Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 20:15
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
15. Is thine eye evil ] The belief in the evil eye still prevails in the East. The envious or malevolent glance is thought to have an injurious effect. Here the sense is: Art thou envious because I am just?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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?
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. 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 labour, where no man should be idle. Each of us is engaged to labour 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, Mt 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, Mt 20:2.
The second call is in the time of youth, which is most commonly idle, or only employed in dissipation and worldly cares, Mt 20:3.
The third call is at the age of manhood.
The fourth, in the decline of life, Mt 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! Mt 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, Mt 10:5-6, together with that of the seventy disciples mentioned Lu 10:1.
The third call, which was at mid-day, represents the preaching of the fulness 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 Mt 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
15. Is it not lawful for me to dowhat I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?thatis, “You appeal to justice, and by that your mouth isshut; for the sum you agreed for is paid you. Your case beingdisposed of, with the terms I make with other laborers you havenothing to do; and to grudge the benevolence shown to others, when byyour own admission you have been honorably dealt with, is bothunworthy envy of your neighbor, and discontent with the goodness thatengaged and rewarded you in his service at all.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?…. External gifts and outward privileges, such as enjoying the word and ordinances, are God’s own; and he may, as he does, bestow them on whom he will, and when and where he pleases; as he gave them to the Jews, and continued them many hundred years, when the Gentiles were utterly with them destitute of them; and as he has bestowed them in a more abundant manner for a long time on the Gentiles, whilst the Jews despise and reject them. Special grace is his own, which he gives to whom he pleases; it is by his own grace, and not the merits of men, that any are chosen, adopted, justified, pardoned, regenerated, and called; that they have faith, hope, love, repentance, or perform new obedience from a new heart, and new principles. Heaven and glory is his own, of his own preparing and giving; and both grace and glory are disposed of, and that very rightly and lawfully, according to his sovereign good will and pleasure: he chooses, adopts, justifies, pardons, regenerates, calls, and sanctifies whom he pleases; and brings what sons to glory he thinks fit, and bestows it equally upon them: and in so doing, does no wrong, or any injustice to any of his creatures; not to the fallen angels, by choosing some of their species, and confirming them in their original constitution; and by leaving them, the fallen angels, in their apostasy; nor by making provision for fallen man, and not them, nor by punishing them with everlasting destruction; nor do they ever complain of any wrong being done them: nor to non-elect men; for none of Adam’s race have any right to grace or glory, and therefore no wrong is done to any of them, by withholding them from them, whereby nothing is taken from them, and given to others; and by punishing them for sin; nor to any elect men, by making others partners with them; since they are all alike by nature, unworthy of grace and glory, and deserving of wrath: what is enjoyed by any of them, is of mere grace, and not through merit; and one has not a whit the less, for what the other is possessed of; so that there is no room for envy, murmuring, and complaint:
is thine eye evil because I am good? An “evil eye”, is opposed to a good eye, frequently in Jewish writings, as a “good eye” signifies beneficence and liberality; hence it is said c
“He that gives a gift, let him give it “with a good eye”; bountifully and generously; and he that devoteth anything, let him devote it with a “good eye”,”
cheerfully and freely: so an “evil eye” intends envy and covetousness, as it does here: and the sense is, art thou envious at the good of others, and covetous and greedy to monopolize all to thyself, because I am liberal, kind, and beneficent? Men are apt to complain of God, and charge his procedures in providence and grace, with inequality and injustice; whereas he does, as he may, all things according to his sovereign will, and never contrary to justice, truth, and goodness; though he is not to be brought to man’s bar, and men should submit to his sovereignty.
c T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 65. 1. & 71. 1. & 72. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Is thine eye evil? ( ?) See on 6:22-24 about the evil eye and the good eye. The complainer had a grudging eye while the householder has a liberal or generous eye. See Ro 5:7 for a distinction between and .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
(15) Is it not lawful . . .?The question is not that of one who asserts an arbitrary right; it appeals tacitly to a standard which none could question. As far as the labourer was concerned, the householder had a right to give freely of what was his own. He was responsible to God only. In the interpretation of the parable, God was Himself the Householder, and men ought to have sufficient faith in Him to accept the gifts to some which wrought no wrong to others as in harmony with absolute righteousness.
