Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #31 - 19:16-20:16)
D. 19:16-20:16 ENTRANCE TO - AND STATES OF THE KINGDOM
1. 19:16-22 RICHES CAN NEGATE MUCH GOOD
a. 19:16 QUESTION
Kai iDOU, heis pro-selTHON auTO EIpen, DiDAska-le [1320],
And lo, one came to him and said, Teacher,
what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
b. 19:17a And he said to him, Why do you ask me concerning what is good?
ho de EIpen auTO, TI me e-roTAS [2065]peRI tou a-gaTHOU?
c. 19:17b One is the :good: but if you would enter into the life, keep the commandments.
heis esTIN ho a-gaTHOS: ei de THEleis eis ten zo-EN ei-selTHEIN, TErei [5083]tas en-toLAS [1785].
d. 19:18a He says to him, Which? LEgei auTO, POIas?
e. 19:18b-19 JESUS LISTS KEY COMMANDMENTS
ho de IeSOUS Ephe, To Ou phoNEUseis [5346], Ou moiCHEUseis [3431],
And :Jesus said, :You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery,
Ou KLEpseis [2813], Ou pseu-do-mar-tuREseis [5576],
You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
TIma [5091] ton paTEra kai ten meTEra; kai, A-gaPEseis [25] ton pleSIon [4139] sou hos se-auTON.
10Honor your:father and :mother; and, You shall love your :neighbor as yourself.
f. 19:20 The young man says to him, All these I have observed: what do I lack yet?
LEgei auTO ho ne-aNIskoi [3495], PANta TAUta e-phu-laXA [5442]: ti Eti hu-steRO [5302]?
g. 19:21 JESUS' HARD ANSWER
Ephe auTO ho IeSOUS, Ei THEleis TElei-os [5046] EInai, HUpa-ge [5217],
:Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go,
POleSON [4453] sou ta huPARchon-ta [5224], kai dos [1325] tois ptoCHOIS [4434], kai HExeis
sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have
the-sauRON [2344] en ou-raNOIS; kai DEUro [1204], a-koLOUthei [190] moi.
treasure in the heavens; and come here, follow me.
h. 19:22 THE SORROWFUL RESPONSE
aKOUsas de ho ne-aNIskos ton LOgon TOUton,
But when the young man heard this :saying,
aPELthen luPOUme-nos [3076]; en gar Echon KTEma-ta [2933] polLA.
he went away sorrowful; for he was onehaving great possessions.
2. 19:23-26 ONLY GOD'S GRACE CAN OVERCOME RICHES
a. 19:23 A SERIOUS INSIGHT
Ho de IeSOUS EIpen tois ma-theTAIS auTOU, A-MEN LEgo huMIN
And :Jesus said to his :disciples, Amen I say unto you
HOti PLOUsi-os [4145] duSKOlos [1423] ei-seLEUse-tai eis ten ba-siLEIan ton ou-raNON.
that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
b. 19:24 JESUS INTENSIFIES THE INSIGHT
PAlin de LEgo huMIN,
And again I say unto you,
eu-koPOteRON [2123] es-tin KAme-lon [2574] diA TREma-tos [5169] 'raPHIdos [4476] ei-selTHEIN,
It is easier for a camel to enter through a needle's eye,
ePLOUsi-on eis ten ba-siLEIan tou TheOU.
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of :God.
c. 19:25 THE ASTONISHED RESPONSE OF THE DISCIPLES
aKOUsan-tes de hoi ma-theTAI, e-xePLESson-to [1605] SPHOdra [4970],
And when the disciples heard it, they were astonished exceedingly,
LEgon-tes, Tis Ara DUna-tai soTHEnai [4982]?
saying, Who then can be saved?
d. 19:26 A MUCH NEEDED ANSWER
emBLEpsas de ho IeSOUS EIpen auTOIS,
And :Jesus looked upon them andsaid to them,
PaRA anTHROpois TOUto aDUnaTON [102] es-tin; paRA de TheO PANta du-naTA [1415].
With men this is impossible; but with :God all things arepossible.
