Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 20:16
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
16. for many be called, but few chosen ] This verse which occurs in a natural connection ch. Mat 19:30, but is difficult to explain here, is omitted in the best MSS. The words are probably interpolated.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 20:16
So the last shall be first, and the first last.
The elect Christians
It is not a question of calling, but of moving from second to first place, or falling back from first to second place. There is a disparity between those who are in the kingdom of heaven. This seen in Bible history. There is a difference between Abraham and Lot. Look at several passages of Scripture. In Exo 20:4, we read that Pharaohs chosen captains were drowned in the Red Sea. This does not mean that they were favoured captains, but that they had distinguished themselves by their bravery (Jdg 20:15-16). Of the 26,000 Benjaminites who drew the sword, there were 700 chosen men, left-handed. All the 26,000 men called to be soldiers, but there were 700 men who, in addition to the first calling, were called again as a chosen band, not independent of any fitness in themselves, but because there was fitness in them-they could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. (G. F. Pentecost.)
Natures chosen are few
Before we go to the Scriptures let us look at some analogies around us. In the White Mountains there are many peaks, but there is one which towers above the others. It is the choice, the elect peak. There are many organists in the world, but here and there is one who has such mastery over the instrument that all who hear him recognize him as a choice organist. All the others are organists; but here we have the best, the choice players. There are many business-men, but now and then we see one who, by singleness of aim, by untiring devotion to his affairs, rises above all other business-men. He is the chosen one from among all. In the orchard are many apples. Some are full, rounded, beautiful in colour. These are the ones that find their way, by wonderful unanimity, to the top of the barrel at Washington Market; but the gnarled, worm-eaten, sour apple is an apple just as much as the pippin and bellflower. These latter are among apples the chosen ones. I think it will be found eventually that all Christians are the called ones, and that the elect are those who from among Christians are selected for the higher positions in the kingdom of grace. (G. F. Pentecost.)
Order reversed
Sir Thomas Browne, in his Christian Morals, bids himself look contentedly upon the scattered differences of things, and not expect equality in lustre, dignity, or perfection, in regions or persons here below, where large numbers must be content to stand like lacteus or nebulous stars, little taken notice of, or dim in their generations. All which, he goes on to say, may be contentedly allowable in the affairs and ends of this world, and in suspension unto what will be in the order of things hereafter, and She new system of mankind which will be in the world to come; when the last may be the first, and the first the last; when Lazarus may sit above Caesar, and the just obscure on earth shall shine like the sun in heaven, when personations shall cease, and histrionism of happiness be over; when reality shall rule, and all shall be as they shall be for ever. Divine is the voice, as divine the strain, which Dante hears and records in Il Paradiso.
But lo! of those
Who call, Christ, Christ, there shall be many found,
In judgment, farther off from Him by far,
Than such to whom His name was never known.
Leslie, the painter, tells of his hearing the preference expressed by Rogers for seats in churches without pews, opposed by a gentleman who preferred pews, and said, If there were seats only, I might find myself sitting by my coachman. Rogers replied, And perhaps you may be glad to find yourself beside him in the next world. (F. Jacox.)
The reversal of human judgment
Such is the solemn sentence which Scripture has inscribed on the curtain which hangs clown before the judgment seat. The secrets of the tribunal are guarded, and yet a finger points which seems to say, Beyond, in this direction, behind this veil, things are different from what you will have looked for. Suppose, that any supernatural judge should appear in the world now, and it is evident that the scene he would create would be one to startle us; we should not soon be used to it; it would look strange; it would shock and appal; and that from no other cause than simply its reductions; that it presented characters stripped bare, denuded of what was irrelevant to goodness, and only with their moral substance left. The judge would take no cognisance of a rich imagination, power of language, poetical gifts, anal the like, in themselves, as parts of goodness, any more than he would of riches and prosperity; and the moral residuum left would appear perhaps a bare result. The first look of Divine justice would strike us as injustice; it would be too pure justice for us; we should be long in reconciling ourselves to it. Justice would appear, like the painters gaunt skeleton of emblematic meaning, to be stalking through the world, smiting with attenuation luxuriating forms of virtue. Forms, changed from what we knew, would meet us, strange unaccustomed forms, and we should have to ask them who they were: You were flourishing but a short while ago, what has happened to you now? And the answer, if it spoke the truth, would be-Nothing, except that now, much which lately counted as goodness, counts as such no longer; we are tried by a new moral measure, out of which we issue different men; gifts which have figured as goodness remain as gifts, but cease to be goodness. Thus would the large sweep made of human canonisations act like blight or volcanic fire upon some rich landscape, converting the luxury of nature into a dried-up scene of bare stems and scorched vegetation. (J. B. Mozeley, D. D.)