Is thine eye evil?The evil eye was, as in Pro. 28:22, that which looked with envy and ill will at the prosperity of others. In Mar. 7:22, it appears among the evil things that come from the heart. Popularly, as the derivation of the word envy (from invidere) shows, such a glance was thought to carry with it a kind of magic power to injure, and was to be averted, in the superstitious belief which still lingers in the East and many parts of Europe, by charms and amulets.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Is thine eye evil Evil passions, especially envy, appear in the eye.
Good Bountiful, gracious.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?”
Then He explained His purpose. His money was lawfully His, so that He could do with it what He would. And because He was a good man He had decided to pay the unfortunates who had not been able to find work until late sufficient to feed their families. This was an act of His own goodness, not a matter of what was deserved. (He had not withheld part of their denarius with which to help others). For His purpose had been in order to ensure that none went without. Thus He had performed His will, and He had done what was right, but He had also gone further. He had done what was more than right, He had done what was ‘good’ (compare Mat 19:17). This clearly identifies him as representing God, and not just any benefactor.
‘Is your eye evil.’ This metaphor almost certainly has in mind Deu 15:9 where it represents the eye that is ungenerous towards the needy. It is a rebuke indicating that with all their claims to what was lawful their hearts were not set to obey the Law as promulgated in Deu 14:28 to Deu 15:11, the Law of generosity to the poor. It also brings out the principle on which the Estate Owner was working, that of benefiting and providing for the poor and needy. The evil eye, ungenerous itself, was looking at One Who was truly good, and therefore it could not understand. But how glad we should be that God is like this. For few of us, even if we survive the burden and heat of the day, do it without some failure. How wonderful then it is to know that in the end we will still hear His ‘well done’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Ver. 15. Is it not lawful for me, &c. ] This is God’s speech (who is the great Proprietary of all); it may not be ours, who have nothing of our own, but all in trust: so that when we present anything to God, we must say as David did, 1Ch 29:14 , and afterwards Justinian the emperor, . Of thine own we give thee; for all that is in the heaven and the earth is thine. St Bernard reports of Pope Eugenius, that meeting with a poor but honest bishop, he secretly gave him certain jewels wherewith he might present him. If God did not first furnish us, we should have nothing wherewith to honour him, or do good to others.
Is thine eye evil, because I am good ] It is commonly observed that witches, and those that are in league with the devil to do mischief, are never given over so to do, till they come to have an evil eye. ( quasi .) Hence that, nescio quis teneros, &c., and those that are bewitched are said to be overseen, that is, to be looked upon with an envious eye. Envy is a quick-sighted and sharp-fanged malignity, Pro 27:4 , and doth de alieua mente tam prompte quam prave coniecere, as one saith, nimbly and naughtily guess at another man’s meaning.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15. . . ] here envious: so is used Pro 28:22 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 20:15 . : right asserted to act as he chooses in the matter. , in matters within my own discretion a truism; the question is: what belongs to that category? Fritzsche and De Wette render: in my own affairs; Meyer: in the matter of my own property. (W.H [112] ) introduces an alternative mode of putting the case, which explains how the complainants and the master see the matter so differently, they seeing in it an injustice, he a legitimate exercise of his discretion. , vide on Mat 6:22-24 . , generous; doing more than justice demands. So Bengel. Cf. Rom 5:7 for the distinction between and .
[112] Westcott and Hort.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
with = in. Greek. en. App-104.
mine own. Plural = mine own [affairs].
thine eye evil. A Hebraism. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 15:9). App-117.
evil = grudging. Greek. poneria. App-128.:3. Emphatic
good = generous.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
15. . .] here envious: so is used Pro 28:22.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 20:15. , eye) The mind shines forth from the eyes.-, good) He is good, who grants more than justice (see. Mat 20:4, sc. whatsoever is right) requires. See Rom 5:7.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Chapter 55
Divine Sovereignty
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
(Mat 20:15)
With those words, the Son of God plainly declares the glorious fact of Gods absolute sovereignty over all things. No attribute of our great God is more comforting and delightful to his children than that of divine sovereignty. No doctrine in the Bible is more important, or more blessed. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, when carrying our heaviest burdens, we believe and are sure that God has sovereignly ordained our trials, that he sovereignly controls them, and that he will sovereignly sanctify them to our souls. There is no doctrine in the Bible more basic to our faith, more fundamental, or more absolutely asserted than the doctrine of divine sovereignty. It is essential to the very character of God.
