Matthew 21:23-32

This passage occurs in the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A, most recently October 1, 2023

Summary:  (2008) I wrote that the Greek here is not that illuminating.  I actually stand by this, in that the basic message remains clear in English:  The 'leaders' and 'righteous' aren't saying they love God, but their actions suggest otherwise.  Yet God still loves them and yes, they still have a place in the Kingdom, but they certainly aren't first in line.  

Here are some wrinkles that perhaps can spark a thought or two in you preaching meditations:

εξουσια (meaning "authority" 21:23, 24, 27)  The word authority - εξουσια - is rare in the LXX but incredibly common in the New Testament, including the Gospels.  Jesus speaks with authority (Matthew 7:29), has authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6) and even can confer authority to the disciples against evil spirits (Matthew 10:1).   At the end of the Gospel, Jesus declares that ALL authority has been given to him (28:1).  A few questions on authority:

1)  What makes someone have legitimate authority?  Is there a difference in official and unofficial power?  

2)  Do we give Jesus authority in our lives?  Can we give Jesus authority in our lives?  What would this look like?

3) Do we believe that Jesus has given authority in this world?  In what ways do we see or not see this authority working itself out?

4)  How has the church lost authority in the last two generations in our country?  Is this good or bad?

ιερον (meaning temple, 21:23)  This story taking place in the temple is significant -- Jesus had just ridden on a donkey into Jerusalem and then "cleansed" the temple by driving out the money changers.   Those actions reveal that Jesus believes himself to be the Messiah and the rightful Lord of the temple.  (Which he alluded to in Matthew 12:5).  What is at stake isn't simply some moot point of theology, but the question of Jesus being the Messiah.  

διδασκοντι (participle form of διδασκω, meaning "teach" 21:23)  Just a friendly reminder that Jesus' role as teacher was not in opposition to his role as savior. 

τεκνα (plural of τεκνον, 21:28)  Jesus knows that it is less than week until his death.  He is speaking to people who will either a) be directly involved in his death or b) chant for him to be crucified.  Yet he is still calling them children of God!

αμπελων(ι) (meaning "vineyard", 21:28)  This whole section of Matthew's Gospel should be called the vineyard discourses.

επιστευσατε (form of πιστευω, meaning "believe", 21:25, 32)  Just a reminder that believe isn't simply about stating something is true or not, it is about trusting, if not following.  

μετεμεληθητε (form of μεταμελομαι, meaning "repent" or "regret", 21:29, 32)  The typical word for repent isn't used here.  This word means to over-care.  Like to care-over, for a second or third time.  Again, this word is less common in the New Testament. 

βασιεαιν του θεου (kingdom of God, 21:31)  There are only two times Jesus uses the phrase Kingdom of God instead of Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew's Gospel; the others are  6:33 and 19:24.  I don't know why!

Lastly, a little tid bit:  In Greek, the phrase "in the way of righteousness" (as preached by John) literally reads "εν οδω δικαιοσυνης" which is literally "a way of righteousness."  This may be a reference to Proverb 8:20 or 12:28.  It also connects with 2 Peter 2:21, but in this case, the Greek actually is "THE way of righteousness").  I sense that Jesus is offering there is another path of righteousness that John did not teach, namely, that of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

Matthew 20:1-16

This passage occurs in both the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary (most recently September 2023).

Summary:   Tough parable for us.  Most churches preach grace, but when exposed like this, grace just seems, well, unfair!  But grace it is.  And grace abounds.  I find grace in that God goes after the lazy (αργος); furthermore, even the envious (πονηρος, evil in fact) get into heaven.  We do not enter God's Kingdom based on our heart being perfect, but simply by God's grace.  I also find grace to be the hiring, not the pay-day; It is all by God's grace that we are hired in the first place and get to belong to God, to work in his vineyard.  I love that grace is so irresistible that even the grumpy don't get kicked out of God's vineyard!

