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

and having agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard;

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

And he said to them, Go you also into my vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. They went.

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

Finally, going out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing idle, and he said to them: Why are you standing idle here all day?

They tell him: no one hired us. He says to them: Go, you also into my vineyard, and whatever follows, you will receive.

When evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.

And those who came about the eleventh hour received a denarius each.

Those who came first thought that they would receive more, but they also received a denarius each;

and, having received, they began to grumble at the owner of the house

and they said: these last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us, who endured the burden of the day and the heat.

He answered one of them: friend! I don't offend you; Was it not for a denarius that you agreed with me?

take yours and go; but I want to give this latter the same as I give you;

Am I not in my own power to do what I want? Or is your eye envious because I am kind?

So the last will be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few are chosen.

This parable sounds like it's a purely imaginary situation, but it's not. In addition to the method of payment, the parable describes a situation that often took place at certain times of the year in Palestine. The grapes ripened in mid-September and immediately after that came the rainy season. If the crops were not harvested before the rains came, they perished, and that is why any worker was welcome, even if he could work only one hour.

The pay was the most normal. denarius or drachma was the normal wage of a day laborer.

The people standing in the marketplace were not loitering loafers. The market squares served as an employment agency. A man would come there in the morning with his instrument and wait for someone to hire him. Consequently, the people who stood in the marketplace were looking for work, and the fact that they stood there until five o'clock in the evening shows how desperately they needed it.

These people were hired workers, day laborers, the lowest paid workers, and their lives were always extremely precarious. Slaves and servants were considered somehow related to the family; they were together in a group; their fate could change depending on the fate of the family, but in normal times they were not threatened by starvation. But the life of employees was not like that at all. They were not affiliated with any group; they were completely dependent on the opportunity to earn money; they have always lived from hand to mouth. As we can see, the daily wage was one denarius, and if they were out of work for one day, their children had to remain hungry, because no one could save anything on such a salary. Being unemployed for one day was already a disaster for them.

The time in the parable is the normal time of the day. The Jewish day began at sunrise at 6 o'clock in the morning, and the clock was counted from that moment until 6 o'clock in the evening, when the next day officially began. Counting from 6 o'clock in the morning, the third hour is 9 o'clock in the morning, the sixth hour is noon, and the eleventh hour is 5 o'clock in the evening. The parable gives a vivid picture of what could happen in the marketplace of any Jewish village or any Jewish city, when it was necessary to urgently harvest the grapes before the onset of rains.

Matthew 20:1-16(continued) Work and pay in the kingdom of God

Montefiore calls this parable "one of the greatest and most wonderful." It is possible that at the moment when it was spoken, the scope of this parable was limited; but it contains a truth that touches the very essence of the Christian life. We begin our analysis with its original, relatively narrow, meaning.

1. This is, in a sense, a warning to disciples. Jesus seemed to say to them: “You were given the privilege of entering the Christian Church and the Christian brotherhood very early, at the very beginning. Others will come later, and you should not claim special honors and a special place just because you were Christians before they were. All people, no matter when they come, are equally dear to God.”

There are people who believe that just because they have been members of the church for a long time, the church practically belongs to them and they can dictate their will to it. Such people are dissatisfied with the influence of a new generation that has different views and a different way of doing things. In the Christian Church, seniority is not necessarily associated with honor.

2. This is equally a warning to the Jews. They knew they were God's chosen people, and they never wanted to forget it. And so they looked down on the Gentiles. Usually they hated and despised them and waited only for their death. There was a danger that this attitude would be carried over into the Christian Church: if pagans were to be admitted into the Christian Church at all, they would have to enter into it as inferiors.

"In God's system," someone said, "there is no article on the most noble nation." In Christianity there is nothing like the concept dominating nation, dominant race. It may well be that we, who have been Christians for so long, have much to learn from those young churches that were the last to come into fellowship by faith.

3. These are the lessons originally laid down in this parable, but it has more for us.

It talks about consolation of God. Regardless of when a person enters the Kingdom of God, later or earlier, in his youth, in adulthood, or even at the end of his days, he is equally dear to God. The rabbis had a saying: “Some enter the Kingdom in one hour, others barely enter it in their entire lives.” In the picture of the holy city in Revelation there are twelve gates. There is a gate there east, to the rising of the sun, through which a man may enter into the joyous morning of his days; there is a gate to west, at sunset, through which a person can enter in old age. Regardless of when a person comes to Christ, he is equally dear to Him.

Can't we take this idea of ​​consolation even further? Sometimes a person dies in honor, having lived for many years, having completed his day's work and completed his task. Sometimes a young person dies when the doors of life have barely opened before him and the doors of achievements and achievements have not opened at all. God will meet them equally warmly, Jesus Christ is waiting for both of them, and for no one, in the heavenly sense, life has ended too soon or too late.