To declare that God is sovereign is simply to declare that he is God. It is no less criminal or blasphemous to deny Gods holiness, justice, omnipotence, or truth, or even his very Being, than it is to deny his sovereignty. Those who deny that God is sovereign declare that God is, in reality, irrelevant!
Biblical Doctrine
Divine sovereignty is not merely a point of logic, or an old, out of date religious system dug out of the books of old reformers, puritans, and theologians. We believe what we do because we believe God. Our doctrine is based upon and arises from the plain statements of Holy Scripture. If you have a Bible and can read, you will have no difficulty at all in seeing that Holy Scripture universally declares Gods sovereignty (Psa 115:3; Psa 135:6; Isa 14:24-27; Isa 40:13-25; Isa 45:7; Isa 46:10; Dan 4:35-37; Rom 9:11-23; Rom 11:33-36). God is sovereign in creation, in providence, and in grace. He is sovereign over men and angels, good and bad. He is sovereign in heaven, earth, and hell.
I do not particularly care for the name, but all who believe the Scriptures believe what men have nicknamed Calvinism, because those five grand, old gospel truths commonly called Calvinism are written out plainly in the word of God. Total Depravity (Jer 17:9; Rom 5:12; Eph 2:1-4) Unconditional Election (Joh 15:16; Rom 9:11-13) Limited Atonement (Isa 53:8) Irresistible Grace (Psa 110:3) Perseverance of the Saints (Joh 10:28). Those delightful, soul cheering gospel truths cannot be gainsaid. Let religious rebels hoot and holler all they may. These things are written out in simple English in the Word of God for all to read. Let men read any translation of the Bible they may. No translation can be found that does not plainly assert these things. They are so thoroughly interwoven into the whole of Divine Revelation that even the most determined efforts of unbelieving religionists cannot extricate them from the Book of God. We insist upon them with dogmatic tenacity, because they are written plainly in the Scriptures, because our God has pinned his glory to them, and because they are vital to the gospel. Salvation is of the Lord (Jon 2:9). That is the language of the Bible. He planned it. He purchased it. He performs it. He preserves it. He perfects it. And he shall have the praise of it. As I just stated, he has pinned his glory to it (Eph 1:3-14).
All Things His
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? All things belong to God our Savior. It is his sovereign right to do what he will with them. It is his right, as he will, to give them all to all, to give them all to some, to give some things to some and other things to others, or give them to none. Consider Gods gifts to men in five categories. As you do, you will see, both from Scripture and experience, that God gives his gifts to men as he will.
1.All temporal blessings are the gifts of God sovereignly bestowed upon men as he sees fit. All personal traits and abilities, mental powers, and earthly conditions are distributed among the sons and daughters of Adam according to Gods will alone (1Co 4:7; 1Sa 2:6-9).
2.All the gifts of Gods saving grace are bestowed upon sinners in this world according to his sovereign, eternal purpose (Mat 11:20-25; Rom 8:28-30; Heb 2:16).
The illustrations of Gods sovereignty in the gifts of his grace are bountifully strewn across the pages of Holy Scripture. He chose some angels, and passed by others. He chose Israel alone, in the Old Testament, to be the people to whom he would give his Word and ordinances. The gospel is sent to some, and withheld from others (Act 16:6-7). He chose some to salvation, and not others, according to his own sovereign will (Rom 9:11-23).
The sovereign will of God alone
Creates us heirs of grace,
Born in the image of His Son,
A new-created race!
3.In his own family, the church, God sovereignly bestows his gifts upon his children as he will (1Co 12:24; Eph 4:7).
Some believers have greater knowledge and deeper experience than others. Some are gifted to serve as deacons, while others are not. Some have gifts of ministry in one area, and others in another. Some have many gifts. Some have few. Some are gifted to preach the gospel; others are not. Even among preachers, the gifts vary. Some are eloquent. Some are analytical. Some are passionate. Some are quite cool. Some are brilliant. Some are not so brilliant. But all are gifted for the work to which God has ordained them, according to his infinite wisdom, goodness, and purpose. That means that there is no place in the church and kingdom of God for pride or envy.
4.I cannot fail to also assert that all gifts of usefulness in this world are sovereignly dispensed to us as individuals and as local churches by God. Yes, God honors those who honor him. Yes, he blesses faithfulness. But our usefulness in his hands is not determined by us. It is his sovereign gift.