Key words
απεστειλεν (aorist form of αποστελλω, apostello, meaning "send"; 20.2).  John's Gospel get a lot of publicity for the idea of sending (even within the Trinity), but Matthew uses the word αποστελλω 22 times! (Mark 20; Luke 25; John 27).  Here they are even sent into the...

αμπελων(α) (ampelon, meaning "vineyard"; 20:1,2,4 and 7).  First, it is interesting that Matthew and John have such a strong connection here, with vineyard and sending.  Another comparison worth exploring is between the parables in chapter 20 and 21, both about vineyards.

αργος (argos, meaning idle; 20.6)  I have no unique insights to add to this word.  I just want to point out:  God goes after the lazy, those not fit for work elsewhere, those who simply stand around.

αποδος (from αποδιδημι. meaning "pay/give back"; 20:8)  Matthew uses this word quite frequently in his Gospel:
Matthew 6:4  Give in secret, your father will reward/pay/give back in secret (see also 6:6, 6:18)
Matthew 12:36  On judgement day, we will have to "give back" an account of our life (see also 16.27)
Matthew 18 and the parable of the unforgiving servant -- lots of pay back in this story!
Matthew 22:21  Give/render to Caesar what is Caesar.
Matthew 27:58  Pilate gives the dead body back.
In the case of Matthew 20, the workers are paid/rendered/given back their wages.  The question is:  What is salvation?  Working in the vineyard or getting paid?  I would argue that the moment of salvation is becoming one of God's workers in the vineyard.  Ultimately, as long as we view salvation as pay, there is likely little joy along the way and much frustration about the salvation state of our piers.

καυσων(α) (causon, like caustic in English; 20:12)  It is worth reminding ourselves that doing Christ's work is not always easy.  I wonder if the Gospel for this passage is found way back in Matthew 11:  Come to me, all your who are heavy laden..."

τοις εμοις (dative with "the of me"; 20:15)  The Greek here is not good English, but the English reader can make sense of it.  When you have the word "the" without a noun it means more like "things", in this case, "the 'the' of me" or "the 'things' of me."  The question is here, is the master talking about money or people?  It seems that in the case of God, the things of God are the people. 

πονηρος ("wicked" or "envious"; 20:15)  Even the wicked still get into the vineyard!!  God is really gracious.

ισους (isous, from isos, meaning the same, as in "iso-metric"; 20:15)  The problem is that the master is making people equal to each other.  This should call to mind Philippians, in that Jesus did not regard equality (same word) as something to be exploited, but humbled himself.  In this case, becoming like Christ is being willing to work in the vineyard and to rejoice over a repentant sinner instead of being frustrated they get the same "reward" as us!

Last bonus:  The evil eye in 20:15
The literal translation of 20:15 is "Or is your eye evil because I am good."  God does not describe himself as generous but as good. Ultimately goodness is tied into generosity.  Furthermore, those disgruntled are described as having an evil eye.  A reminder that a reward is given to those with jealousy and evil in their hearts, not just those pure in heart.  God is good.  He gives to humans. Regardless of how long they worked; regardless of how lazy they are; regardless of how good they are.

Matthew 18:21-35

This passage occurs in the RCL "Pentecost"/"Ordinary"/"Proper" Season, Year A, most recently September 2023. 
 
Summary:  A classic tale of forgiveness.  A man owes an absurd amount (Roughly 6 billion by my calculations).  After being forgiven he arrests his friend who owes him a couple thousand dollars.  I would like to put it in terms of relationship.  The man has misunderstood his relationship to God (as being a recipient of mercy) and his relationship to other humans (co-recipients and fellow-sharers of mercy).  This causes him to further sin.  Jesus warns us of dire consequences when we fail to understand the true nature of our relationship with God and with others.

I suggest this is Matthew's version of the prodigal God and prodigal son, except the younger son became the older son.

Show me the money

μυριων ταλεντων ("ten thousand talents", 18.24)  A talent is roughly 5,000 to 6,000 denarii.  This means that 10,000 talents is like 500,000 denarii.  A denarii is a roughly a day's wages.  @120/day this is about 6 billion!  (Or almost 2,000 years of labor).  In comparison the few hundred denarii would be about $30,000.  That is quite a difference.