Calling and election
Noah preached the coming flood to the old world for a hundred years; but only eight souls were saved thereby. To the cities of the plain, Lot preached; but only three souls were chosen from them. Six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, passed through the Red Sea; but only two entered the promised land. Gideon went to fight the Midianites with thirty-two thousand men; but only three hundred were allowed to participate in the victory. These are types of the many called, but few chosen.
Called chosen
The expression is supposed to refer to the manner in which the ancients selected men for recruiting their armies. The honour of being chosen was esteemed the reward of superiority; and, among the Romans, was as follows:-The consuls summoned to the capital, or the Campus Martius, all citizens capable of bearing arms, between the ages of seventeen and forty-five. 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 order chose the first four citizens who were judged the most proper to serve in the war; and the six tribunes who commanded the first legion selected the one of these four whom they liked best. The tribunes of the second and third legions likewise made their choice one after another; and he who remained entered into the fourth legion. A new tribe presented other four soldiers, and the second legion chose four. The third and fourth legions had the same advantage in their turns. In this manner each tribe successively appointed 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. (Townsend.)
I. That God in communicating His benefits to men, acts in a sovereign manner, making the last first, and the first last.
II. That in bestowing His rewards on mankind, God does not render unto men according to the amount of the means they participate, but the use they make of them.
III. That the bestowment of rewards on this principle is most expressive of the goodness and justice of God. (Sketches.)
Conversation between St. Anthony and the cobbler
We [Bishop Latimer] read a pretty story of St. Anthony, who, being in the wilderness, led there a very hard and straight life, insomuch that none at that time did the like; to whom came a voice from heaven, saying, Anthony, thou art not so perfect as is a cobbler that dwelleth at Alexandria. Anthony, hearing this, rose up forthwith, and took his staff, and went till he came to Alexandria, where he found the cobbler. The cobbler was astonished to see so reverend a father come to his house. Then Anthony said unto him, Come, and tell me thy whole conversation, and how thou spendest thy time? Sir, said the cobbler, as for me, good works have I none, for my life is but simple and slender. I am but a poor cobbler. In the morning, when I rise, I pray for the whole city wherein I dwell, especially for all such neighbours and poor friends as I have; after I set me at my labour, where I spend the whole day m getting my living; and I keep me from all falsehood, for I hate nothing so much as I do deceitfulness; wherefore, when I make to any man a promise, I keep it and perform it truly. And thus I spend my time poorly with my wife and children, whom I teach and instruct, as far as my wit will serve me, to fear and dread God. And this is the sum of my simple life. In this story you see how God loveth those that follow their vocation, and live uprightly, without any falsehood in their dealing. Anthony was a great holy man; yet this cobbler was as much esteemed before God as he.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. 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, c.] This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. Bishop PEARCE thinks it is an interpolation from Mt 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 honour 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, c., 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 honour 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 honour 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!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
16. So the last shall be first, andthe first lastthat is, “Take heed lest by indulging thespirit of these murmurers at the penny given to the last hired, yemiss your own penny, though first in the vineyard; while theconsciousness of having come in so late may inspire these last withsuch a humble frame, and such admiration of the grace that has hiredand rewarded them at all, as will put them into the foremost place inthe end.”
for many be called, but fewchosenThis is another of our Lord’s terse and pregnantsayings, more than once uttered in different connections. (SeeMat 19:30; Mat 22:14).The “calling” of which the New Testament almost invariablyspeaks is what divines call effectual calling, carrying withit a supernatural operation on the will to secure its consent. Butthat cannot be the meaning of it here; the “called” beingemphatically distinguished from the “chosen.” It can onlymean here the “invited.” And so the sense is, Many receivethe invitations of the Gospel whom God has never “chosen tosalvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of thetruth” (2Th 2:13). Butwhat, it may be asked, has this to do with the subject of ourparable? Probably thisto teach us that men who have wrought inChrist’s service all their days may, by the spirit which theymanifest at the last, make it too evident that, as between God andtheir own souls, they never were chosen workmen at all.