4. It talks about the infinite the compassion of God. There is an element of human tenderness in this parable.

There is nothing more tragic in this world than an unemployed person, whose talents and abilities perish in idleness, because he has nothing to do. One great teacher said that the saddest thing in all the plays of William Shakespeare is the words: "Othello's lesson is gone." These men were standing in the marketplace because no one hired them, and in his compassion the owner gave them work: he could not see how they were idle.

In addition, it was strictly fair for a person who worked fewer hours to receive a correspondingly lower pay. But the owner knew well that even one denarius a day was not so much money. He well knew that if the worker brought home less than one denarius, there would be an upset and anxious wife and hungry children at home, and therefore he circumvented justice and gave them more than they were supposed to.

As already mentioned, this parable sets out two great truths that are the codes of every working person - the right of a person to work and the right to a living wage for the work done.

5. It talks about the bounty of God. These people did very different jobs, but they all got the same pay. And there are two important lessons in this. First, as already mentioned, "with God, every service is honored." What matters is not how much work is done, but with what love it is done. Another person can give a lot from his abundance, and we will be grateful to him, and a child can give us a gift for his birthday, or for Christmas, which is worth a penny, which he diligently and lovingly saved - and this gift, which costs very little, touches our heart is even bigger. When we give everything we have, everything we can - every service, every work is equally honored by God.

The second lesson is more important than the first. God gives everything from His grace, from His mercy. We cannot earn what God gives us; we can't deserve it. Everything that God gives us, He gives from the kindness of His heart, from His generosity; everything that God gives us is a gift, not a payment, not a reward, but a mercy.

6. And this, of course, brings us to the most important lesson of the whole parable - the whole meaning of the work comes down to our attitude towards it, in what spirit it is done. The workers in the parable are divided into two groups. The first group entered into an agreement with the owner; they had an agreement with him; they said, "We will work if you pay us that much." From their behavior it is clear that they sought to get as much as possible for their work. But with regard to those whom the master called to work later, nothing is said about the contract; they were looking only for an opportunity to work and earn money, and they left the remuneration at the discretion of the owner.

That person is not a real Christian who thinks about his pay first. Peter asked, “What will we get for this?” The Christian works out of a sense of joy in serving God and his fellow men. That is why the first will be last and the last will be first. Many people of this world who have received a great reward will receive a very low place in the Kingdom of Heaven, because they thought only of reward. Many people who are poor by worldly standards will be great in the Kingdom because they never dreamed of reward in the first place, but worked for the enjoyment of work and for the joy of service. The paradox of the Christian life lies in the fact that everyone who strives for reward will lose it, and whoever forgets about reward will find it.

Matthew 20:17-19 Towards the cross

And going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples alone on the way, and said to them:

behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death;

and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and beaten and crucified; and rise on the third day.

This is the third time Jesus warns His disciples that he is going towards suffering. (Matt. 16:21; 17:22-23). Luke and Mark add their touches to the story to show that this time there was tension in the mood of the apostolic group and a certain foreboding of the coming tragedy. Mark reports that Jesus walked alone in front, and the disciples were terrified (Mark 10:32-34). They did not understand what was happening, but they could see the struggle that was going on in His soul. Luke also reports that Jesus withdrew His twelve disciples, trying to reason with them about what would happen. (Luke 18:31-34). Here is taken the first decisive step towards the last act of the inevitable tragedy. Jesus deliberately and consciously goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die on the Cross.

The suffering that awaited Jesus was the suffering of body, mind, and soul.

He was supposed to be betrayed the hands of the chief priests and scribes are suffering of the heart; He will be abandoned by his friends. His be sentenced to death. His offended the Romans, and abused above them spit on His is suffering from humiliation and insults. He will be scourged; few tortures in the world can be compared to Roman scourging - and it was suffering from physical pain. And finally, his crucified. This is the highest suffering death. Jesus, as it were, collected upon Himself all kinds of physical, spiritual and mental suffering of this world.

But that was not all He said, for He ended with a confident statement about the Resurrection. Behind the veil of suffering, the revelation of glory awaited Him; after the Crucifixion - a crown; after defeat, victory; and after death, life.

Matthew 20:20-28 False and true ambition

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down and asking something of Him.

He said to her: what do you want? She says to him: Tell these two my sons to sit with you, one on your right hand and the other on your left in your kingdom.

Jesus answered, You don't know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They say to him: we can.

And he says to them: you will drink my cup, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized, but to let me sit on my right hand and on my left is not up to me, but to whom it is prepared by my Father.