3. 19:27-20:16 A MORE EXCELLENT REWARD FOR FORSAKING RICHES
a. 19:27 PETER'S QUESTION
TOte a-po-kriTHEIS ho PEtros EIpen auTO, I-DOU, heMEIS aPHEka-men [863] PANta,
Then :Peter answered andsaid to him, Lo, we have left all,
kai e-ko-louTHEsaMEN [190] soi; ti Ara EStai heMIN?
and followed you; what then shall we have?
b. 19:28 A WONDERFUL RESPONSE
ho de IeSOUS EIpen auTOIS, A-MEN LEgo huMIN,
And :Jesus said to them, Amen I say unto you,
HOti huMEIS hoi a-ko-louTHEsanTES [190] moi, en te pa-lin-ge-neSIa [3824]
that you who have followed me, in the regeneration
HOtan kaTHIse ho huiOS tou anTHROpou ePI THROnou [2362] DOxes [1391] auTOU, kaTHEses-the
when the Son of :man shall sit on a throne of his glory, YOU also
kai huMEIS ePI DOde-ka THROnous, KRInon-tes [2919] tas DOde-ka phuLAS [5443] tou Is-raEL.
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of :Israel.
c. 19:29 THIS WE NEED TO HEAR
kai pas HOstis aPHEken oiKIas, e a-delPHOUS, e a-delPHAS,
And every one that has left houses, or brethren, or sisters,
epaTEra, e meTEra, e TEKna, eaGROUS [68], HEne-ken tou eMOU oNOma-tos,
or father, or mother, or children, or fields, for my :name's sake,
pol-la-plaSIo-na LEMpse-tai, kai zo-EN [2222] aiOni-on [166] kle-ro-noMEsei [2816].
shall receive manifold, and shall inherit eternal life.
d. 19:30 But many first shall be last; and last first.
polLOI de Eson-tai PROtoi [4413]EScha-toi [2078]; kai EScha-toi PROtoi.
e. 20:1 A PARABLE
hoMOIa [3654] GAR es-tin he ba-siLEIa [932] ton ou-raNON anTHROpo, oi-ko-deSPOte [3617],
For the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a householder,
HOstis eXELthen HAma proI misTHOsas-thai [3409] erGAtas [2040] eis ton am-peLOna [290] auTOU.
who went out with the dawn to hire laborers for his :vineyard.
f. 20:2 THE AGREED WAGES
sum-phoNEsas [4856] de meTA ton er-gaTON ek de-naRIou ten heMEran,
And when he had agreed with the laborers for a shilling a :day,
aPEstei-len auTOUS eis ton am-peLOna auTOU.
he sent them into his :vineyard.
g. 10:3-4a MORE HIRED - WITH WAGES OPEN
kai e-xelTHON peRI TRIten HOran [5610], EIden ALlous heSTOtas en te a-goRA [58] arGOUS [692];
And he went out about thethird hour, and saw others standing in the market idle;
kai eKEInois EIpen, HuPAge-te kai huMEIS eis ton em-peLOna, kai ho eAN e DIkai-on [1342] DOso huMIN.
4a and to those he said, Go YOU also into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.
h. 20:4b And they went away. hoi de aPEL-thon.
i. 20:5 And again he went out about thesixth and ninth hour, anddid likewise.
PAlin de e-xelTHON peRI HEKten kai eNAten HOran, ePOIesen hoSAUtos [5615].
j. 20:6 QUESTION
peRI de ten hen-deKAten e-xelTHON, HEUren ALlous heSTOtas;
And about the eleventh he went out, andfound others standing;
kai LEgei auTOIS, Ti HOde heSTEka-te HOlen ten heMEran aGROI?
and says to them, Why do you stand here all the day idle?
k. 20:7a They say to him, Because no onehas hired us.
LEgou-sin auTO, HOti ouDEIS heMAS e-misTHOsa-to [3407].
l. 20:7b He says to them, Go YOU also into the vineyard.
LEgei auTOIS, HuPAge-te kai huMEIS eis ton am-peLOna.
m. 20:8 THE LORD OF THE VINEYARD ARRANGES FOR PAYMENT
oPSIas de ge-noMEnes, LEgei ho KUri-os tou am-peLOnas
And when when even was come, the lord of the vineyard says
to e-piTROpo[2012] auTOU, KAle-son [2363] tous erGAtas [2040], kai aPOdos ton misTHON [3408],
to his :steward, Call the laborers, and pay theirhire,
arXAme-nos [756] aPO esCHAton [2078] HEos ton PROton [4413].
beginning from the last unto the first.
n. 20:9 And when those hiredabout the eleventh hour came, they received each a shilling.
elTHONtes de hoi peRI ten hen-deKAten HOran, Ela-bon aNA deNAri-on.
o. 20:10 SAME WAGES FOR THE FIRST
kai elTHONtes hoi PROtoi, eNOmi-san [3543] HOti PLEIon [4119] LEMpson-tai;
And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more;
kai Ela-bon to aNA deNAri-on kai auTOI.
