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1“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. 5Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. 6About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

7“They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’

“He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’

8“When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’ 9“When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. 10When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. 11When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, 12saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

13“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? 14Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. 15Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ 16So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

17As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”

20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. 21He said to her, “What do you want?”

She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”

22But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

They said to him, “We are able.”

23He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

24When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.

25But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 27Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, 28even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

29As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. 30Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!” 31The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!”

32Jesus stood still and called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

33They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

34Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.

Matthew's Presentation of the Resurrection of the Messiah

Matthew's Presentation of the Resurrection of the Messiah

Topical Study | Matt 28:1 | Hershel Wayne House

Matthew's presentation of the resurrection of the Messiah Jesus is brief, but he lays out the argument for the resurrection carefully: 

  • He provides a number of eyewitnesses to the resurrection, namely,  an angel (Matt 28:5), the Roman soldiers (Matt 28:3, 4), and the women who came to the tomb (Matt 28:1-8).
  • Besides these eyewitnesses, the next evidence relates to the security of the tomb. The tomb in which Jesus' body was laid was sealed (Matt 27:66), yet when the women came to the tomb on Sunday morning the body was not there (Matt 28:6, 7).
  • Matthew's record of the earliest argument against the resurrection, of the Roman soldiers sleeping at their posts, with the disciples stealing the body away. This is an illogical position in its worst example. Roman soldiers did not sleep when they were on guard duty. It defies their training, the fact that all would sleep at the same time, that the penalty for doing what is claimed would bring the death penalty, and the stealth that these inexperienced disciples would need to exercise to move among the soldiers and to remove the large stone covering the tomb makes their story illogical and extremely unlikely. The Nazareth Decree (issued by Emperor Claudius, A.D. 41-54) serves as a possible response of the Roman government after a report of the event of Christ's resurrection and the stir that it caused (see Nazarene Decree Inscription (Decree by Emperor Claudius, A.D. 41-54 at Matt 28:13).
  • Last of all, the manner of Jesus' resurrection to the disciples gives additional evidence for the resurrection of the Messiah. He appears to a number of His disciples (Matt 28:16-20).

What was the importance of the resurrection to Matthew, that gave rise to the way in which He presents the narrative?

The resurrection is a pivotal doctrine of the new Christian faith, without which the claims of Christ to be Savior and God would be meaningless. The song He Lives, that says triumphantly that we serve a risen Savior would be a hollow statement. As Paul later says in 1 Corinthians 15:17, if Christ did not rise from the dead, those who believe in Him are still in their sins and their faith in Him is vain. It is likely that Matthew understands this truth from the words of Jesus that he provides in Matthew 12:38-42; 16:21; 17:22, 23; 20:17-19.