New Testament

Week 8: Matthew 19:3–28:20

1) This is our last lesson on the Gospel of Matthew.
a) Matthew follows Mark’s Passion account very closely, so we won’t be discussing the
Garden of Gethsemane and the crucifixion in this lesson.
b) We will cover Jesus’ teachings in Matthew in the week leading up to the atonement, and
Matthew’s accounts of the resurrection and final commission of the Twelve.
2) After Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, he journeyed to Jerusalem (20:17–19), where he spent
about a week teaching before his betrayal and arrest.
3) Two parables.
a) 20:1–16. The parable of the laborers in the vineyard.
i) The story:
(1) In this parable a landowner hires day laborers to work in his vineyard.
(2) The first group he hires early in the day (20:1), just after sunrise. He agrees to pay
them a denarius (KJV “penny”), which was the standard day’s wage at the time
(20:2).
(3) He hires a second group about 9 o’clock AM (KJV “third hour”), and a third
group at noon (KJV “sixth hour”) and a fourth at 3 o’clock PM (KJV “ninth hour”)
(20:3–5).
(4) He hires a fifth and final group at 5 o’clock PM (KJV “eleventh hour”), only an
hour before quitting time (20:6–7).
(5) At the end of the day—around 6 o’clock, the time the sun sets—the landowner
instructs the manager of the vineyard to collect the workers and pay them.1
Everyone receives a full day’s wage (a denarius), regardless of how long they
worked. (20:8–10.)
(6) The laborers who worked all day are understandably upset at this, and they
complain to the landowner (20:11–12). The landowner responds:
KJV Matthew 20:13–16 NRSV Matthew 20:13–16
13
But he answered one of them, and said, 13
But he replied to one of them, “Friend,
Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not I am doing you no wrong; did you not
thou agree with me for a penny? agree with me for the usual daily wage?
14
Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will 14
Take what belongs to you and go; I
give unto this last, even as unto thee. choose to give to this last the same as I
give to you.
15
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will 15
Am I not allowed to do what I choose
with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because with what belongs to me? Or are you
I am good? envious because I am generous?”
16
So the last shall be first, and the first 16
So the last will be first, and the first
last: for many be called, but few chosen. will be last.
ii) First, two textual notes:

1
The Law of Moses required employers to pay their workers at the end of each day (Leviticus 19:13b).

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Hurricane West Stake Adult Religion Class New Testament: Matthew 19:3–28:20 Week 8, Page 2

(1) The KJV translates the euphemism in 20:15b literally. A modern translation can
help us understand the meaning: There is no reason for the workers to be envious
(have “an evil eye”) just because the landowner has been generous.
(2) The phrase at the end of KJV 20:16, “for many be called, but few chosen,” is not
found in the earliest and best New Testament manuscripts. It appears to be a
scribal addition based on the ending of the similar parable in 22:14 (which we’ll
discuss in a moment).
(a) When you consider the meaning of the parable, it doesn’t make any sense in
this context.
iii) Meaning of the parable:
(1) Like many of the parables in Matthew, this one is about the kingdom of heaven
(20:1). Jesus is teaching what we can expect when he comes in glory to judge the
earth and establish his perfect kingdom.
(2) It’s a response to the previous section (19:27–30), in which Jesus had promised
that those who have “forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (19:29).
(3) So the warning here is against boasting or presuming one to be among “the first.”
(a) Just because you have been given a great promise doesn’t mean you have any
claim of greater reward than anyone else—God will decide who gets what.
(b) We must expect that God will be unexpectedly generous at the last judgment,
giving great rewards to people who perhaps we would think don’t deserve
them.
(i) So the person who served faithfully in the ward nursery will receive as
great a reward as the person who was the stake president, and the person
who joined the Church at age 89, three months before she died, will
receive the same reward as the person who was baptized at age 8.
(4) Elder Dallin H. Oaks:
…[T]he Master’s reward in the Final Judgment will not be based on how long
we have labored in the vineyard. We do not obtain our heavenly reward by
punching a time clock. What is essential is that our labors in the workplace of
the Lord have caused us to become something. For some of us, this requires a
longer time than for others. What is important in the end is what we have
become by our labors. Many who come in the eleventh hour have been refined
and prepared by the Lord in ways other than formal employment in the
vineyard. These workers are like the prepared dry mix to which it is only
necessary to “add water”—the perfecting ordinance of baptism and the gift of
the Holy Ghost. With that addition—even in the eleventh hour—these workers
are in the same state of development and qualified to receive the same reward
as those who have labored long in the vineyard.2