Hearing this, the other ten disciples were indignant with the two brothers.

But Jesus, having called them, said: You know that the princes of the nations rule over them, and the nobles rule over them;

but let it not be so among you: but whoever wants to be great among you, let him be your servant;

and whoever wants to be first among you, let him be your slave;

for the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Here we see how the worldly ambition of the disciples is manifested. There is one small difference between the description of this event in Matthew and Mark. AT Map. 10.35-45 James and John approach Jesus with this request, and Matthew has their mother.

They may have had a very natural reason for this request. It is likely that James and John were close relatives of Jesus. Matthew, Mark and John have a list of women standing at the Cross. Let's reproduce this list.

Matthew gives: Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Josiah, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Mat. 27:56).

In Mark: Mary Magdalene and Mary mother of James the lesser and Josiah and Salome (Mark 15:40).

In John: His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary Cleopova, and Mary Magdalene (John 19:25).

Mary Magdalene is listed in all three lists; Mary, the mother of James and Josiah, must be the same woman as Maria Kleopova, so the third woman is described by three different ways. Matthew calls it mother of the sons of Zebedee, at Mark- Salome, and John calls her sister of his mother. Thus we learn that the mother of James and John was called Salome, and that she was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This means that James and John were cousins ​​of Jesus, and it is quite possible that they believed that this close relationship entitles them to a special place in the kingdom of heaven.

This is one of the most significant passages in the New Testament. It sheds light in three directions. First, it sheds light on the students. He tells us three things about them. He talks about them ambition. They were still thinking about personal reward and distinction and their own success, without any sacrifice on their part. They wanted Jesus, by His royal word, to provide them with a magnificent life. Every person should know that true greatness is not in domination, but in service, and that one must pay for greatness everywhere.

All this does not speak in favor of the disciples, but much speaks also in their favor. No other event shows them so clearly. irresistible faith in Jesus. Just think when they turn to Him with this request: after Jesus announced several times that the Crucifixion inevitably awaits Him, when the whole atmosphere was saturated with tragic foreboding. And the disciples, nevertheless, think about the Kingdom. It is extremely important to see that even in a world in which twilight was gathering, the disciples did not give up the idea that the victory would be with Jesus. At a moment when all circumstances seem to be against the individual and the situation is desperate, the Christian must always possess this irresistible optimism.

Further, here is shown unwavering loyalty students. Even when they were clearly told that a bitter cup lay ahead of them, it did not occur to them to turn back; they were ready to drink it. If in order to overcome with Jesus it was necessary to suffer with Him, they were perfectly willing to accept that suffering.

Disciples are easy to judge, but the faith and loyalty that underpinned their ambition must not be forgotten.

Matthew 20:20-28(continued) The Spirit of Jesus

Second, the passage sheds light on the life of a Christian. Jesus said that whoever wants to share His glory with Him must drink His cup. What was this bowl? Jesus addressed these words to James and John, but life treated them in completely different ways. James was the first of all the apostles to die a martyr's death. (Acts 12:2). For him, the cup was martyrdom. On the other hand, according to tradition, it is known that John lived to a ripe old age in Ephesus and died of natural causes when he was about a hundred years old. His cup was the constant struggle and concern for the purity of the Church for many years.

It is completely wrong to think that for a Christian the cup is always a short, sharp, bitter struggle of martyrdom; the cup may well be the long everyday life of the Christian life, with all its daily sacrifices, daily struggles, with its grief, disappointments and tears. Once a Roman coin was found depicting a bull facing a choice between an altar and a plow, with the inscription: "Ready for both." The bull had to be ready, both for the highest moment of sacrifice on the altar, and for the long work with the plow in the field. There is no single cup for all Christians; one may drink his cup in one great moment, another may drink it throughout his Christian life. Drinking the cup means following Christ wherever He leads and being like Him in whatever situation life puts us in.

Thirdly, this passage sheds light on Jesus. He shows us His kindness. The amazing thing about Jesus is that He never lost patience or got angry. After all He said, here these men and their mother are still dreaming of places in earthly government and kingdom. But Jesus does not explode at their obsession or become enraged at their blindness or despair at their inability to learn anything. With tenderness, with sympathy and love, without uttering a quick-tempered word, he tries to bring them to the truth.

Here it is manifested sincerity. Jesus was confident that He and His followers were about to drink a bitter cup, and He did not hesitate to say so. No person can claim to have followed Jesus while being misled. Jesus never forgot to tell people that even if life ended with a crown, it consisted in bearing the cross.

