is the moral or scope of the parable. To teach this it was spoken. Many that, in the order of time, are brought last into the kingdom, shall be first in the rewards. Higher proportionate rewards shall be given to them than to others. To all justice shall be done. To all to whom the rewards of heaven are promised they shall be given. Nothing shall be withheld that was promised. If, among this number who are called into the kingdom, I choose to raise some to stations of distinguished usefulness, and to confer on them special talents and higher rewards, I injure no other one. They shall enter heaven, as was promised. If, amid the multitude of Christians, I choose to signalize such men as Paul, and Martyn, and Brainerd, and Spencer, and Summerfield - to appoint some of them to short labor but to wide usefulness, and raise them to signal rewards, I injure not the great multitude of others who live long lives less useful and less rewarded. All shall reach heaven, and all shall receive what I promise to the faithful.
Many be called, but few chosen - The meaning of this, in this connection, I take to be simply this: Many are called into my kingdom; they come and labor as I command them; many of them are comparatively unknown and obscure; yet they are real Christians, and shall all receive the proper reward. A few I have chosen for higher stations in the church. I have endowed them with apostolic gifts or with superior talents, and suited them for wider usefulness. They may not be as long in the vineyard as others; their race may be sooner run; but I have chosen to honor them in this manner, and I have a right to do it. I injure no one, and have a right to do what I will with my own. Thus explained, this parable has no reference to the call of the Gentiles, nor to the call of aged sinners, nor to the call of sinners out of the church at all. It is simply designed to teach that in the church, among the multitudes who will be saved, Christ makes a difference. He makes some more useful than others, without regard to the time which they serve, and he will reward them accordingly. The parable teaches one truth, and but one; and where Jesus has explained it, we have no right to add to it, and say that it teaches anything else. It adds to the reason for this interpretation, that Christ was conversing about the rewards that should be given to his followers, and not about the numbers that should be called, or about the doctrine of election. See Mat 19:27-29.
Matthew 20:1-16 KJV
(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.
(Clarke) For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man - a householder - The very commencement of this chapter shows it to be connected with the preceding. The manner of Gods proceeding under the Gospel dispensation resembles a householder, who went out at day break, , together with the morning; as the light began to go out of its chambers in the east, so he went out of his bed-room to employ laborers, that they might cultivate his vineyard. This was what was called, among the Jews and Romans, the first hour; answering to six oclock in the morning.
To hire laborers - Some workmen, - for he had not got all that was necessary, because we find him going out at other hours to hire more.
(2) And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
(Clarke) A penny - A Roman coin, as noted before, Mat 18:28, worth about seven-pence halfpenny or seven-pence three farthings of our money, and equal to the Greek drachma. This appears to have been the ordinary price of a days labor at that time. See Tobit 5:14. In 1351 the price of labor was regulated in this country by parliament; and it is remarkable that corn-weeders and hay-makers, without meat, drink, or other courtesy demanded, were to have one penny per day! In 1314 the pay of a chaplain to the Scotch bishops, who were then prisoners in England, was three halfpence per day. See Fleetwoods Chronicon Precios, p. 123, 129. This was miserable wages, though things at that time were so cheap that twenty-four eggs were sold for a penny, p. 72; a pair of shoes for four-pence, p. 71; a fat goose for two-pence halfpenny, p. 72; a hen for a penny, p. 72; eight bushels of wheat for two shillings, and a fat ox for six shillings and eight-pence! Ibid. In 1336, wheat per quarter, 2s.; a fat sheep 6d.; fat goose, 2d. and a pig, 1d., p. 75.
(3) And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
(Clarke) The third hour - Nine oclock in the morning.
Market-place - Where laborers usually stood till they were hired. I have often seen laborers standing in the market places of large towns in these countries, waiting to be employed.
(4) And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
(5) Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
(Clarke) The sixth hour - Twelve oclock. Ninth hour - three oclock in the afternoon.
(6) And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
(Clarke) Eleventh - Five oclock in the evening, when there was only one hour before the end of the Jewish day, which, in matters of labor, closed at six.
(7) They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
(Clarke) No man hath hired us - This was the reason why they were all the day idle.
And whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive - Ye may expect payment in proportion to your labor, and the time ye spend in it; but this clause is wanting in some of the best MSS., versions, and fathers.
(8) So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
(Clarke) When the even was come - Six oclock, the time they ceased from labor, and the workmen came to receive their wages.
Steward - . A manager of the household concerns under the master. The rabbinical writers use the very same word, in Hebrew letters, for the same office, epitropos. See Kypke.
(9) And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
(10) But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
(11) And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
(Clarke) They murmured - The Jews made the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles, a pretense why they should reject that Gospel; as they fondly imagined they were, and should be, the sole objects of the Divine approbation. How they murmured because the Gentiles were made partakers of the kingdom of God; see Act 11:1, etc., and Act 15:1, etc. There are many similitudes of this kind among the Jews, where the principal part even of the phraseology of our Lords parable may be found. Several of them may be seen in Schoettgen. Our Lord, however, as in all other cases, has greatly improved the language, scope, design, and point of the similitude. He was, in all cases, an eminent master of the sentences.
(12) Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
(13) But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
(Clarke) Friend, I do thee no wrong - The salvation of the Gentiles can in itself become no impediment to the Jews; there is the same Jesus both for the Jew and for the Greek. Eternal life is offered to both through the blood of the cross; and there is room enough in heaven for all.
(14) Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
(15) Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
(Clarke) Is it not lawful for me - As eternal life is the free gift of God, he has a right to give it in whatever proportions, at whatever times, and on whatever conditions he pleases.
Is thine eye evil - An evil eye among the Jews meant a malicious, covetous, or envious person.