Mt20:17-28. THIRDEXPLICIT ANNOUNCEMENTOF HIS APPROACHINGSUFFERINGS, DEATH,AND RESURRECTIONTHEAMBITIOUS REQUESTOF JAMES AND JOHN,AND THE REPLY. ( =Mar 10:32-45; Luk 18:31-34).
For the exposition, see on Mr10:32-45.
Mt20:29-34. TWO BLINDMEN HEALED.( = Mar 10:46-52; Luk 18:35-43).
For the exposition, see on Lu18:35-43.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
So the last shall be first, and the first last,…. As he had asserted in Mt 19:30 and which is clearly illustrated by this parable, as it may be applied to Jews or Gentiles, or to nominal and real Christians:
for many be called; externally, under the ministration of the Gospel, as the Jews in general were, by Christ and his apostles; but
few chosen; in Christ from all eternity, both to grace and glory; and in consequence, and as an evidence of it, but few among the Jews; as also in the Gentile world, comparatively speaking: and even but a few of those that are outwardly called, are inwardly and effectually called by the powerful grace of God, out of darkness into marvellous light, into the grace and liberty of the Gospel, into communion with Christ, and to the obtaining his kingdom and glory, according to the eternal purpose of God. It is a saying of R. Simeon ben Jochai d
“I have seen the children of the world to come (elsewhere e it is, of the chamber), , “and they are few”.”
Though he vainly thought, that if those few were but two, they were himself and his son.
d T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 13. 4. e T. Bab. Succa, fol. 45. 2. & Sanhedrim, fol. 97. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The last first and the first last ( ). The adjectives change places as compared with 19:30. The point is the same, though this order suits the parable better. After all one’s work does not rest wholly on the amount of time spent on it. “Even so hath Rabbi Bun bar Chija in twenty-eight years wrought more than many studious scholars in a hundred years” (Jer. Berak. ii. 5c).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
16. So the first shall be last. He does not now compare the Jews to the Gentiles, (as in another passages) nor the reprobate, who swerve from the faith, to the elect who persevere; and therefore the sentence which is introduced by some interpreters, many are called, but few are chosen, does not apply to that point. Christ only meant to say that every one who has been called before others ought to run with so much the greater alacrity, and, next, to exhort all men to be modest, not to give themselves the preference above others, but willingly to share with them a common prize. As the apostles were the first-fruits of the whole church, they appeared to possess some superiority; and Christ did not deny that they would sit as judges to govern the twelve tribes of Israel. But that they might not be carried away by ambition or vain confidence in themselves, it was necessary also to remind them that others, who would long afterwards be called, would be partakers of the same glory, because God is not limited to any person, but calls freely whomsoever He pleases, and bestows on those who are called whatever rewards He thinks fit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) So the last shall be first.This, then, is the great lesson of the parable, and it answers at once the question whether we are to see in it the doctrine of an absolute equality in the blessedness of the life to come. There also there will be some first, some last, but the difference of degree will depend, not on the duration of service, nor even on the amount of work done, but on the temper and character of the worker. Looking to the incident which gave rise to the parable, we can scarcely help tracing a latent reference to the young ruler whom the disciples had hastily condemned, but in whom the Lord, who loved him (Mar. 10:21), saw the possibility of a form of holiness higher than that which they were then displaying, if only he could overcome the temptation which kept him back when first called to work in his Masters vineyard in his Masters way. His judgment was even then reversing theirs.