5.And gifts of spiritual comfort are distributed among Gods saints according to his sovereign will. Some enjoy great assurance, and some do not. Some, who struggle with assurance all their life long, have its blessedness in the end. And some who have had assurance all their lives have none in the end.
“Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places” (Psa 135:6). With those words the Psalmist David both declares Gods absolute, universal sovereignty and calls upon us to trust, worship, and praise him because he is the sovereign God of the universe. The very foundation of our confidence and faith in our God is his sovereignty. Were he not sovereign, absolutely, universally sovereign, we could not trust him implicitly, believe his promises, or depend upon him to fulfill his Word. Only an absolute sovereign can be trusted absolutely. We can and should trust our God implicitly because he is sovereign. Nothing is more delightful to the hearts of Gods children than the fact of his great and glorious sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, and when enduring the most heavy trials, we rejoice to know that our God has sovereignly ordained our afflictions, that he sovereignly overrules them, and that he sovereignly sanctifies them to our good and his own glory.
A Matter of Great Joy
We rejoice to hear our Savior say, Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? We rejoice to know that our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased (Psa 115:3). Yet, in this day of religious darkness and confusion there is no truth of Holy Scripture for which we must more earnestly contend than Gods dominion over all creation, his sovereignty over all the works of his hands, the supremacy of his throne and his right to sit upon it. We rejoice in Gods sovereignty. Yet, there is nothing revealed in the Bible that is more despised by worldlings and self-righteous religionists.
Natural, unregenerate, unbelieving men and women are happy enough to have God everywhere, except upon the throne of total, universal sovereignty. They are happy to have God in his workshop, creating the world and naming the stars. They are glad to have God in the hospital to heal the sick. They are pleased to have God in trouble to calm the raging seas of life. And they are delighted to have God in the funeral parlor to ease them of pain and sorrow. But God upon his throne is, to the unregenerate man, the most contemptible thing in the world. And any man who dares to preach that it is Gods right to do what he will with his own, to dispose of his creatures as he sees fit, and save whom he will, will be hissed at, despised, and cursed by this religious generation. Still, it is God upon the throne that we love, trust, and worship. And it is God upon the throne that we preach.
Sovereignty or Idolatry
Gods sovereignty is so basic and fundamental that it is impossible to understand any doctrine taught in the Bible until we recognize, and have some understanding of the fact that God is sovereign. A God who is not sovereign is as much a contradiction as a God who is not holy, eternal, and immutable. A God who is not sovereign is no God at all. If the god you worship is not totally sovereign, you are a pagan, and your religion is idolatry. You would be just as well off worshipping a statue of Mary, a totem pole, a spider, or the devil himself as to worship a god who lacks total sovereignty over all things.
In one of his letters to the learned and scholarly Erasmus, Martin Luther said, Your thoughts of God are too human. No doubt Erasmus resented the remark. But it exposed the heart of his heretical theology. And it exposes the heart of all false religion. I lay this charge against the preachers and theologians of our day, and against the people who hear them, follow them, and support them. Their thoughts of God are too human. I know the seriousness of what I have written. But it must be stated with emphatic clarity. The God of the Bible is utterly unknown in this religious generation.
Gods charge against apostate Israel was, Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself (Psa 50:21), and that is his indictment against the religious world of our day. Men today imagine that God is moved by sentiment, rather than by the determination of his sovereign will. They talk about omnipotence, but imagine that it is such an idle fiction that Satan can thwart the power of God. They think that if God has a plan, it must, like the plans of men, be subject to constant change. They tell us that whatever power God does possess must be limited, lest he violate mans free-will and make him a machine. The grace of God is thought by most people to be nothing but a helpless, frustrated desire of God to save men. The precious sin-atoning blood of Christ is thought by most to be a waste, shed in vain for many. And the invincible, saving power of the Holy Spirit is reduced by most to a gentle offer of grace, which men may easily resist. All such thoughts about God are the blasphemies of idolaters.
The god of this generation no more resembles the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth than a flickering candle resembles the noon-day sun. The god of modern religion is nothing but an idol, the invention of men, a figment of man’s imagination. Pagans in the dark ages used to carve their gods out of wood and stone and overlay them with silver and gold. Today, in these much darker days, pagans inside the church carve their god out of their own depraved imaginations. In reality, the religionists of our day are atheists, for there is no possible alternative between a God who is absolutely sovereign and no God at all. A god whose will can be resisted, whose purpose can be frustrated, whose power can be thwarted, whose grace can be nullified, whose work can be overturned has no title to Deity. Such a god is not a fit object of worship. Such a puny, pigmy god merits nothing but contempt.