This passage shows that James and John remain faithful to Him. They were indeed mistaken in their ambitions; they were sometimes blind, they had wrong ideas and notions, but He never left them hopeless. He knew that in due time they might drink the cup, and that they would be faithful to Him. Even if we hate and despise ourselves, we must firmly remember one great, fundamental fact: Jesus loves us. A Christian is a person whom Jesus trusts.

Matthew 20:20-28(continued) Christian Revolution

No wonder the request of James and John excited the rest of the disciples. They did not understand why these two brothers should be ahead of them, even if they were cousins ​​of Jesus. They didn't understand why they were even allowed to make their claim to superiority. Jesus knew what was going on in them, and He spoke to them with words that form the foundation of the Christian faith. Jesus said that the truly great in the world is he who has dominion over others; he who, with a single word or a wave of his hand, can set so much in motion. In this world there was a Roman procurator with his retinue, and eastern sovereigns with their servants. The world considers them great. “But,” Jesus continues, “among My followers, the only mark of greatness is service. Greatness does not consist in commanding others to do something, but in serving the other; and the greater the service, the greater the honor.” Jesus establishes a kind of gradation: “Who wants to be among you big, yes you will servant; and who wants to be between you first, yes it will your slave." Here it is, the Christian revolution; it is a complete change in worldly standards. A new rating scale has been introduced.

Oddly enough, the world instinctively accepted these new norms. The world knows well that a respected person is one who serves his fellow men. The world will respect, admire, and sometimes fear a powerful man, but he will love loving person. A doctor who will come at any time of the day or night to help the sick and save him; a priest who is always on his way to his parishioners; an employer who shows great interest in the life and problems of his workers and employees; a person to whom we can always come, and who will never let us feel that we interfere with him - these are the people everyone loves; in such people everyone instinctively sees Jesus Christ.

When the great Japanese Christian, Toyohiko Kagawa, was first introduced to Christianity, he felt he was captivated by it. He once exclaimed, "O God, make me like Christ!" To be like Christ, he went to live in the slums, although he himself was ill with tuberculosis. It would seem that a person in such a state can go to live anywhere, but not in these slums.

The book Famous Decisions tells that Kagawa settled in the Tokyo slums in a hut measuring 2x2 meters. “The first night he was asked to let a patient with contagious scabies into his bed. This was a test of his faith. Will he move on from his decision that there will be no return? No, he welcomed the person who would share his bed. The beggar asked him for a shirt and got it. The next day, he returned for Kagawa's jacket and trousers and got them too. Kagawa was left in an old, tattered kimono. The inhabitants of the Tokyo slums laughed at him, but they began to respect him. He preached while standing in the pouring rain and constantly coughing. “God is love,” he shouted, “God is love! Where there is love, there is God! He often fell down in exhaustion, and the rough slum dwellers carefully carried him back to his dwelling.

Kagawa himself wrote: “God dwells among those who occupy the lowest and humblest position. He sits on the heaps of dust in the prison among the convicts. He stands among the juvenile delinquents. He is with the poor, He is among the sick, He is with the unemployed. And therefore, let anyone who wants to meet God, before going to the temple, go to prison; let him go to the hospital before going to church; let him help the beggar before turning to reading the Bible.”

And therein lies greatness. The world can judge the greatness of a man by the number of people he rules and who are entirely at his disposal, or by his intellectual level and academic rank, or by the number of committees of which he is a member, or by his bank account and accumulated material wealth, but in the assessment of Jesus Christ, all this does not matter. Jesus Christ evaluates a person very simply - how many people did he help?

Matthew 20:20-28(continued) The Power of the Cross

What Jesus called His disciples to do, He Himself did. He came to serve, not to be served. He came to receive not the throne, but the Cross. And that is why the orthodox religious people of His time could not understand Him. Throughout their history, the Jews have dreamed of a Messiah; but the Messiah they dreamed of was to be a victorious king, a mighty leader who would crush and destroy Israel's enemies and reign in power and dominion over the kingdoms of the earth. They were waiting for a winner and a conqueror, but they found a broken man on the Cross. They waited for a strong and fierce lion from the tribe of Judah, but they found the meek Lamb of God. The German Protestant theologian Rudolf Bultmann writes: "In the Crucifixion of Christ, Jewish norms of judgment and all human ideas about the splendor and splendor of the Messiah were shaken." In Jesus Christ people were shown a new glory and a new greatness of suffering love and sacrificial service. In Him royal power and royal dignity acquired a new content.

Jesus summed up His life with one powerful sentence: "The Son of Man came to give His life as a ransom for many."

What does it mean? This means that people were in the power of evil, which they could not break; their sins dragged them down; they separated them from God and led them away from him; their sins ruined their lives, both for themselves and for the world and for God Himself. A ransom is something given or paid in order to free a person from a position from which he cannot free himself. And so this phrase simply means - in order to bring people back to God, it was necessary to pay with the life and death of Jesus Christ.