For many be called, but few chosen.The warning is repeated after the parable of the Wedding Feast (Mat. 22:14), and as it stands there in closer relation with the context, that will be the fitting place for dwelling on it. The better MSS., indeed, omit it here. If we accept it as the true reading, it adds something to the warning of the previous clause. The disciples had been summoned to work in the vineyard. The indulgence of the selfish, murmuring temper might hinder their election even to that work. Of one of the disciples, whose state may have been specially present to our Lords mind, this was, we know, only too fatally true. Judas had been called, but would not be among the chosen either for the higher work or for its ultimate reward-Interpreting the parable as we have been led to interpret it, we cannot for a moment imagine that its drift was to teach the disciples that they would forfeit their place in the kingdom. A wider interpretation is, of course, possible, and has been often applied, in which the first-called labourers answer to the Jews, and those who came afterwards to converts in the successive stages of the conversion of the Gentiles. But this, though perhaps legitimate enough as an application of the parable, is clearly secondary and subordinate, and must not be allowed to obscure its primary intention.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Last first As he had warned Peter in the last verse of the last chapter. The arrogating spirit of the first may sink them to the last, and vice versa. Called To labour for Christ. Few chosen To the final reward; because few serve Christ in the right humble spirit.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘So the last will be first, and the first last.’
And thus the story tells us that because of God’s goodness and graciousness, and because our spirits can so easily become jealous and hardened, it is often the last who become first, while the first become last. This is a warning, not a threat. The sad thing in the parable is that it was the men who had worked hardest who came out worst, not because they were not fairly paid, but because they were ungracious and mean-spirited and finished up dissatisfied.
It is interesting how often commentators at this point cite stories where a man who only worked a short time did as much in that short time as those who had worked all day. It emphasises our sense of fair play. But that is almost to cancel out the point of the story. For the point of the story is not that we get what is due because of what we have accomplished, but that if we have done our best God is so gracious that we all get far more than we deserve, regardless of how much we have done. The point is that God is generous beyond deserving to those who seek to serve Him and that we should not be looking at what others get, but wondering at His graciousness in giving us so much when we are the least deserving.
For the real emphasis of the story is not the workforce, nor on what they received, but is on how we should conceive the goodness and graciousness of God, and on the fact that we will all come out of His vineyard with far more than we deserve, because of how good and generous He is. It is that our rating does not depend on what we deserve, but on His goodness alone. Once again they learn that the new world is upon them, a world unlike any known before, a world where the only criterion is the good, and where men receive far more than they deserve. (In fact, of course, God had always been like this, but now it is revealed as the very basis of the new age).
Thus the idea that ‘the last will be first, and the first last’ warns against presumption when we are dealing with Someone Who is the very opposite of all our reasoning, because He does not think in terms of what we deserve, but in terms of love. Thus none can set himself up above any other, and the Apostles least of all. If this was not intended to prevent the Apostles getting the wrong idea about their ‘thrones’ we do not know what else would have been. And shortly we shall learn how necessary it was (Mat 20:20-28).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 20:16. For many are called, &c. A proverbial expression, which, as it is here stated, imports that the Jews should all be called by the Apostles and first preachers to receive the Gospel;”They shall have the Gospel preached to them;” but that few of them, in comparison, would obey the call or become chosen servants, the generalityof the nation wilfully remaining in infidelity and wickedness: wherefore, this branch of the parable very fitly represents the pride of the Jews in rejecting the Gospel, when they found the Gentiles admitted to its privileges without becoming subject to the institutions of Moses. In the mean time, we must not urge the circumstance of the reward so, as to fancy that either Jew or Gentile merited of the blessings of Gospel by their having laboured faithfully in the vineyard, or having behaved well under their several dispensations. The Gospel, with its blessings, was bestowed of God’s free grace, and without any thing in man meriting it: besides, it was offered promiscuously to all, whether good or bad, and was embraced by persons of all characters. See Macknight, Wetstein, and the Inferences.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 20:16 . The teaching of the parable: So , just, as in the case here supposed, those who were the last to be sent into the vineyard received the same amount of wages as the first; so in the Messiah’s kingdom, the last will be on the same footing as the first, and the first as the last , without a longer period of service giving an advantage, or a shorter putting to a disadvantage. Comp. Mat 19:30 .