When I say that God is sovereign, I am simply declaring that God is God. (I repeat myself deliberately.) He is the most High, the Lord of heaven and earth, overall, blessed forever. He is subject to none. And he is influenced by none. God is absolutely independent of and sovereign over all his creatures. He does as he pleases, only as he pleases, and always as he pleases. None can thwart him. None can resist him. None can change him. None can stop him. None can hinder him. He declares, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure (Isa 46:10). He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? (Dan 4:35). Divine sovereignty means that God sits upon the throne of universal dominion, directing all things, ruling all things, and working all things after the counsel of his own will (Eph 1:11).
This is a subject about which hundreds of books have been written, and yet the half hath not been told. Divine sovereignty is not some isolated doctrine, taught in a few verses of Scripture. It is revealed, literally, upon every page of Inspiration.
Predestination
Gods sovereignty is irrefutably revealed in the eternal predestination of all things. Does the Bible teach predestination? Of course it does! Anyone who attempts to deny that it does is either totally ignorant of the Word of God, or a liar. God chose some men and women in eternity to be the objects of his saving grace and predestinated those elect ones to be conformed to the image of his dear Son (Rom 8:28-29). Before the world began God sovereignly determined that he would save some, who they would be, and when he would save them. Having determined these things, our great God infallibly secured his eternal purpose of grace by sovereign predestination.
Yes, God predestinated from eternity everything that comes to pass in time to secure the salvation of his elect. That is the plainly stated doctrine of Holy Scripture (Eph 1:3-6; Eph 1:11; Rom 11:36). It is written, All things are of God (2Co 5:18). “The Lord hath made all things for himself” (Pro 16:4). Eternal election marked the house into which Gods saving grace must come. Eternal predestination marked the path upon which grace must come. And sovereign providence led grace down the path to the house at the appointed time of love.
Creation
No one can reasonably deny the revelation of Gods sovereignty in his marvelous work of creation (Gen 1:1; Rev 4:11). Nothing moved God to create, except his own sovereign will. What could move him when there was nothing but God himself? Truly, the heavens declare the glory of God (Psa 19:1-4). God created the heavens and the earth as a stage upon which he would work out his purpose of grace (Psa 8:1-9). He created the angelic host to be ministering spirits to those who shall be the heirs of salvation (Heb 1:14). God created the sun, the moon, and the stars for the benefit of his elect. He created all plants and animals to provide food, comfort, and pleasure for man. At last, God created man in his own image and after his own likeness, that he might show forth the glory of his grace in man. Adam was created in the image of Christ, our eternal Surety and Substitute (Rom 5:12-21). He was created in conditional holiness. In God’s wise, holy, and good purpose of grace, Adam was permitted to fall, and we all fell in him that we might be raised to life again in Christ the last Adam.
Providence
We see God’s sovereignty in all the works of his daily providence (Rom 8:28; Rom 11:36). In divine providence God almighty sovereignly accomplishes his eternal purpose of grace in predestination. The Holy Spirit showed John a beautiful picture of this. It is recorded in the Book of Revelation. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ as our Mediator, the Lamb of God, taking the book of God’s purpose, opening the book, and fulfilling all that was written in it in all the world (Rev 5:1-10; Rev 10:1-11). He who is God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, rules all things in providence by the book of Gods predestination.
Gods sovereign rule of providence extends to all his creatures. Inanimate matter, irrational creatures, and all things in this world perform their Makers bidding. It was by the will of our God that the waters of the Red Sea divided (Exodus 14). By his word the earth opened up her mouth to swallow his enemies (Numbers 14). When he willed it, the sun stood still (Joshua 10) and went backward ten degrees on the sundial of Ahaz. Once, he even made an ax head float. Ravens carried food to his prophet (1 Kings 17). Lions were tamed by God’s decree for his servant Daniel. He made the fire refuse to burn his faithful servants when they were cast into the fiery furnace. All things come to pass, or not, at his pleasure.
Gods rule of providence extends even to the thoughts, and wills, and actions, and words, even of wicked men. He kept Abimelech from adultery with Sarah. He kept the Canaanites from desiring the possessions of Israel when they went to worship him (Exo 34:23-24). The hearts of all men, their thoughts, intents, and passions are in the hands of our God (Pro 21:1). Shemei was sent of God to curse David. Even the wrath of man shall praise him, and the remainder of wrath, that which he chooses not to use for his praise, he restrains (Psa 76:10).
