Matthew 20:16-20 New International Version 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time 17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. The deity of Christ was the hook; his flesh was the bait; the bait was dangled before leviathan; he swallowed it and was taken. Cookie Notice: Historical Books They looked at one another, and they tried to fathom where there was no depth, but where the truth lay on the surface. (Spurgeon), vi. Before he reads his Bible let him help the beggar.". Out in the world there was the Roman governor with his retinue and the eastern potentate with his slaves. It's God's to give, however, to whomever He pleases. God, by his gospel, is hiring labourers into his vineyard, to dress it, and keep it, paradise-work. It ought to have been John's place to have proclaimed the glory of Jesus; but all things in this world are the reverse of what they ought to be, and of what will be when Jesus takes the throne, coming in power and glory. i. said the Lord; and then stretched forth His hand toward His disciples with the words, "Behold my mother and my brethren! Lowly, noiseless grace now it was to be, according to the prophet, till the hour strikes for victory in judgment. They were greatly displeased: The other ten disciples mistakenly thought that a unique honor had just been bestowed on James and John. The Father and the Son have their appropriate part, even as we know from elsewhere the Spirit sent down from heaven in due time was to have His. All rights reserved. To me it is evident, from a careful comparison of them all, as I think it is capable of clear and adequate proof to an unprejudiced Christian mind, that neither Matthew nor Luke confines himself to such an order of events. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. The moment to act goes past; the impulse to decide fades. Then says the unclean spirit, "I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. At its close we see the leper approaching the Lord, after He had been preaching throughout Galilee and casting out devils. A similar principle applies to the little children, who are next introduced; and the same thing is true substantially of natural or moral character here below. The world may assess a man's greatness by the number of people whom he controls and who are at his beck and call; or by his intellectual standing and his academic eminence; or by the number of committees of which he is a member; or by the size of his bank balance and the material possessions which he has amassed; but in the assessment of Jesus Christ these things are irrelevant.