마태복음 Chapter 20

Translation: ESV

1

For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

Key Message

The kingdom operates by a different economic logic than the marketplace; God's grace is not governed by human calculations of merit and reward.

▸The parable of the laborers in the vineyard is introduced as an illustration of the 'first-last' reversal stated at 19:30, and the same reversal is restated at 20:16.

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard is introduced as an illustration of the 'first-last' reversal stated at 19:30, and the same reversal is restated at 20:16. The householder goes out at dawn to hire day laborers — a scene from everyday Palestinian agricultural life during harvest. The kingdom is 'like' this situation: it operates by a different economic logic than ordinary human commerce.

Related Verses

'But many who are first will be last, and the last first.'For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting.
2

After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Key Message

The contractual fairness of the first workers' arrangement is established clearly; God's grace to others does not violate his justice to us.

▸The first workers agree to a denarius — the standard daily wage, sufficient for a day's living.

3

And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

Key Message

Those still 'idle' at the third hour are not lazy but unemployed; the parable's compassion extends to those who have not yet been given an opportunity.

▸The 'third hour' (approximately 9 AM) brings the master out again.

4

and he said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went.

Key Message

The later workers trust the master's justice without a specific guarantee; this is the posture of faith — working for God without negotiating a specific reward.

▸The third-hour workers are sent with a different arrangement than the first: not a fixed amount but 'whatever is right' (ho ean ē dikaion — whatever is just/right).

5

Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.

Key Message

The repeated hirings throughout the day represent God's persistent and expanding invitation; no one is too late to be called into the vineyard.

▸The pattern is repeated at noon (sixth hour) and mid-afternoon (ninth hour, approximately 3 PM).

6

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?'

Key Message

No one is too late to be called; the eleventh-hour workers represent all who come to God late in life or at the last moment — the grace is the same.

▸The eleventh hour (approximately 5 PM, one hour before sunset) is the most surprising hiring.

7

They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'

Key Message

The master's invitation reaches even those who have been overlooked all day; it is never too late to enter the vineyard at the master's call.

▸The eleventh-hour workers' answer — 'no one hired us' — is not an excuse but a statement of fact and circumstance.

8

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.'

Key Message

God's grace to others is not hidden from us; we see it — and how we respond to what we see reveals the condition of our hearts.

▸At sunset, the wages are paid in reverse order — from last to first.

9

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.

Key Message

The eleventh-hour workers receive the full wage not because of their contribution but because of the master's grace; this is the logic of salvation by grace.

▸The eleventh-hour workers receive a full denarius — the same as the full-day workers will receive.

10

Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.

Key Message

The first workers' expectation of more is natural by human logic; what God gives to others does not reduce what he has promised to us.

▸The first workers see the eleventh-hour workers receive a denarius and naturally calculate that they — who worked twelve times as long — will receive more.

11

And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,

Key Message

Grumbling at God's grace to others is the characteristic sin of the elder-brother heart; it is ultimately a complaint against God's right to be generous.

▸The first workers 'grumbled' (egongyzontai — the same word used in the Septuagint for Israel's grumbling in the wilderness, Exodus 16:2; Numbers 14:2).

12

'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."'

Key Message

The first workers' grievance has a real basis in human experience — they did work more; yet the master's grace to others does not constitute injustice to them.

▸The first workers' complaint is specific: the last workers worked one hour; they bore twelve hours of labor in the Palestinian summer heat.

13

'But he replied to one of them, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?"'

Key Message

God has done us no wrong when he is generous to others; the grace given to latecomers does not diminish the faithfulness of God's promise to those who came first.

▸The master addresses one of the workers — perhaps the spokesman — and calls him 'Friend' (hetaire — a word of courteous but slightly distanced address, used also of Judas in 26:50 and of the man without wedding garments in 22:12).

14

'Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.'

Key Message

Grace is by definition a sovereign gift beyond what is owed; the master's freedom to give generously to the last is the freedom of God's grace.

▸The master's decision is sovereign and explicit: 'I choose' (thelō — I will, I wish, it is my desire).

15

'Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?'

Key Message

Envy of God's grace to others is the 'evil eye' that produces spiritual darkness; the problem is not with God's justice but with the condition of our hearts.

▸The master's rhetorical questions cut to the heart of the matter: (1) God has the sovereign right to do what he chooses with his own grace — it is not ours to claim.

16

'So the last will be first, and the first last.'

Key Message

The kingdom's economy is grace, not merit; those who come expecting payment by desert may find themselves last, while those who come empty-handed receive the full gift.

▸The parable ends by restating the principle of 19:30: last-first, first-last.

17

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,

Key Message

The journey to Jerusalem is the journey to the cross; Jesus prepares his disciples privately for what awaits, showing his pastoral care for their understanding.

▸Jesus takes the Twelve aside privately as they ascend toward Jerusalem — a solemn, deliberate preparation for what is to come.

18

'See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death

Key Message

Jesus goes to Jerusalem with full foreknowledge of his fate; his voluntary advance into the passion shows that the cross is not an accident but a deliberate, purposeful act.