In general, there can be no question of to whom the ransom is paid. There is only the great, awesome truth, that without Jesus Christ, without His life of service, and without His death of love, we could never find our way back to the love of God again. Jesus gave everything to bring people back to God, and we must follow in the footsteps of the One who loved unconditionally.

Matthew 20:29-34 Love's answer to the call of need

And when they went out of Jericho, many people followed Him.

And so, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was walking by, began to cry: Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!

The people forced them to be silent; but they began to shout even louder: have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!

Jesus stopped and called them and said, What do you want from Me?

They say to Him: Lord! to open our eyes.

Jesus, having mercy, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

This is a story about two people over whom a miracle happened. This is a very important story, because it shows the necessary state and relationship of the soul and heart of those for whom the gift of God is revealed.

1. These two blind men were biding their time, and when they got the opportunity, they seized it with both hands. They undoubtedly heard about the miraculous power of Jesus and they undoubtedly dreamed about it; whether that power could ever be manifested towards them. Jesus passed by. If they had let Him pass, they would have missed their opportunity forever, and so they seized on it.

Many things need to be done at once, or they will disappear forever, and then you will never catch up with them. Many decisions must be made immediately, or they can never be made again. The moment when it was necessary to act is fading away, the impulse to act is fading away. After Paul preached in the square near the Areopagus, some of the Athenians said: “We will hear from you about this at another time.” (Acts 17:32). They put it off for a better opportunity, but how often that more opportunity never comes.

2. These two blind men could not be discouraged. The crowd ordered them to be silent; they have made themselves a hindrance. It was common in Palestine that the rabbis taught as they traveled the roads, and of course those who were walking with Jesus could not hear what He was saying because of this noisy cry. But nothing could stop these two blind men; for them it was an extremely important moment - whether they will see or remain blind, and nothing could stop them.

It often happens that we can simply be discouraged and discouraged from seeking the presence of God. Only those who are unstoppable in their search for Christ will find Him.

3. The faith of these two blind men was not perfect, but they were determined to act on their faith. They turned to Jesus with exclamations Son of David. This means that they believed that He was the Messiah, but they believed in His Messiahship in the light of royal and earthly glory. Their faith was not perfect, but they acted on it, and Jesus accepted it.

However imperfect faith may be, Jesus accepts it, if it exists at all.

4. These blind men were not afraid to make such a huge request. They were beggars, but they didn't ask for money, they asked for sight.

You can turn to Jesus with any, even the biggest request.

5. These two blind men were filled with gratitude. Having received such a desired benefit, they did not leave, forgetting about everything - they followed Jesus.

But many people, both in spiritual and material matters, having received what they want, even forget to say thank you. Ingratitude is a repulsive sin. These two blind men received their sight and remained faithful to Him. We can never repay all that God has done for us, but we can always feel and express our gratitude to Him.

For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.and having agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard;going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,and he said to them, “You also go into my vineyard, and whatever is right, I will give you.” They went.And going out again about the sixth and ninth hours, he did the same.Finally, going out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing idle, and he said to them, “Why are you standing idle here all day?”They tell him: "no one hired us." He says to them: “You also go to my vineyard, and whatever follows, you will receive.”

When evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.”And those who came about the eleventh hour received a denarius each.Those who came first thought that they would receive more, but they also received a denarius each;and, having received, they began to grumble at the owner of the houseand they said: "These last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us, who endured the hardship of the day and the heat."

In response, he said to one of them: “Friend! I don't offend you; Was it not for a denarius that you agreed with me?Take yours and go; I want to give this last Same as you;Am I not in my own power to do what I want? Or is your eye envious because I am kind?

So the last will be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few are chosen.

And going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples alone on the way, and said to them:behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death;and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and beaten and crucified; and rise on the third day.

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down and asking something of Him.

He said to her: what do you want?

She says to him: Tell these two my sons to sit with you, one on your right hand and the other on your left in your kingdom.

Jesus said in response: you don't know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

They say to him: we can.

And tells them: you will drink my cup, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized, but let me sit on my right hand and on my left, not from me depends but to whom has been prepared by my Father.

Hearing this, others ten students resented the two brothers.

Jesus, calling them, said: you know that the princes of the nations rule over them, and the nobles rule over them;but let it not be so among you: but whoever wants to be greater among you, let him be your servant;and whoever wants to be first among you, let him be your slave;because the Son of Man is not for came to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

And when they went out of Jericho, many people followed Him.And so, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was walking by, began to cry: Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!The people forced them to be silent; but they began to shout even louder: have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!

