Matthew Chapter 20
Showing all 34 verses for Matthew Chapter 20.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"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. "
"Jesus said heaven's kingdom is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard."
I tell this story so you can let go of the anxious scorekeeping that says everyone must get exactly what they've earned, no more, no less. There's a better way to live, rooted in generosity rather than calculation.
"And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. "
"He struck a deal with the workers for a denarius (a standard day's wage) and sent them into the vineyard."
Notice they agreed to the wage themselves - I'm not talking about broken contracts here. I'm about to show you that keeping your word isn't the same as begrudging someone else's good fortune.
"And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, "
"Around nine in the morning he went out again and saw other people standing around in the marketplace with no work."
I notice the people nobody else has picked. Being overlooked isn't a moral failing, and I want you to see how much dignity there is in being sought out rather than simply tolerated.
"And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. "
"He told them to go and work in the vineyard too, promising to pay them whatever was fair - and they went."
I ask you to trust that I'll deal fairly with you even when you can't see the full picture in advance. That trust - not a signed contract - is often what real faith in me looks like.
"Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. "
"He went out again around noon and mid-afternoon and did the same thing."
I don't give up looking for people partway through - I keep coming back. However late you feel you've arrived at anything good in your life, I haven't stopped looking for you.
"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? "
"About five in the afternoon - near the very end of the working day - he went out once more, found still more people standing idle, and asked them why they'd been standing there all day doing nothing."
I don't ask 'why did you leave it so late' to shame you - I ask because I want to know your situation before I decide what to do about it. It's never too late in the day for me to call you in.
"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. "
"They explained that no one had given them work, so he told them to go and work in the vineyard too."
I don't blame you for circumstances beyond your control. If you've felt passed over your whole life, I'm not interested in your excuses - I'm interested in bringing you in right now.
"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. "
"When evening came, the landowner told his foreman to call the workers in and pay them, starting with the ones hired last and finishing with the ones hired first."
I sometimes arrange things so you notice someone else's blessing before your own - not to provoke you, but to test whether your heart can celebrate someone else's good fortune rather than resent it.
"And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. "
"The workers hired at five in the afternoon came forward and each received a full day's wage."
I give out of generosity, not a stopwatch. Don't measure my love for you by how long you've served me or how much you think you deserve - it was never based on that in the first place.
"But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. "
"When the workers who'd started first thing in the morning were paid, they expected to get more - but they too received exactly one denarius."
I want you to notice your own assumption here, because it's probably yours too. When you catch yourself expecting more because you 'worked harder', ask what you're really measuring - fairness, or your own sense of being owed something.
"And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, "
"On receiving their pay, they grumbled against the owner of the estate."
I notice when your complaint isn't really about what you received but about what someone else got. Be honest with yourself about the difference - it changes everything about how you carry your disappointment.
"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. "
"They complained that the last group had only worked one hour, yet the landowner had made them equal to those who'd worked the whole day and endured its heat."
I want you to ask yourself honestly whether your unhappiness is really about your own situation, or about someone else's. So much unnecessary pain in life comes from comparing your portion to another's rather than being grateful for what you actually have.
"But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? "
"The landowner replied to one of them, calling him 'friend', and pointed out he'd done him no wrong - hadn't they agreed on a denarius?"
When I remind you what I actually promised you, I'm not being harsh - I'm helping you see that your grievance isn't really about broken faith. I keep every word I give you, even when I choose to be generous to someone else too.
"Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. "
"The landowner told him to take his pay and go, because he intended to give the last-hired worker exactly the same as him."
I won't shrink my generosity towards someone else just because it makes you uncomfortable. My kindness to another person is never a threat to what I've already given you.
"Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? "
"He asked whether it wasn't his right to do as he pleased with his own money, and whether the worker's eye was 'evil' simply because he himself was being good."
I ask you the same question - is your eye evil because I am good? Check your own heart when someone else receives grace you think they haven't earned; that discomfort usually says more about you than about them.
"So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. "
"Jesus concluded that in this way the last will be first and the first will be last, because many are invited but few are chosen."
I turn the world's pecking order upside down. Don't build your sense of worth on being 'first' by anyone's ranking - build it on receiving what I freely give, the same as everyone else does.
"And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, "
"As Jesus was heading up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately as they walked."
I tell you hard truths in private, gently, before you need to face them - not to frighten you, but to prepare you. I want you ready, not blindsided, when difficult things come.