2
Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” General Conference, October 2000; http://bit.ly/Ensign200011Oaks

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Hurricane West Stake Adult Religion Class New Testament: Matthew 19:3–28:20 Week 8, Page 3

b) 22:1–14. The parable of the wedding banquet.

i) The story:
(1) A king prepares a lavish wedding banquet for his son, and sends his slaves out to
invite important people to attend.3 But the invited guests either ignore the
invitation or do violence to the messengers. The king is furious and sends his
soldiers to destroy them. (22:1–7.)
(2) Since his initial invitation was rejected, the king then sends his slaves out into the
main streets to bring in the “common” people, good and bad (22:8–10).
(3) When he arrives at the banquet, the king finds a man there who does not on
wedding clothes. He asks the man how he got in, but the man can’t or won’t reply.
The king has the man bound and cast into “outer darkness” (22:11–13).4
(4) The parable concludes with the moral, “For many are called, but few are chosen”
(22:14).
(a) The Joseph Smith Translation adds, “Wherefore all do not have the wedding
garment” (JST 22:14).
ii) Meaning of the parable:
(1) This parable is also about the kingdom of heaven (22:2). The question is who is
will be invited into God’s celestial kingdom once it is established.
(2) The king is God the Father, the son is Jesus Christ, and the invited guests are all
those who hear the gospel.
(3) There are three types of guests:
(a) Those who were invited, but refused to come.
(b) Those who were invited, and came.
(c) Those who were invited and came, but were unworthy to attend.
(i) That last group is summed up in the concluding statement: Readers who
identify with those at the king’s banquet cannot read the text and feel self-
satisfaction. Just being called is not enough: We must accept and be
worthy of the call.
c) In both of these parables, Jesus turns logic on its head: “The first shall be last, and the
last shall be first,” and “many are called, but few are chosen,” are not sayings that make
sense. They are specifically designed to make the reader think and to reevaluate his
standing in the kingdom of God.
4) 23:37–24:51. The Olivet Discourse.

3
The mention of “one to his farm, another to his merchandise” (22:5) indicates that the invited guests were landholders
and businessmen—people of the upper classes.
4
This symbolism probably drew from Jewish apocalyptic literature of the period. In the book of 1 Enoch, God instructs the
angel Raphael to bind the supernatural being Azazel “hand and foot, and place him in the darkness…and on the great day of
judgment he shall be cast into the fire” (1 Enoch 10:4–6; http://books.google.com/books?id=vwA3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA72). In
the Apocalypse of Abraham, the fallen Azazel lost his heavenly garment, which will be given to Abraham (Apoc. Abr. 13:14;
http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/Apocalypse_of_Abraham.html#T1_C13)

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Hurricane West Stake Adult Religion Class New Testament: Matthew 19:3–28:20 Week 8, Page 4