The object of Gods providence, the object of God in all that he does, or allows to be done, is threefold. It is for the salvation of his elect, the eternal, spiritual good of all his people, and the glory of his great name. Here is a resting place for every believer’s troubled heart. Neither Satan, the demons of hell, nor men, nor sickness, nor war, nor pestilence, nor the whirlwind is beyond the reach of Gods sovereign throne (Mat 10:30). Blessed be God, our times are in his hand (Psa 31:15).
Salvation
Gods indisputable sovereignty is conspicuously revealed in the salvation of sinners by his almighty grace (Rom 9:8-24). God chose to save some, but not all. He gave Christ to die for some, but not all. He gives his Spirit to some, but not all. He causes some to hear his voice, but not all. He saves some who seek him, but not all. He saved the woman with the issue of blood, but not the rich young ruler; the one leper, but not the nine; the publican, but not the Pharisee. Salvation is of the Lord!
Spiritual Gifts
Gods sovereignty is, as we have already seen, conspicuously revealed in the various spiritual gifts he bestows upon his people (1Co 12:14; 1Co 12:18; 1Co 12:28-29). That is specifically what Mat 20:15 asserts. He sees to it that his church has everything she needs to carry out the work he has for her to do. We need missionaries, and pastors, too. We need preachers, and deacons, as well. We need faithful witnesses; and we need the prayers of God’s saints. We need workers; and we need givers. We need some to do great things, and some to do small things. In a word, we need Marthas and Marys, Johns and Jameses, Peters and Pauls, Lydias and Lucases. God gives each when they are needed and where they are needed for the accomplishment of his will. Let each child of God covet earnestly the best gift, the gift of love one for another. If we have that, we will serve God and his people well in our place, using all other gifts accordingly.
Our God is in the heavens. He hath done (and is doing) whatsoever he hath pleased. Let us, therefore, believe him confidently, walk with him in peace, submit to him cheerfully, serve him faithfully, and honor him supremely. Gladly, we bow before God our Savior, and worship him with joy, who asks, Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
it: Mat 11:25, Exo 33:19, Deu 7:6-8, 1Ch 28:4, 1Ch 28:5, Jer 27:5-7, Joh 17:2, Rom 9:15-24, Rom 11:5, Rom 11:6, 1Co 4:7, Eph 1:11, Eph 2:1, Eph 2:5, Jam 1:18
Is thine: Mat 6:23, Deu 15:9, Deu 28:54, Pro 23:6, Pro 28:22, Mar 7:22, Jam 5:9
because: Jon 4:1-4, Act 13:45
Reciprocal: Gen 4:5 – wroth Gen 4:6 – General Gen 31:9 – General Exo 11:2 – borrow Exo 20:17 – is thy neighbour’s Num 33:53 – General Jos 2:9 – that the Lord Jos 8:27 – the cattle 1Sa 18:9 – eyed David Job 1:21 – taken away Job 9:12 – What Job 33:13 – giveth not account Pro 22:9 – He that hath a bountiful eye Jer 18:6 – General Eze 48:1 – Dan Jon 4:4 – Doest thou well to be angry Luk 4:25 – many Luk 23:43 – To day Joh 4:26 – I that Act 8:6 – with one Act 11:17 – as God Rom 9:20 – who art Rom 11:35 – General 1Co 12:11 – as
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0:15
This householder could have given his money to anyone he chose regardless of all others and been within his rights since it was his own. Eye evil because means they had an envious eye when they saw the good favor bestowed upon the others.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 20:15. Or is thine eye evil. Envy was the real motive, and the envy was occasioned by the kindness of the householder: because I am good, or kind.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 15
Is thine eye evil? are you dissatisfied and envious?
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
20:15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye {c} evil, because I am good?
(c) Naught, that is to say, do you envy at my goodness towards them? For by an “evil eye” the Hebrews mean “envy”, because such dispositions appear chiefly in the eyes, as above in Mat 6:23 . It is set in opposition to the word “single”, and it is taken there for corrupt: for whereas he said before in verse 22, “If thine eye be single”, he adds in verse 23, “but if thine eye by wicked”, or “corrupt”, the word being the same in that place as it is here. Mat 6:22-23