Matthew 20:15

"For the kingdom of Heaven," He said, "is like to a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with them for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard." "And at the third hour he saw others standing idle, and to them too he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And about the sixth and ninth hours he did likewise. And about the eleventh hour, he saw others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? But they say unto him, No man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into my vineyard, and whatsoever is right, ye shall receive." "So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. And the first supposed that they should receive more, and they received likewise every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us that have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last also, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? Thus the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but few chosen." What is to us the intent of this parable? For the beginning doth not harmonize with what is said at the end, but intimates altogether the contrary. […]

Chapter 20, Verse 1 onwards: The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing to pay them the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out again at about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.' So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did the same.

Hence it is fittingly added: "Or is your eye evil because I am good?" But let no one exalt himself on account of his work, let no one exalt himself on account of time, since with this statement completed, the Truth subsequently cries out: "So the last shall be first, and the first last." For behold, even if we already know what and how great the good things we have done are, we still do not know with what subtlety the heavenly Judge examines these things. And indeed each one should rejoice greatly to be even the last in the kingdom of God.

On the contrary, he says, or is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Because it is lawful for anyone to do his will with what is his own. For if he were a debtor to another, it would not be lawful …

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a …

But can it be inferred from hence, that it is lawful, or possible, for the merciful Father of spirits to "Consign an unborn soul to hell? Or damn him from his mother's womb?" Is thine eye evil because I am good - Art thou envious, because I am gracious? Here is an evident reference to that malignant aspect, which is generally the attendant of a selfish and envious temper.

Abstulit, sed et dedit--He hath taken away; but he originally gave. It is not for such depending creatures as we are to quarrel with our Sovereign. Secondly, In all the dispensations of his grace, God gives or withholds the means of grace, and the Spirit of grace, as he pleases.

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.

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?”

There are undeniable difficulties in the parable contained in these verses. The key to the right explanation of them must be sought in the passage which concludes the last chapter. There we find the apostle Peter asking our Lord a remarkable question: “We have forsaken all and followed thee! What shall we have therefore?” There we find Jesus giving a remarkable answer. He makes a special promise to Peter and his fellow disciples: they should one day sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?--that is, "You appeal to justice, and by that your mouth is shut; for the sum you agreed for is paid you.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

THE householder says, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” and even so does the God of heaven and earth ask this question of you this morning. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all.

There are undeniable difficulties in the parable contained in these verses. The key to the right explanation of them must be sought in the passage which concludes the last chapter. There we find the apostle Peter asking our Lord a remarkable question: “We have forsaken all and followed thee! What shall we have therefore?” There we find Jesus giving a remarkable answer. He makes a special promise to Peter and his fellow disciples: they should one day sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.He makes a general promise to all who suffer loss for his sake: they “should receive a hundred fold and inherit everlasting life.” Now we must bear in mind that Peter was a Jew, and like most Jews he had probably been brought up in much ignorance as to God’s purposes respecting the salvation of the Gentiles. In fact we know from the Acts that it required a vision from heaven to take that ignorance away ( Acts 10:28 ). Furthermore, we must bear in mind that Peter and his fellow-disciples were weak in faith and knowledge. They were probably apt to attach a great importance to their own sacrifices for Christ’s sake, and inclined to self-righteousness and self conceit. Both these points our Lord knew well. He therefore speaks this parable for the special benefit of Peter and his companions. He read their hearts. He saw what spiritual medicine those hearts required, and supplied it without delay. In a word, he checked their rising pride, and taught them humility. In expounding this parable, we need not inquire closely into the meaning of the “penny,” the “marketplace,” the “steward” or the “hours.” Such inquiries often darken counsel by words without knowledge. Well says a great divine, “the theology of parables is not argumentative.” The hint of Chrysostom deserves notice.

THE householder says, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” and even so does the God of heaven and earth ask this question of you this morning. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over all creation—the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands—the throne of God, and his right to sit upon that throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a foot-ball, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on his throne. They will allow him to be in his workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars. They will allow him to be in his almonry to dispense his alms and bestow his bounties. They will allow him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends his throne, his creatures then gnash their teeth; and when we proclaim an enthroned God, and his right to do as he wills with his own, to dispose of his creatures as he thinks well, without consulting them in the matter, then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on his throne is not the God they love. They love him anywhere better than they do when he sits with his sceptre in his hand and his crown upon his head.

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 labor, where no man should be idle. Each of us is engaged to labor 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, Mat 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, Mat 20:2. The second call is in the time of youth, which is most commonly idle, or only employed in dissipation and worldly cares, Mat 20:3. The third call is at the age of manhood. The fourth, in the decline of life, Mat 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! […]