a) Two days before his arrest and trial, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem
and gave a sermon prophesying the destruction of the temple and his return with power
and glory. This sermon is known as the Olivet Discourse, named after the location it was
delivered.
b) Characteristics of the discourse:
i) The discourse is apocalyptic—one that reveals (Greek: αποκαλυψις / apokalupsis)
future events.
ii) It is eschatological—it deals with the ushering in of the new age (Greek: εσχατον /
eschaton) in its fullness, and instructions to the disciples who are waiting for it.
(1) Jesus’ sermon is about “the end of the aeon” (Matthew 24:3b). The Greek word
αιων means, depending on the context, either “world” or “a very long period of
time.”5
iii) The sermon also includes a description of the coming (Greek: παρουσία / parousia)
of Christ in glory.
c) There are four versions of the Olivet Discourse.
i) Three are from the Synoptic Gospels:
(1) Matthew 23:37–24:51.
(2) Mark 13:1–37.
(3) Luke 21:5–36.
ii) The fourth is in the Pearl of Great Price: Joseph Smith—Matthew.
(1) Joseph Smith—Matthew is one of two canonized portions of the Joseph Smith
Translation of the Bible.6 It includes Joseph Smith’s translation of KJV Matthew
23:39–24:51.
(2) Joseph Smith—Matthew adds material to Matthew 24, but it also rearranges the
sequence of some of the verses. (We’ll discuss the significance of this as we
proceed.)
d) The Olivet Discourse lays out a chronological outline of the events leading up to Jesus’
second coming. The timeline is in Matthew 24:3–31; Jesus then gives some sayings and
parables to help his disciples understand the signs (24:32–51).
i) 24:3. The apostles ask when the temple will be destroyed, and what are the signs of
Jesus’ coming (parousia) and the end of the age (aeon).
ii) 24:4–5. There will be false messiahs.
iii) 24:6–7. There will be wars and natural disasters.
iv) 24:9–12. Christians will be persecuted, iniquity and betrayal will abound, and there
will be false prophets.
v) 24:14. The gospel will be preached to the whole world, “and then the end will come”
(NRSV).

5
The KJV translates aeon “world” in Matthew 24:3, while most modern translations render it “age” (NRSV, NET, NIV,
ESV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).
6
The other is the Book of Moses, which is JST Genesis 1–8.

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Hurricane West Stake Adult Religion Class New Testament: Matthew 19:3–28:20 Week 8, Page 5

vi) 24:15–21. There will be an abominable sacrilege (KJV “abomination of desolation”)

in the Temple, and people will be forced to flee Jerusalem.
(1) The word choice here is deliberate: Jesus is alluding to the prophecy in the book
of Daniel about the use of the Temple altar to offer sacrifices to foreign gods using
unclean animals (Daniel 11:31; 12:11).7
(2) At this step, Luke has an important difference with Mark and Matthew’s
accounts: Instead of a desolating sacrilege in the Temple (Matthew 24:15; Mark
13:14), Luke says Jerusalem will be surrounded by Gentile armies that will
destroy it and take its inhabitants captive (Luke 21:20, 24).8
vii)24:23–26. False prophets and messiahs.
viii) 24:29. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” (i.e., the difficulty in
Jerusalem), there will be great signs or omens in the sky.
ix) 24:30–31. Jesus will then return in great power with his angels.
e) How do we interpret this prophecy?
i) Context.
(1) The first key to interpreting this prophecy is to understand that the Roman army
destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in A.D. 70, following a Jewish rebellion and a six-
month siege of the city. Sixty thousand Jews were killed and many residents of
the city were taken captive back to Rome.
(2) The Olivet Discourse seems to indicate that Jesus would return just after the
destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. How do we explain this?
ii) Possible interpretations.
(1) One approach is to accept the prophecy at face value: Jesus prophesied of events
that would take place during the 1st century A.D.
(a) There are Christians today believe this: The interpretation is called Preterism,
and it holds that most or all of the biblical prophecies concerning the end
times refer to events which have already happened in the 1st century.9
(2) A second approach is to interpret the prophecy so it applies to a yet-future time
(which is why it’s called Futurism).
(a) The way this is usually done is by moving the opening signs—the false Christs
and false prophets, the persecution of Christians, the earthquakes and wars,
etc.—to a time, not preceding the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, but
when Jerusalem would be besieged in a great and final battle.
(b) There are some significant problems with this, though:

7
Many scholars interpret Daniel 11–12 as referring to the persecution of the Jews at Jerusalem by the Greek Seleucid King
Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 B.C. (see Old Testament lesson 25, pages 7–13; http://scr.bi/LDSARCOT25n). The writer of
Matthew clearly sees Daniel’s prophecy as yet to be fulfilled, or at least having a second fulfillment.
8
Luke also says nothing about the flight from Jerusalem taking place in the winter (compare Matthew 24:20; Mark 13:18).
9
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preterism