] that is, practically, as far as the reward they are to receive is concerned. The first will be last , inasmuch as the former receive no more than the latter (in answer to de Wette’s objection, as though, from the expression here used, we would require to suppose that they will receive less than a denarius). There is nothing whatever in the text about the exclusion of the from the kingdom, and the admission of the (Krehl in the Schs. Stud . 1843); and as little to favour the view, adopted by Steffensen: those who esteem themselves last shall be first, and those who esteem themselves first shall be last , for the labourers in the parable were in reality and . The proposition: “that, in dispensing the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, God takes no account of human merit, but that all is the result of His own free grace” (Rupprecht, Bleek, Holtzmann, Keim), does not constitute the leading thought set forth in the parable, though, no doubt, it may be supposed to underlie it.
, . . .] Confirmation of what has just been said about the being put upon an equality with the : “for although many are called to share in the future recompense for services rendered to the Messiah’s kingdom, yet those chosen to receive rewards of a pre-eminent and peculiarly distinguished character in that kingdom are but few.” These are not the (those, as Olshausen fancies, whose attitude toward the kingdom is of a more spontaneous nature, and who render their services from hearty inclination and love), but those who are selected from the multitude of the . We are taught in the parable what it is that God chooses them for , namely, to be rewarded in an extraordinary degree (to receive more than the denarius). The train of thought, then, is simply this: It is not without reason that I say: , for, from this equalizing of the first with the last, only a few will be excepted, namely, those whom God has selected for this from among the mass of the called. Thus the parable concludes, and that very appropriately, with language which, no doubt, allows the Apostles to contemplate the prospect of receiving rewards of a peculiarly distinguished character (Mat 19:28 ), but does not warrant the certainty of it, nor does it recognise the existence of anything like so-called valid claims ; for, according to the idea running through the parable, the is to be ascribed simply to the purpose of God (Rom 9:11 ; Rom 9:15 f.) See Mat 20:15 . Comp. also note on Mat 22:14 .
REMARK.
The simple application of Mat 20:16 ought to warn against arbitrary attempts to trace a meaning in all the little details of the parable, many of which belong to the mere drapery of the story. The householder is God; the vineyard is the Christian theocracy, in which work is to be done in the interests of the approaching kingdom of the Messiah; the is Christ; the twelfth hour , at which the wages are paid, is the time of the second coming; the other hours mark the different periods at which believers begin to devote themselves to the service of God’s kingdom; the denarius denotes the blessings of the Messianic kingdom in themselves, at the distribution of which the circumstance of an earlier entrance into the service furnishes no claim to a fuller measure of reward, however little this may accord with human ideas of justice; hence the are represented as murmuring , whereupon they are dismissed from the master’s presence. Calvin appropriately observes: “hoc murmur asserere noluit ultimo die futurum , sed tantum negare causam fore murmurandi.” But there is nothing to warrant the view that, inasmuch as they consented to be hired only for definite wages, the betrayed an unworthy disposition, while those who came later exhibited a more commendable spirit in being satisfied simply with the promise of . It can only be of service in the way of edifying application , but it is not reconcilable with the historical sense of the passage, to explain the different hours as referring to the different stages of life, childhood, youth, manhood, and old age (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus), inasmuch as they are meant to represent various periods between the time of Christ and the close of the , at which the second coming is to take place, and are therefore to be regarded as exhibiting the time embraced by the generation then existing (Mat 16:28 ) under the figure of a day with its various divisions. Origen supposed that the allusion was to the leading epochs of history from the beginning of the world (1) till the flood; (2) till Abraham; (3) till Moses; (4) till Christ; (5) till the end of the world. This view is decidedly forbidden by Mat 19:29 f. Yet similar explanations, based upon the history of the world, are likewise given by Theophylact and others. No less foreign is the reference to the Jews and Gentiles , which Grotius, but especially Hilgenfeld, following Jerome, has elaborated, so that the first of the labourers are taken to represent the Jews, whose terms of service, so to speak, are distinctly laid down in the law, and subsequently re-affirmed, at least, in an indefinite form; while those who come last are supposed to represent the Gentiles, who, in accordance with the new covenant of grace, receive, and that before all the others, precisely the same reward as those who were the first to be called. Scholten is disposed to think that the parable was also intended to expose the pretensions of the Jews to precedence and distinction in the kingdom.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”
See the Note on Mat 22:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Ver. 16. So the last shall be first, &c. ] This is the purport of the preceding parable. Application is the life of preaching.