Jesus stopped and called them and said: what do you want from me?

They say to Him: Lord! to open our eyes.

Jesus, having mercy, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

Likewise, there is the kingdom of heaven for a man who is housewife, who has gone out (green) in the morning to find laborers in his vineyard. And having consulted with the laborers for a penny a day, she sent them into her vineyards. And he went out at the third hour, seeing another standing idle in the marketplace: And thus he said: Go, you also into my vineyard, and if it be righteousness, I will give it to you. They are Idosha. Paki went out at the sixth and ninth hour, do the same. In one ten hour, having gone out, you found others standing idle, and said to them: Why are you standing here all the day idle? Saying to him, as if no one hired us. She said to them: go you also into my vineyard, and take it in righteousness.

Jesus is the kingdom of heaven and He is like a man, for He also took on our image. He is also the master of the house, for he rules over the house, that is, over the church. This householder Christ came out of the bowels of the Father and hires laborers into the vineyard, that is, to fulfill the commandments and study the Scriptures. He hires each of us to cultivate the vineyard, that is, his own soul, but he hires one in the morning, that is, at a young age, another at the third hour, that is, about twenty-five years old, others at the sixth and ninth hour, that is, , about thirty years old, and in general at a man's age, and at the eleventh hour - the elders, for many, having believed in old age, received salvation. Or in other words: a day means the present age, in which, as in days, we do things. The Lord called at the first hour of the day the Epoch, his contemporaries and Noah, at the third - Abraham, at the sixth - Moses and those who lived in his time, at the ninth the prophets, and at the eleventh, that is, at the end of the ages, we - the Gentiles, who did not one good deed, since no one hired pagans; for no prophet was sent to them.

In the evening, the lord of the grapes said to his steward: call the laborers, and give them a reward, started from the last to the first. And when he came, even at one ten hour, he came down on a penny. When the first ones come, they will accept me as a higher one: both come and tie for a penny. But he received a murmur against the master, saying: as if these were the last one hour you did, and you created them equal to us, who bore the burden of the day and war. He answering their one speech: friend, I will not offend you: did you not consult with me on a penny? Take what is yours and go: I want to give to this last one, as well as to you. Or is it impossible to create a hedgehog in my own mind? if your eye is evil, how am I good? Taco will be the last of the first, and the first of the last: many are called, but few are chosen.

The evening is the end of the age: at the end, everyone receives a denarius, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, which renews a person in the image and makes him a partaker of the Divine nature. Those who lived before the coming of Christ labored harder, for at that time death was not yet destroyed, the devil was not crushed, and sin was still alive; and we, by the grace of Christ, justified by baptism, receive the power to overcome our enemy, already deposed and put to death by Christ. According to the first interpretation, those who in their youth believed and followed Christ endured more labor than those who converted in old age; for young men in the struggle with passions feel heaviness from their own movements of anger and sensual desire, while the old ones remain calm, yet all are rewarded with one gift of the Holy Spirit. - This parable teaches us that if someone repents even in old age, he will be worthy of the kingdom (heavenly), for old age is the eleventh hour. Will not the saints envy those who have received equal grace with them? No. From this it can only be seen that so many and so inexpressible blessings are prepared for the righteous that they could arouse envy.

And as Jesus went up to Jerusalem, they gave a drink to ten disciples one on the way, and said to them: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed as a bishop and a scribe: and they will condemn Him to death, the third day will rise. Then come to Him the mother of the son of Zebedee with her son, bowing and asking something from Him. And he said to her: What do you want? He said, Let these two sons of mine sit, one at Your right hand, and one at Your left, in Your kingdom.

The sons of Zebedee thought that if the Lord went to Jerusalem, he would become the king of an earthly kingdom, because they often heard from Him the words: We ascend to Jerusalem. Therefore, they were carried away by human thoughts and forced the mother to approach Jesus, being ashamed to openly approach Him themselves, although they approached Him secretly, according to Mark; for he says that James and John came to him, that is, they approached him secretly and in private.

Having left the mother of the sons of Zebedee, the Lord speaks to her sons themselves, in order to show that He knows that they forced the mother to speak to Him. He tells them: you do not know what you are asking, for what you are asking is beyond the mind, beyond the Angelic forces themselves: you strive for glory, and I call you to death. Thus spoke He to them, wishing to turn them away from such thoughts. A offers the question not out of ignorance, but desiring that by answering them, of necessity, they would reveal their secret illness and try to fulfill the promise. For He seems to be saying this: since no one can be a participant in my kingdom, if he does not partake of my suffering, then tell Me, can you suffer in a similar way? He calls his suffering and death the cup, at the same time showing that it is easy to drink the cup, so we can not be afraid to go to death for Christ; besides this, it also shows that He Himself gladly goes to death. Just as one who drinks the cup of wine soon falls asleep weighed down by the drink, so the one who drinks the cup of suffering sinks into the sleep of death. He calls his death baptism, because by it he has accomplished the cleansing of our souls. They made a promise without understanding what they were saying and promising everything to get what they wanted.