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Hurricane West Stake Adult Religion Class New Testament: Matthew 19:3–28:20 Week 8, Page 6

(i) The Olivet Discourse exclusively uses “you”10 and not “they” when
referring to who will see the signs. The expectation of the writer was that
the people who heard Jesus (or at least read the gospel) would see the
signs and be alive when Jesus returned.11
(ii) Likewise Jesus prophesies, “This generation shall not pass, till all these
things be fulfilled” (Matthew 24:34; cf. Mark 13:30; Luke 21:33).12
(3) A third approach is to conclude that the chronology in the Olivet Discourse, as we
now have it, is in error.
(a) Perhaps the gospel writers combined two separate prophecies—one of the
destruction of the Temple, and the other of Jesus’ return in glory—into a
single prophetic discourse.
(b) Joseph Smith—Matthew takes this approach, and changes the sequence of
events to correct it so it has a latter-day fulfillment.
(i) It keeps the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem in place (JS—M
1:12–21), but moves the prophecy of wars, natural disasters, iniquity, and
the preaching of the gospel to the world to a later time (1:28–31), followed
by a second “abomination of desolation” at Jerusalem (1:32), after which
Christ returns in glory (1:33–37).13
f) Jesus concludes the Olivet Discourse with three parables.
i) 24:32–33. The parable of the fig tree encourages us to watch for the signs of Jesus’
coming, just as we know that summer is near when the fig tree starts producing
leaves.
ii) 24:42–44. The parable of the watchful house owner reminds us to stay alert so that
we’re not taken by surprise, just as the owner of the house fell asleep before the thief
broke into his home.
iii) 24:45–51. The parable of the faithful and wise servant warns us not to be complacent
or think “there’s always time to repent later,” because the Jesus could come at any
moment.
5) 25:1–46. The three parables of the kingdom immediately follow the Olivet Discourse, and
expand on the instructions to Jesus’ disciples on how to wait for his coming.
a) 25:1–13. The parable of the ten virgins reminds us to be always watching and waiting for
Jesus’ return, and be caught unprepared.
b) 25:14–30. The parable of the talents encourages us to enlarge the gifts that have been
given to us so that we may make a good report at the final judgment.

10
In modern English the pronoun “you” is both singular and plural, with the intent dependant on the context. In Greek,
however, there are separate words for singular and plural. The KJV indicates these by using “you” or “thou” for singular, and
“ye” for plural (a distinction that has since been lost to English). For more on the use of pronouns in the KJV Bible, see Old
Testament lesson 2, page 9; http://scr.bi/LDSARCOT02n
11
There are other passages in the gospels that anticipate Jesus’ return during the lifetime of those who knew him (e.g.,
Matthew 16:18; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27), and the apostle Paul speaks of “we who are alive” at Jesus’ coming (1 Thessalonians
4:15–16). (We’ll discuss this in more detail in lesson 20.)
12
Some Christian apologists have tried to get around this difficult passage by claiming that the Greek word γενεα (genea)
should not be translated “generation,” but rather “race”—meaning that the Jewish people would not pass (die off) until the
signs should be fulfilled. This, however, is a very unlikely translation of genea.
13
The statement about “this generation” is also moved and reworded (JS–M 1:34).

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Hurricane West Stake Adult Religion Class New Testament: Matthew 19:3–28:20 Week 8, Page 7