▸The third passion prediction is the most specific: the agents (chief priests and scribes), the verdict (death sentence), the instrumentality (Gentiles), and the specific methods (mocking, flogging, crucifixion) are all named.

19

'and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.'

Key Message

The third passion prediction names crucifixion explicitly; Jesus knows and accepts this specific death as the means of accomplishing the Father's redemptive purpose.

▸The Jewish authorities will hand Jesus to the Romans (Gentiles) — reflecting the actual judicial situation (only Rome had authority to execute by crucifixion).

20

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.

Key Message

The disciples' (and their family's) preoccupation with status persists even after the passion prediction; understanding the cross is a slow and difficult transformation.

▸Immediately after the most detailed passion prediction, the mother of James and John (the 'sons of Zebedee' — Salome, possibly a relative of Jesus) comes with her sons to make a request.

21

And he said to her, 'What do you want?' She said to him, 'Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.'

Key Message

The request for the highest positions shows how deeply the desire for status runs; even those closest to Jesus struggle to internalize the kingdom's inverted hierarchy.

▸The request is for the two highest places in Jesus' kingdom — right and left of the king (the positions of the most honored advisors and officials).

22

Jesus answered, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?' They said to him, 'We are able.'

Key Message

The path to the right and left of Jesus runs through Gethsemane, not through political appointment; the cup of suffering is the cost of the kingdom's highest honor.

▸Jesus' response redirects the status question to the cross question: 'Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?' The 'cup' is the biblical metaphor for God's wrath and suffering (Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17-22; Jeremiah 25:15).

23

'He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."'

Key Message

The highest positions in the kingdom are the Father's sovereign gift, not earned by request or ambition; discipleship aims at faithfulness, not at securing positions.

▸Jesus affirms that James and John will indeed drink his cup (fulfilled in James's martyrdom, Acts 12:2, and John's suffering exile, Revelation 1:9) but clarifies that the positions of honor in the kingdom are the Father's to give, not his to grant.

24

And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers.

Key Message

The ten's indignation reveals that the status problem is universal among the disciples; Jesus must address the entire group, not just the two.

▸The other ten disciples are 'indignant' (ēganaktēsan — angry, displeased) at James and John.

25

But Jesus called them to him and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.'

Key Message

Jesus accurately names the Gentile model of power before offering the kingdom's alternative; understanding what is being rejected is necessary to embrace what is being offered.

▸Jesus describes the Gentile model of leadership: rulers 'lord it over' (katakyrieuousin — to rule down upon, to dominate from above) and 'exercise authority' (katexousiazousin — exercise authority down upon others).

26

'It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,'

Key Message

The community of Jesus is called to a structurally different form of power: not domination from above but service from below; greatness is measured by the depth of one's service.

▸'It shall not be so among you' — the community of Jesus' disciples is to be structurally different from the world's power structures.

27

'and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,'

Key Message

First place in the kingdom requires the posture of a slave — no rights to protect, no status to maintain, existing entirely for the service of others.

▸The escalation from 'servant' (diakonos) to 'slave' (doulos) is deliberate and intensifying: not just a servant who chooses to help but a slave who has no rights, no priority, no personal agenda.

28

'even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

Key Message

Jesus is both the model and the motive of servant leadership: the Son of Man who gave his life as a ransom — the ultimate act of service — defines what greatness means in his community.

▸Jesus grounds the servant-leadership theology in his own life and death: the Son of Man came to serve, not to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

29

And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him.

Key Message

Jesus' final approach to Jerusalem is accompanied by a growing crowd; his ministry of compassion continues to the very threshold of his passion.

▸The transition from Jericho to Jerusalem sets the scene for the final healing miracle before the triumphal entry.

30

And behold, two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, 'Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!'

Key Message

Physical blindness does not prevent spiritual sight; the blind men's Christological confession surpasses many who have their sight.

▸Two blind men — Matthew specifies two, while Mark and Luke mention one (Bartimaeus) — cry out with the prayer of the Psalms: 'Lord, have mercy on us!' combined with the messianic title 'Son of David.

31

The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, 'Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!'

Key Message

Persistent faith that refuses to be silenced by social pressure is the faith Jesus rewards; what is cried louder in the face of opposition carries greater urgency and sincerity.

▸The crowd's rebuke — 'be silent' — is the same kind of interference as the disciples' rebuke of the parents bringing children (19:13).

32

And stopping, Jesus called them and said, 'What do you want me to do for you?'

Key Message

Jesus stops his journey to Jerusalem to address two blind beggars; no one in genuine need is beneath his attention or unworthy of his direct response.

▸Jesus stops — the journey to Jerusalem pauses for two blind beggars.

33

They said to him, 'Lord, let our eyes be opened.'

Key Message

Specific, articulated prayer is the pattern of faith; the blind men ask for the precise miracle they need, addressed to the one who can grant it.

▸The blind men's request is direct, unambiguous, and couched in the language of prayer: 'Lord, let our eyes be opened.

34

And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

Key Message

The healing of physical blindness produces immediate discipleship; sight given by Jesus is sight used to follow Jesus — the proper response to all grace.

▸The healing formula: pity (splagchnistheis — the deep visceral compassion), touch, and instantaneous restoration.