I know that you will suffer and die, and it really happened: Jacob killed Herod, John condemned Trajan for witnessing the truth. The words: sit down on my right hand and on my left, mean: if there is a person who, drinking the cup of torment, will have all the other virtues, then he will receive a gift; because the gift is prepared for the worker, just as crowns are prepared for warriors. So, if at the opening of the horse competition, in the presence of the distributor of awards to the king, someone who did not participate in the drawing appeared and said to him - give me a crown, although I did not participate in the drawing, the king would say to him: I cannot give a crown for nothing , it is prepared for the one who fled and won the victory. Similarly, Christ says here: I cannot give you a right place next to me for free, because it is prepared for others who have worked harder. Therefore I say to you, the sons of Zebedee, that you will suffer and die for my sake. But if someone during martyrdom has all the other virtues, he will be greater than you. Of course, you will ask: who will sit there? Know that nobody. This place belongs only to the Divine nature: to whom the angel said when: sit at the right hand of Me(Heb. 1:13)? Nobody. Thus spoke the Lord to them, referring to the degree of their understanding; for they did not know that when the Lord also spoke about sitting on twelve thrones, he meant the future glory, which had to be revealed to them for virtue. Therefore, they asked for such graying without understanding it.

And hearing ten indignant about both brother. And Jesus, having called them, said: I know that the princes of the tongue rule over them, and the great ones rule over them. It will not be the same in you: but if the greater one wants to be in you, let there be a servant to you: And if he wants to be the first in you, be a servant to you: For the Son of man will not come, that they will serve Him, but serve, and give His soul is a deliverance for many.

When ten saw that Christ had denounced those two, they also became indignant and through that discovered in themselves a desire for the same honor. For they were still imperfect, and two wished to exalt themselves above the ten, and the ten envied the two. And since the ten were confused when they heard (such words from Jesus Christ); then Jesus, wanting to calm them down, calls them to Himself, for only the sons of Zebedee were with Him and talked with Him. He speaks to all, knowing that primacy needs severe reproof, and speaks bitter words to them, classifying them among the pagans and infidels, if they want to seek glory, and thus shames them with the following speech: some people, having authority, are magnified by that , as if something great belongs to them: but to love the authorities is a pagan passion, and My disciples are recognized by humility and receive honor for humility. Therefore, whoever wants to be great must also serve the last: for this is the highest humility. This I showed in Myself, when, being the lord and king of heaven, I humbled Myself to serve for your salvation, and moreover, in such a way that I am ready to give My life for the deliverance of many, that is, all, for all are many.

And I proceeded to Him from Jericho; many people followed Him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the way, hearing that Jesus was passing by, crying out saying: Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David. But let the people keep silence for the ima: she is more crying out, saying: have mercy on us. Lord Son of David. And when Jesus arose, I cried out and said, What will you want me to do to you? He said to him: Lord, let our eyes be opened. But when Jesus was merciful, I touched their eyes;

The blind, hearing about Christ, came to know Him, and knowing that He was passing by, took advantage of this time. They believed that Jesus, descended from the seed of David according to the flesh, could heal them. And since they had ardent faith, they did not remain silent, in spite of the prohibition, but cried out even more; therefore Jesus does not ask them whether they have faith, but what they want, lest anyone think that they want one thing, but He gives them another. It also shows that they are not asking for pieces of silver, but for healing. He heals them by touch, so that we may know that every member of His Holy flesh is a life-giving and Divine member. True, Luke and Mark speak of the same blind man, but this does not lead to disagreement, because they mentioned the most famous blind man. Or in other words: Luke says that Jesus healed the blind man before entering Jericho, and Mark that after leaving Jericho, Matthew, for brevity, mentioned both of them suddenly. Note also that the blind were Gentiles, and were healed by Christ in passing: because Christ came mainly not for the Gentiles, but for the Israelites; and just as the blind knew Jesus by hearing, so the Gentiles believed in Christ by hearing. Those who forbid the blind to call on the name of Jesus are the persecutors and tormentors who attempted to forbid the preaching of the Church. But she confessed the name of Christ even more, and therefore received healing, having clearly seen the true light, and began to follow Christ, imitating Him in her life.

About free will and envy.

Matthew 20:1 Because the kingdom of heaven is like a man, a householder, who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.