"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, "
"He told them that as they went up to Jerusalem, the Son of man would be handed over to the chief priests and religious scholars, who would sentence him to death."
I walked towards my own suffering with my eyes open, not because I was trapped by it but because I chose it for you. Knowing what was coming didn't stop me - and that's the kind of courage I want to give you too.
"And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. "
"He said he would be handed over to the Gentiles (the Romans) to be mocked, whipped, and crucified - and that on the third day he would rise again."
I never described my death without also promising what came after it. Whatever suffering you're facing, I want you to hold onto the same pattern - the worst moment is never the last word.
"Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. "
"The mother of James and John (Zebedee's sons) came to Jesus, bowed before him, and asked him for a favour."
I notice when you ask me for status right after I've just shown you what real love costs. I'm not angry about it - I just want to gently redirect your ambition towards something that will actually satisfy you.
"And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. "
"Jesus asked what she wanted, and she asked for her two sons to have the top two seats - one at his right hand, one at his left - in his coming kingdom."
I hear ambition in your prayers sometimes, dressed up as devotion. I don't shame you for wanting significance - I just want to show you what significance actually looks like in my kingdom, and it isn't what you think.
"But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. "
"Jesus answered that they didn't understand what they were asking, and asked if they were able to drink the cup he was going to drink - and they said yes, they were able."
I ask you to count the cost before you ask for a share in my life, not to discourage you but because I want your commitment to be real, not naive. Following me means sharing hardship, not just glory.
"And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of 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 shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. "
"Jesus told them they would indeed share in his suffering, but that granting the seats of honour wasn't his to give - those places belong to whoever his Father has prepared them for."
I don't play favourites, even with those closest to me. I promise you a share in real life with me, but rank and reward are never mine to hand out as prizes - that's between you and my Father, not a matter of who asked first or loudest.
"And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. "
"When the other ten disciples heard about this, they were angry with the two brothers."
I see straight through indignation that's really just jealousy wearing a different mask. Before you judge someone else's ambition, check whether you're only angry because you wanted the same thing.
"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. "
"Jesus called them together and pointed out that the rulers of the nations lord it over their people, and their leaders exercise power over them."
I want you to notice how the world defines greatness - as power over other people - so you can recognise it and choose differently. My way was never going to look like that, and neither should yours.
"But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; "
"Jesus said it must not be like that among his followers - whoever wants to be great among them must become their servant."
I define greatness as service, full stop. If you want to matter in my kingdom, stop looking for a throne and start looking for someone you can help - that's where real significance lives.
"And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: "
"And whoever wants to be first among them must become their slave."
I use the strongest word I can find - slave - because I want you to feel exactly how far this goes. Real greatness isn't a little humility on the side; it's putting other people's needs ahead of your own status altogether.
"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. "
"Jesus said that even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve others, and to give his life as a ransom to free many people."
I didn't ask you to serve others while I sat back and demanded service myself - I gave my own life first. Whatever it costs you to put someone else first, I've already gone further than that for you.
"And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. "
"As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him."
I keep moving towards what matters most, even with a crowd pressing in and needing things from me. I never let the crowd's demands stop me noticing the two individuals I'm about to meet next.
"And, behold, two blind men siting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. "
"Two blind men sitting by the roadside heard that Jesus was passing by and shouted out, 'Have mercy on us, Lord, son of David!'"
I don't need you to have your theology perfectly worked out before you cry out to me - these two men saw more with their faith than most people saw with their eyes. Call out to me boldly; I hear you even in the middle of a crowd.
"And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. "
"The crowd told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder, 'Have mercy on us, Lord, son of David!'"
I want you to keep calling out to me even when people around you try to quiet you down. Don't let anyone else's impatience or embarrassment talk you out of asking for what you genuinely need.
"And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? "
"Jesus stopped, called the two men over, and asked them what they wanted him to do for them."
I stop for you, even in the middle of a crowd, even on the way to something enormous. I ask you what you need rather than assuming - your voice matters to me, and I want to hear it directly from you.
"They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. "
"They answered, 'Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.'"
I want you to ask me plainly for what you actually need, not what you think sounds impressive or humble. Simple, honest requests are exactly the kind of faith I respond to.
"So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. "
"Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they could see - and they followed him."
Compassion is what moves me to act, every time - not duty, not pressure, not an audience. When I restore something in your life, I hope you'll respond the way they did: not just grateful, but ready to walk with me wherever I go next.