Few are chosen ] It is a strange speech of Chrysostom, in his fourth sermon to the people of Antioch, where he was much beloved and did much good. How many, think you, shall be saved in this city? It will be a hard speech to you, but I will speak it: though there be so many thousand of you, yet there cannot be found a hundred that shall be saved, and I doubt about them too; for what villany is there in youth! what sloth in old men! and so he goes on. Non arbitror inter sacerdotes multos esse qui salvi flaunt. Chrysost. hom. 3. in Act. See Trapp on “ Mat 7:14 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16. ] The last were first, as equal to the first ; first, in order of payment ; first, as superior to the first (no others being brought into comparison), in that their reward was more in proportion to their work, and not marred by a murmuring spirit. The first were last in these same respects.
The last words of the verse belong not so much to the parable, as to the first clause, and are placed to account for its being as there described; for, while multitudes are called into the vineyard, many, by murmuring and otherwise disgracing their calling, will nullify it, and so, although first by profession and standing, will not be of the number of the elect: although called, will not be chosen. In ch. Mat 23:14 the reference is different.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 20:16 . Christ here points the moral of the parable = Mat 19:30 , the terms changing places, the better to suit the story. The meaning is not: the last as the first, and the first as the last, all treated alike. True, all get the same sum; at least the last and first do, nothing being said of those between; but the point of the parable is not that the reward is the same. The denarius given to all is not the central feature of the story, but the will of the master, whose character from a commercial point of view is distinctly eccentric, and is so represented to make it serve the didactic purpose. The method of this master is commercially unworkable; combination of the two systems of legal contract and benevolence must lead to perpetual trouble. All must be dealt with on one footing. And that is what it will come to with a master of the type indicated. He will abolish contract, and engage all on the footing of generously rewarding generous service. The parable does not bring this out fully, as it gives the story only of a single day. It suggests rather than adequately illustrates its own moral, which is that God does not love a legal spirit. In the parable the men who worked on contract, and, as it came out at the end, in a legal temper, got their penny, but what awaits them in future is not to be employed at all. Work done in a legal spirit does not count in the Kingdom of God. In reward it is last, or even nowhere. This is the trend of the parable, and so viewed it has a manifest connection with Peter’s self-complacent question. On this parable vide my Parabolic Teaching of Christ .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
So, &c. See note on Mat 19:30, which precedes the parable, as this concludes it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
16.] The last were first, as equal to the first; first, in order of payment; first, as superior to the first (no others being brought into comparison), in that their reward was more in proportion to their work, and not marred by a murmuring spirit. The first were last in these same respects.
The last words of the verse belong not so much to the parable, as to the first clause, and are placed to account for its being as there described; for, while multitudes are called into the vineyard, many, by murmuring and otherwise disgracing their calling, will nullify it, and so, although first by profession and standing, will not be of the number of the elect: although called, will not be chosen. In ch. Mat 23:14 the reference is different.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 20:16. , in such a manner) The conclusion enunciated in ch. Mat 19:30 is inferred again from the parable, though somewhat inverted, and at the same time limited by the , as in Rev 3:16. Not all who are first shall fail, yet all require to be on the watch, lest they should fail; and all do fail who conduct themselves as the , (friend, or comrade) mentioned in the parable. Many, also, from the intermediate ranks, may take up a higher or a lower position.-, shall be) With respect to the apostles, it is not a prediction, but a warning.-, the) The article is here the sign of the subject (as it is everywhere, except when that is still more definitely determined by a proper name or a pronoun, demonstrative or personal), and at the same time has reference to ch. Mat 19:30; thus showing that the proposition is not to be taken as of universal application.-, first) See the end of Mat 20:8.-, many) sc. of the first, who themselves are many (see ch. Mat 19:30); and moreover of , the last.-, called) The term is applied to a labourer who has been invited, even though he should not enter the vineyard: the term , signifies one who has embraced the calling.[883]-, chosen) i.e. selected in preference to others. In this passage, the first where it occurs, the word seems to denote, not all who shall be saved, but, the most excellent of human beings. See Francks Sermons for Sundays and Holidays, pp. 431, 432, and W. Walls Critical Notes, p. 27.