c) 25:31–46. The parable of the sheep and the goats explains how “when ye are in the
service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).
6) 27:62–28:15. Matthew’s resurrection account.
a) As we discussed in lesson 5, the original ending of Mark doesn’t include a clear
resurrection account.14 Matthew, on the other hand, does.
b) 27:62–66; 28:11–15. Only Matthew includes these verses on the chief priests’ and
Pharisees’ concern that the disciples will steal Jesus’ body and then claim he was
resurrected, and the bribing of the guards to keep the quiet. And, in fact, that was the
explanation that was offered in the 1st century to counter Christian claims. Matthew’s
insertion deals with the issue up front.
c) 28:1–10. In Mark’s account, three women find the empty tomb and a “young man…
clothed in a long white garment” (Mark 16:5). Matthew’s account expands the story
greatly:
KJV Mark 16:1–8 KJV Matthew 28:1–10
1
And when the sabbath was past, Mary 1
In the end of the sabbath, as it began to
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, dawn toward the first day of the week, came
and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see
they might come and anoint him. the sepulchre.
2
And very early in the morning the first day
of the week, they came unto the sepulchre
at the rising of the sun.
3
And they said among themselves, Who shall
roll us away the stone from the door of the
sepulchre?
4
And when they looked, they saw that the 2
And, behold, there was a great earthquake:
stone was rolled away: for it was very great. for the angel of the Lord descended from
5
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a heaven, and came and rolled back the stone
young man sitting on the right side, clothed from the door, and sat upon it.
in a long white garment; and they were
affrighted.
3
His countenance was like lightning, and his
raiment white as snow:
4
And for fear of him the keepers did shake,
and became as dead men.
6
And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: 5
And the angel answered and said unto the
Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek
crucified: Jesus, which was crucified.
he is risen; he is not here: behold the place 6
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.
where they laid him. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7
But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter 7
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he
that he goeth before you into Galilee: there is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth
shall ye see him, as he said unto you. before you into Galilee; there shall ye see
him: lo, I have told you.
8
And they went out quickly, and fled from 8
And they departed quickly from the
the sepulchre; for they trembled and were sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did
amazed: neither said they any thing to any run to bring his disciples word.
man; for they were afraid.

14
See lesson 5, pages 9–11; http://scr.bi/LDSARCNT05n

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Hurricane West Stake Adult Religion Class New Testament: Matthew 19:3–28:20 Week 8, Page 8
9
And as they went to tell his disciples,
behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And
they came and held him by the feet, and
worshipped him.
10
Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid:
go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee,
and there shall they see me.
i) In Matthew’s account, the angel isn’t just sitting in the empty tomb, waiting for
them; he appears in great power and rolls the stone back.
ii) The women in Mark’s account leave with fear and amazement, and don’t tell anyone
what happened. In Matthew, the leave with fear and great joy, and immediately run
to tell the disciples the good news.
(1) Both Mark and Matthew have the news of Jesus’ resurrection first told to women,
but in Matthew’s account, the women are faithful to the instructions and are
rewarded with a personal visit from Jesus himself—the first eyewitnesses of the
resurrected Lord.
7) 28:16–20. The eleven apostles15 follow the directions the angel gave the women, and go to
the mountain in Galilee where appears and gives them the Great Commission:
KJV Matthew 28:16–20 NRSV Matthew 28:16–20
16
Then the eleven disciples went away into 16
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to
Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had the mountain to which Jesus had directed
appointed them. them.
17
And when they saw him, they worshipped 17
When they saw him, they worshipped him;
him: but some doubted. but some doubted.
18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, 18
And Jesus came and said to them, “All
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven authority in heaven and on earth has been
and in earth. given to me.
19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 19
Go therefore and make disciples of all
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and nations, baptizing them in the name of the
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20
Teaching them to observe all things 20
and teaching them to obey everything that I
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I have commanded you. And remember, I am
am with you alway, even unto the end of the with you always, to the end of the age.”
world. Amen.
a) Note that there’s no ascension narrative, as there is in Luke (24:50–51).16 Matthew
doesn’t tell us what happens to Jesus—rather, he leaves us with Jesus’ open invitation to
go and “make disciples of all nations” (NRSV 28:19).
b) He concludes with a promise that he is always with us, “to the end of the age” (NRSV
28:20), which hearkens back to promise to return at “the end of the age” (NRSV 24:3) in
the Olivet Discourse.
8) Next week we’ll begin our study of Luke. We’ll cover Luke’s infancy narrative, and the
ministry of John the Baptist.
a) Reading: Luke 1:1–9:50.

15
This is minus Judas Iscariot who, by this time, has committed suicide (Matthew 27:3–10).
16
Luke is the only the four gospels with an ascension narrative. Compare Acts 1:6–11.

© 2011, Mike Parker For personal use only. Not a Church publication.