Most commentators have different methods of interpreting this parable. Something was undoubtedly designed by its principal parts, besides the scope and design mentioned at the conclusion of the last chapter. The following, which is taken principally from the very pious Quesnel, may render it as useful to the reader as any thing else that has been written on it.
The Church is a vineyard, because it is a place of labor, where no man should be idle. Each of us is engaged to labor in this vineyard - to work out our salvation through him who worketh in us to will and to perform. Life is but a day, whereof childhood, or the first use of reason, is the day-break or first hour, Mat 20:1, in which we receive the first Call.
The promise of the kingdom of glory is given to all those who are workers together with him, Mat 20:2.
The second call is in the time of youth, which is most commonly idle, or only employed in dissipation and worldly cares, Mat 20:3.
The third call is at the age of manhood.
The fourth, in the decline of life, Mat 20:5.
The fifth, when sickness and the infirmities of life press upon us. How many are there in the world who are just ready to leave it, before they properly consider for what end they were brought into it! Still idle, still unemployed in the things which concern their souls; though eternal life is offered to them, and hell moving from beneath to meet them! Mat 20:6.
Others consider the morning the first dawn of the Gospel; and the first call to be the preaching of John Baptist.
The second call, the public preaching of our Lord; and that of the apostles when they got an especial commission to the Jews, Mat 10:5, Mat 10:6, together with that of the seventy disciples mentioned Luk 10:1.
The third call, which was at mid-day, represents the preaching of the fullness of the Gospel after the ascension of Christ, which was the meridian of evangelic glory and excellence.
The fourth call represents the mission of the apostles to the various synagogues of the Jews, in every part of the world where they were scattered; the history of which is particularly given in the Acts of the Apostles.
The fifth call, or eleventh hour, represents the general call of the Gentiles into the Church of Christ, when the unbelieving Jews were finally rejected.
What makes this interpretation the more likely is, that the persons who are addressed at Mat 20:7, say, No man hath hired us, i.e. We never heard the voice of a prophet announcing the true God, nor of an apostle preaching the Lord Jesus, until now. The Jews could not use this as an argument for their carelessness about their eternal interests.
(16) So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
(Clarke) So the last shall be first, and the first last - The Gentiles, who have been long without the true God, shall now enjoy all the privileges of the new covenant; and the Jews, who have enjoyed these from the beginning, shall now be dispossessed of them; for, because they here rejected the Lord, he also hath rejected them.
Many are called, etc. - This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. Bishop Pearce thinks it is an interpolation from Mat 22:14. The simple meaning seems to be: As those who did not come at the invitation of the householder to work in the vineyard did not receive the denarius, or wages, so those who do not obey the call of the Gospel, and believe in Christ Jesus, shall not inherit eternal life.
This place seems to refer to the ancient Roman custom of recruiting their armies. Among this celebrated people, no one was forced to serve his country in a military capacity; and it was the highest honor to be deemed worthy of thus serving it. The youth were instructed, almost from their cradle, in military exercises. The Campus Martius was the grand field in which they were disciplined: there, they accustomed themselves to leaping, running, wrestling, bearing burdens, fencing, throwing the javelin, etc., and when, through these violent exercises, they were all besmeared with dust and sweat, in order to refresh themselves, they swam twice or thrice across the Tyber! Rome might at any time have recruited her armies by volunteers from such a mass of well-educated, hardy soldiers; but she thought proper, to use the words of the Abbe Mably, that the honor of being chosen to serve in the wars should be the reward of the accomplishments shown by the citizens in the Campus Martius, that the soldier should have a reputation to save; and that the regard paid him, in choosing him to serve, should be the pledge of his fidelity and zeal to discharge his duty. The age of serving in the army was from seventeen to forty-five, and the manner in which they were chosen was the following: -
After the creation of consuls, they every year named twenty-four military tribunes, part of whom must have served five years at least, and the rest eleven. When they had divided among them the command of the four legions to be formed, the consuls summoned to the capitol, or Campus Martius, all the citizens who, by their age, were obliged to bear arms. They drew up by tribes, and lots were drawn to determine in what order every tribe should present its soldiers. That which was the first in order chose the four citizens who were judged the most proper to serve in the war; and the six tribunes who commanded the first legion chose one of these four, whom they liked best. The tribunes of the second and third likewise made their choice one after another; and he that remained entered into the fourth legion. A new tribe presented other four soldiers, and the second legion chose first. The third and fourth legions had the same advantage in their turns. In this manner, each tribe successively chose four soldiers, till the legions were complete. They next proceeded to the creation of subaltern officers, whom the tribunes chose from among the soldiers of the greatest reputation. When the legions were thus completed, the citizens who had been called, but not chosen, returned to their respective employments, and served their country in other capacities. None can suppose that these were deemed useless, or that, because not now chosen to serve their country in the field, they were proscribed from the rights and privileges of citizens, much less destroyed, because others were found better qualified to serve their country at the post of honor and danger. Thus many are called by the preaching of the Gospel, but few are found who use their advantages in such a way as to become extensively useful in the Church - and many in the Church militant behave so ill as never to be admitted into the Church triumphant. But what a mercy that those who appear now to be rejected may be called in another muster, enrolled, serve in the field, or work in the vineyard? How many millions does the long-suffering of God lead to repentance!
Edit: there, I cut it down. Still going to call it spam? Don't read it.
Last edited by iamnotaparakeet on 21 Nov 2007, 5:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
21 Nov 2007, 10:55 am
Please, Mister, don't best me with your wit! 
Listen to how you put your foot in your mouth with that sentence. "Conservatives are unable" -- casting an entire group as brain damaged, simply by miscasting their beliefs into nonsense.