Theologically significant words

σπλαγχνισθεις (form of σπλαγχνιζομαι, meaning "compassion", 18.27)  The master has compassion on the slave.  This is also the word that describes the father's heart toward the son in the prodigal son.  That a father would have this kind of compassion for his son is not the most shocking; however, in this case, the master has compassion on his servant.  This kind of compassion and forgiveness suggests to me that the master is grafting this slave into the family, although the slave doesn't realize it.

αφηκεν (from αφιημι) and απελυσεν (from απολυω)  Both of these verbs, which appear throughout the story, are related.  The first means "forgive" or "let go"; the second means "set free."  It is interesting that even though the slave's debt was freed, the relationship status did not change.  To what extent was he freed?   It is an interesting parable in that the masters work of forgiving and setting free does not change the heart of the person.  Tough to ponder.  When we view (and even experience) the relationship between us and God as a transaction and not an opportunity for transformation we always go awry.  

ελεησαι (from ελεεω, meaning show mercy, 18.33)  To the extent this is revealing about God, the point is that God does not simply possess mercy, but actively shows mercy.  Mercy is rarely an adjective (merciful), sometimes a noun (mercy) but most likely a verb with God as the subject: "show mercy."

Likely lost in translation:

ειπεν vs λεγει (18:21)  Both of these are different tenses of the same verb.  ειπεν is aorist; λεγει is present.  The aorist usually connotes a single action whereas the present suggests an on-going action.  Peter asks one time: "How often..." but Jesus repeatedly says, "7*70".  Jesus needed to repeat himself for this to be heard.

"will sin" vs "would sin" (Future vs. Subjunctive:  Sins aren't subjunctive in this case!)  

The Greek language is obsessed with the future.  There are multiple ways to show the future implications of a given action.  Worth noting is that there is no future subjunctive.  Either something will happen in the future or it might happen starting from this moment forward in an unknown time.  But you cannot do "might happen in the future"; that simply means might happen.  Today, when Peter is asking Jesus about forgiving others, he does not put the verb αφησω (forgive) in the subjunctive.  The whole sentence is in the future.  In short, Peter expects sin and forgiveness. The sentence literally reads: "How often will my brother sin against me and will I forgive him? Until seven times?"

ει τι ("whatever" 18.28)  The exact construction of the phrase "Pay what you owe me" is rather interesting. It actually includes an "ει τι" phrase. This phrase is normally translated "if anything," as if to say, the man was not even really sure what the debt was, if in fact, it was anything.

συνδουλος ("fellow-slave" 18:28, 29, 31, and 33)  The Greek can put "fellow" and "slave" together in one word.  Powerful word.  Fellow slave.  Do we view each other as fellow slaves to sin!

βασανισταις (-στης, meaning "jailer" or "torturer", 18.34)  This is a hard word.  I don't like the idea of one being tortured.  On the one hand, the word means "jailer" so perhaps Jesus is simply referring to the act of the imprisonment.  The other way to think about this is that the word torture in Greek comes from the word test.  Perhaps this slave is put up to another time of testing, this time hopefully to succeed.  The word comes from a rag that was used to test whether gold was real.  The person needs to go and discover what he really is - a sinner yet a child of God!

δανειον  ("debt"; 18.27) The use of this word for "debt" here is unique in the NT.  The word normally carries with it a suggestion of interest, even usury with this debt.  Most simply it means a loan.  God is calling the loan and then forgives it.  What has God loaned you!?  It is interesting that in this parable, like the other classic parable of talents, the talents are loaned. never earned.  

παρακαλεω ("encourage"/"plead"; 18.29, 32)  The word for Holy Spirit is derived from this word:  "paraclete".  I want to connect Holy Spirit, pleading and forgiveness, but I can't quite sew this thread together.  Anyway, putting it here for someone else to run with it!