and THEY also received each a shilling.
p. 20:11-12 MURMURING
laBONtes de, eGOGgu-zon [1111] kaTA tou oi-ko-deSPOtou [3617],
And when they received it, they murmured against the householder,
LEgon-tes, HOUtoi hoi EScha-toi MIan HOran ePOIe-san, kai Isous auTOUS heMIN ePOIe-sas,
12 saying, These :last have worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us,
tois baSTAsa-si [941] to BAros [922] tes heMEras kai ton KAUso-na [2942].
who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.
q. 20:13 QUESTION
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS heNI auTON EIpen, HeTAIre [2083],
But he answered and said to one of them, Friend,
ouk a-diKO [91] se: ouCHI de-naRIou su-nePHOneSAS [4856] moi?
I do you no wrong: did you not agree with me for a shilling?
r. 20:14 Take up what is yours, and go; but to this :last I will to give even as unto you.
Aron [142] to son, kai HUpa-ge; THElo de TOUto to esCHAto DOUnai hos kai soi.
s. 20:15 QUESTIONS
ouk ExeSTIN [1832] moi ho THElo poiEsai en tois eMOIS?
Is it not right for me to do what I will with :my own?
eho oph-thalMOS sou po-neROS es-tin, HOti eGOa-gaTHOS ei-mi?
or is your :eye evil, because I am good?
t. 20:16 Thus the last shall be first, and the first last.
HOUtos Eson-tai hoi EScha-toi [2078]PROtoi [4413], kai hoi PROtoi EScha-toi.
NOTE: The standards of the Kingdom of God tend to shock both seekers and disciples. God does notlet down his bars to make it possible for us to ignore His standards. Notice that Jesus says nothing further to the rich young man when he sorrowfully walked away. Would we go after him? It is only Godby His grace working in us by the Holy Spirit that enables one to meet His standards. Jesusas Son of man met them! Yet even in the Garden of Gethsemane it was noteasy for Him as Son of man to face becoming sinfor us. The spiritual suffering He faced far exceededthe physical suffering meted out to Him by man. Cursedis every one hanging on a tree! The very curse of God fell on God's only-begotten Son when He worked Redemption and Reconciliation on our behalf! Mel Gibson in his “The Passion of the Christ” did not catch this spiritual suffering.
19:27-20:16 - Peter recognized that he and his fellow-disciples haddone what the rich young ruler could not bring himself to do. Then see what Jesus told Peter and His disciples their reward would be in the Regeneration! 12 thrones for them, judging the 12 tribes of Israel! What a revelation! Matthias replaced Judas as one of the twelve prior to Pentecost. And, the twelve tribes in the dispersion were known to James and the writers of the 7 General epistles, James through Jude. “James, bondman of God and of theLord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes:in the Dispersion, greeting” 1:1. Anna the prophetess was of the tribe of Asher. The tribe of Benjamin and the Levites remained with Judah when the kingdom of Israel was split during the reign of Rehoboam. Under Hezekiah and Josiah, many of the 10 tribes also joined Judah. Following the 70 years' captivity of Judah, all Israel was invited to return to Jerusalem with Judah.
For many, all of the above is confusing. It does notseem that this was confusing for those in the days of the early church during the days of the Former Rain. Since Luther onwards we have been in the days of the Latter Rain. The endis drawing near, and the Blessed Hope in the Return of our Lord. H. A. Baker has much to say of these days in which we live, as revealed by “Visions Beyond the Veil” on the part of little Chinese beggars and orphans in the Adullam family.
The church is like a ship at sea. Barnacles slowly attach to the hull and slow its speed. It must be brought into dry-dock, scraped and repainted; and only then does the original speed return. And what are the barnacles slowing Christ's church? Traditions- not according to the Word of God. Just as Pharisees of Jesus' day fought Him because of their traditions in the Talmud, putting human thought abovethe pure Word of God - so in our day, tradition has slowly crept into the church of God in its various denominations, and nearly brought to a grinding halt God's Ship of State. Barnacles! Let's get into the dry-dock, scrape our hull and repaint the ship, and launch it with a “remnant” of the “One New Man”. Thenwe will be ready to face the anger of Satan and his human cohorts such as the false judges of our day. Then we will have grace to endure to the end, and welcome back our Lord for resurrection from the dead. And - as Jesus' parable here shows - “The last shall be first - and the first last!” J.A.W.