Matthew 20:2 And agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Matthew 20:3 And going out about the third hour, He I saw others standing in the square of the unemployed.

Matthew 20:4 And so He said, "You also go to the vineyard, and I will give you justice."

Matthew 20:5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth and ninth hour, he did the same.

Matthew 20:6 And going out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing and said to them: “Why are the unemployed standing here all day?”

Mt.20:7 They say to him: "Because no one hired us." He says to them: "Go and you to the vineyard my.»

Matthew 20:8 When evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward: “Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting from the last to the first.”

Matthew 20:9 And those who came about the eleventh hour received a denarius each.

Matthew 20:10 And those who came first thought that they would receive more, but they also received a denarius

Matthew 20:11 and murmured against the owner of the house,

Matthew 20:12 saying: “These last one hours worked, and you made them equal to us, who endured the hardship of the day and the heat.”

Matthew 20:13 He answered one of them and said: “Friend! I I don't hate you. Is it not for a denarius? you agreed with me?

Matthew 20:14 Take what is yours and go. I but I want to give the latter what I give you.

Matthew 20:15 Or am I not allowed to do what I want with mine? Or is your eye evil because I am kind?

Matthew 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

About the third prediction by Jesus of His suffering, death and resurrection.

Matthew 20:17 And when Jesus went up to Jerusalem, he called his twelve disciples separately, and on the way he said to them:

Matthew 20:18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death.

Matthew 20:19 And they will hand him over to the Gentiles for mockery and scourging and crucifixion, and on the third day he will rise again.”

About serving the many.

Mt.20:20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to Him with her sons, bowing and asking something of Him.

Matthew 20:21 And he said to her: “What do you want?” She is says to him: "Tell these two of my sons to sit down, one to your right and the other to your left in your kingdom."

Matthew 20:22 And answering, Jesus said: “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am preparing to drink?” They say to Him: "We can."

Matthew 20:23 And He says to them: “You will drink My cup, but to sit on My right and on My left is not for Me to decide, but for whom My Father has prepared.”

Matthew 20:24 And when they heard, the ten were angry with the two brothers.

Matthew 20:25 But Jesus, calling them, said: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles rule over them, and the great ones rule over them.

Matthew 20:26 It shouldn't be like this between you. But if anyone wants to become great among you, let will be your servant.

Matthew 20:27 And if anyone wants to be first among you, he will be your slave.

Matthew 20:28 How and The Son of Man came not to receive service, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

On the healing of the blind.

Matthew 20:29 And when they were leaving Jericho, many people followed Him.

Matthew 20:30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing past, shouted, saying: "Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!"

Matthew 20:31 The people rebuked them so that those fell silent; they are more they cried out more, saying: “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!”

Matthew 20:32 And stopping, Jesus called them. And he said, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Matthew 20:33 They say to Him: “Lord! To open our eyes."

Matthew 20:34 Having compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him.

20:1-15 This parable will seem harsh only to those who do not understand that they are completely dependent on God's mercy. All good things come from the hand of God. It is not proper for a Christian to be envious if God has given something good to another.

20:2 denarius. See com. by 18.28.

20:16 See com. by 19.30.

20:17-19 Here Jesus for the third time predicts His suffering and resurrection (16:21; 17:22-23&N).

20:23 In the OT figurative system, "chalice" can mean initiation into something. The disciples will drink from the cup, which means they will partake of the sufferings of Christ. But note that Jesus calls the cup His own. Precisely because He Himself drank the cup of God's wrath, believers will escape the fate that all people deserve. In union with Christ, they have already passed judgment. They are justified in Christ and inherit his glory (Rom. 8:17). However, they have been given a great honor - to partake of Christ in His sufferings (1 Pet. 2:21).

20:28 atonement. The word meant "ransom", the price paid to save someone from slavery or punishment. The price of our freedom from sin and death is the life of Jesus or, in the language of symbols, His blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19). New Testament never directly indicates to whom this ransom was paid, but if we are saved from the wrath of God, therefore, the ransom had to be paid to God Himself. Jesus drank the cup (see v. 23), not for His sins, but for the redemption of many.

20: for... many. The Greek preposition can also be translated as "instead of", then it would mean that, while suffering, Jesus replaced us. He says "many," not "all," and this emphasizes that His redemptive ministry has a definite, or end-to-end focus (cf. Isaiah 53:11-12). However, Jesus died for "many", not "a few" (see Jn 17:9N; 1 Tim 2:6).

20:29 left. According to Luke, they were rather part of Jericho. Perhaps Matthew and Mark are referring to the old Jericho, which was about a mile away from the new one built by Herod.

20:30 two blind men. Again Matthew speaks of two, Mark and Luke of one (see 8:28N).