[883] , few) who, as clinging to mere [unmixed] faith, give [cause] more honour to God, than the most zealous workmen.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the last: Mat 8:11, Mat 8:12, Mat 19:30, Mat 21:31, Mar 10:31, Luk 7:47, Luk 13:28-30, Luk 15:7, Luk 17:17, Luk 17:18, Joh 12:19-22, Rom 5:20, Rom 9:30
for: Mat 7:13, Mat 22:14, Luk 14:24, Rom 8:30, 1Th 2:13, 2Th 2:13, 2Th 2:14, Jam 1:23-25
Reciprocal: Num 4:48 – General Jdg 7:3 – twenty Est 2:4 – let the maiden Isa 48:12 – my called Jer 38:7 – Ethiopian Eze 48:1 – Dan Mat 7:14 – and few Mar 15:43 – and went Luk 7:39 – would Luk 12:32 – little Luk 13:23 – are Luk 13:30 – General Luk 23:43 – To day Joh 4:30 – General Act 8:6 – with one Act 17:34 – certain Rom 10:20 – I was made Rom 16:13 – chosen 2Ti 4:11 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CALLED AND CHOSEN
So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chosen.
Mat 20:16
St. Peter tells us there are many things in the Bible hard to be understood. This is one of them. It is necessary to read the whole discourse in the midst of which it comes. The young mans question, What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? led to the Lords warning of the danger of earthly riches. He explained to the disciples the reward of those who fully follow Him, and added, Many, therefore, that are first shall be last, and the last first. This solemn truth He explained by the homely parable of the labourers in the vineyard.
I. The dangerous practical perversion to which the parable is liable is twofold. It may foster sloth (people saying, I must wait till I am called before I set to work at all) or presumption (people thinking that they will fare just as well at the great payment of wages if they begin to work at the eleventh hour).
II. Every baptized Christian is called, and the Apostle in his exhortation to walk worthy, etc. gives the practical rules for daily life and work. Who then can say that God has not given him enough to do? God has called us to Holiness: our duties await us every morning.
III. God measures our claims upon His favour by our earnestness and our opportunities. He will not ask us how long we have known His will, but whether, since we have known it, we have done it.
IV. Your work never done.In spiritual things a day is a lifetime. On this side of the grave it is all work; on the other it will be all rest.
Bishop Fraser.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
0:16
This verse shows the point intended to be made by the parable. The ones who were first in point of time were the last (or least inclined) in showing an attitude of appreciation towards the householder, and Jesus made that application of the circumstances. While on the subject he added a statement that is not always made when the first clause is used. Many called, few chosen. The governments of the world call many men to appear for possible induction into the armed services, but when they are examined only a few pass the test and are chosen. All men are called by the Gospel and many accept the call. But only a few out of that group will qualify themselves for the final test at the judgment by a righteous life. That is why 2Pe 1:10 exhorts Christians to “give diligence to make their calling and election [choosing] sure.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 20:16. The proverbial expression of chap. Mat 19:30, recurs with a different order. The parable, therefore, illustrates the truth that the order in the calling of individuals and nations will in many (not all) cases be reversed in their final position in heaven. An encouragement to those called late in life; a solemn warning to those called early, urging them to be humble, and ever mindful of their unworthiness before God, lest they be overtaken by others or forfeit their reward altogether. The admonition was intended, first, for the Apostles, especially for Peter, whose question called forth this parable; then for Jewish Christians generally, in their feelings to the Gentile converts, and in their legal tendency; and lastly, for all Christians who enjoy special spiritual privileges and the great blessing of an early acquaintance with the Saviour.
Many are called, but few are chosen. This is to be omitted, though found in many authorities. If genuine, it means, many are called to be heirs of salvation, yet few chosen to be preeminent. Free grace within the Church is thus indicated.
An exclusive meaning is not to be pressed upon the various times of hiring, which show the repeated call. At these quarters of the natural day, laborers would be waiting. Special applications: The rooming, the age from Adam to Noah; the third hour, from Noah to Abraham; the sixth hour, from Abraham to Moses; the ninth hour, from Moses to Christ, and the eleventh hour, from Christ to the end of the world. The different ages in the life of individuals: childhood, youth, manhood, old age, and the years of decrepitude. Lange: the first laborers, Jewish Christians generally, who were characterized by a mercenary spirit; the Apostles are included as a warning to them; the second class, standing in the marketplace, the Jewish proselytes; those hired at the sixth and ninth hour, the Gentile races; the eleventh hour laborers, the fruits of missionary labors in latter days.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 20:16. So the last shall be first, and the first last The Gentiles last called, and last in advantages and privileges, not having been favoured in that respect as the Jews were, and despised and looked down upon with contempt by the Jews; shall be first Shall more readily, and in far greater numbers, embrace the gospel than the Jews, and shall far exceed them in knowledge and wisdom, holiness and usefulness, and make abundantly greater progress than they in true religion. And many, whether Jews or Gentiles, that were called long after others, and even late in life, yet being more zealous and diligent in the use of means, and in the exercise of every grace and virtue, and the employment of every talent intrusted with them, shall, in every branch of godliness and righteousness, far excel others who set out in the ways of God long before them. See note on Mat 19:30. For many be called Even all who hear the gospel, whether Jews or Gentiles; but few chosen Only those who obey it; and even many who do for a time obey it, and that in reality, and are therefore, , the called of Jesus Christ, Rom 1:6; yet not persevering to give diligence to make their calling and election sure, by adding to their faith every grace, as directed by St. Peter, 2d Epist. Mat 1:5-10, are not finally chosen to everlasting life, but excluded the marriage-feast for want of a wedding-garment: for without holiness no man shall see the Lord, and only he that is faithful unto death shall receive the crown of life. It seems necessary, before we dismiss this parable, to caution the reader against concluding, from any part of its contents, that the rewards to be conferred after death, or at the day of judgment, will be equal in all that receive them. For this would be to make the parable contradict a vast variety of the plainest passages of the New Testament, which assure us, in the most positive manner, that when our Lord cometh, his reward is with him, to give unto every man according as his work shall be, that is, in proportion to the degree of the inward and outward holiness which he had attained in the days of his flesh, and according to the efforts he had made and the diligence he had used to glorify God, and serve his generation in obedience to the divine will: and according to the sufferings which he had patiently endured. For, as one star differeth from another star in glory, so shall it be with the saints at the resurrection of the dead.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 16
Few chosen; that is, for eminent stations of trust and responsibility. This is a repetition of the sentiment with which the parable was introduced, (Matthew 19:30,) and which it was intended to illustrate.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The point of the parable was that God will graciously do more for some of those who work for Him than His justice demands.
In view of the context, the 12 disciples correspond to the workers hired at the beginning of the day, the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Those hired later correspond to other people who became Jesus’ disciples later in His ministry. One of these people might have been the rich young man if he had become a disciple (Mat 20:16-22). Peter’s question about what the Twelve would receive (Mat 20:27) had implied that they should receive a greater reward since their sacrifice had been greater. This parable taught him that God would give him a just reward for his sacrificial labor for Jesus. Nonetheless God had the right to give just as great reward to those whose service was not as long. This parable taught the disciples not to think of heavenly rewards in terms of justice, getting in proportion to what they deserved. They should think of them in terms of grace, any reward being an act of God’s grace. Even those hired early in the day received a reward, and the landowner had been gracious and generous in hiring them and not others.
Modern disciples of Jesus should view heavenly rewards the same way. The only reason we will receive any reward is that God has called us to be His workers. We can count on God dealing with us justly, graciously, and generously whether we serve God all our lives or only a short time having become His disciples later in life.
"The parable is emphasizing a right attitude in service." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:73.]
This parable does not teach that God will reward all His disciples equally. Other parables also teach that He will not (e.g., Mat 25:14-30). The point of this one is that God will reward all His disciples justly, graciously, and generously. In some cases the last called will be among the first in rank of blessing. Conversely in some cases those whom God called early in their lives may not receive as much reward as those called later in life.
Jesus was probably hinting at more in this parable. At least we can draw the following applications from it. Disciples in Jesus’ day would not necessarily receive more reward than disciples whom God calls to serve Him just before the day of laboring ends, before His second coming. Neither would Jewish disciples necessarily receive more than Gentile disciples whom God calls later in His program of preparation for the kingdom (cf. 1Co 6:2; Rev 2:26).