The immediate application of these words is to confirm the previous assertion of the nature of true greatness in the kingdom of heaven. But they are so intensely significant that they claim our attention on their own account.

I. CHRIST THE SERVANT. This startling conjunction of titles is suggested even in the Old Testament, in the latter part of Isaiah. Jesus realizes the singular prophecy in deeper humility and self-denial. In the prophet the Messiah is the "Servant of the Lord." In the life of Jesus we see him as this, but also as the Servant of man. Consider the negative and Positive aspects of this wonderful fact.

1. Its negative aspect. Christ did not come to be ministered unto. He did not ask for a prince's courtly rights; he did not expect them. He came in lowly guise. Although a few obscure friends delighted to give him the means of support in their gratitude, the great world's ministry of honour was never his.

2. Its positive aspect. Jesus came to minister. Service was an object of his life, not an accident that came upon him with surprise. He speaks of his coming into the world as though this had been deliberately fixed and the service of man part of its great purpose. Here we see the humility, the unselfishness, the love, and the practical spirit of our Lord. In this ministry

(1) he deserves our adoring gratitude;

(2) he invites our trustful confidence, - for it is on our behalf; and

(3) he is the example for our diligent imitation.

II. CHRIST THE RANSOM. Here is a great thought flashing out of the darkness that broods over the cross. Previously, Jesus had spoken of his approaching death; now he suddenly reveals the purpose of it. It was more than a necessity resulting from faithful living, more than a martyrdom. It was the paying of a ransom.

1. The price paid. Jesus gave his life. He came for the express purpose of doing so. One object of his birth was that he might be able to die. It is to be observed that our attention is always directed more to the fact of Christ's death than to the pain he suffered - to his cross rather than to his Passion, though doubtless both were of value in the great redeeming work. "The wages of sin is death." Jesus tasted death forevery man. He gave all he could give - his very life blood.

2. The liberty effected. Men ransom from captivity. What was the captivity from which Christ brought liberty? Origen and other Fathers regarded it as bondage to Satan, and they thought the ransom was actually paid to the devil. This is a coarse way of regarding a great truth. The ransom could not have been paid to the devil, because Christ fought the prince of evil as a deadly foe; he did not bargain with the fiend.]But he came to deliver from the power of Satan, i.e. from sin, and that object involved his death. He died to save us from sin. We must not press the analogy of the ransom further.

3. The people freed. The ransom is for "many." It is a harsh, ungenerous criticism that would fix on the apparent limitation of the word "many" - many rather than all. There is no such antithesis here. The many saved are contrasted with the one Saviour. His life blood is so valuable a ransom that it purchases, not the liberation of one or two captives of sin only, but a large multitude - the host of the redeemed. - W.F.A.

I. THE SON OF MAN. Humility combined with dignity. Man was the offender, man must suffer the penalty. Not a fictitious manhood, but real like our own. This ought to attract us to Him, for He is akin in nature and sympathy.

II. HE CAME. The errand unique as the Person who undertook it. He came voluntarily on an errand of mercy.

III. NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, BUT TO MINISTER. He had not a selfish thought in His soul. Does He want servants? Thousands of angels are His chariot. He served in the workshop, home, amongst His disciples. As the Son of Man in heaven he continues a kind of service to His people.

IV. AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE. We have no lives to give. They are forfeited to Divine justice. His death was voluntary. Christ did not come into the world merely to be an example, or merely to reveal the Godhead. His sacrifice was substitutionary.

V. A RANSOM. Every male person among the Jews belonged to God, and must be redeemed. The price was the ransom. Jesus redeems us from the curse of the law.

VI. FOR MANY. The word "for" has a vicarious meaning. "He gave His life instead of many."

1. Man is not redeemed from the bondage of his sins without a price. -No one goes free by the naked mercy of God.

2. That price must be a life. Not merely a character. The question has been asked, "Who receives the ransom?" Not Satan. Satan has no rights. It was paid to the Great Judge. This is a mystical way of speaking. The sufferings of Christ vindicate the law and render mercy possible.

3. What is the result of this? Man is redeemed. He is no longer a slave. Did Jesus Christ redeem you?

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. His CHARACTER Christ Divine. This being premised we can bring forward two satisfactory reasons why He called Himself the Son of Man.

1. Because He would gradually develop Himself.

2. Because our concern with Him principally lies in His assuming human nature.

II. His LIFE. "Came not to be ministered unto," etc. This fills us with astonishment, when we remember the place from which He descended. Our Saviour could derive nothing from external appendages.

1. Admire His condescension.

2. Resemble Him therein,

III. His DEATH.

1. Consider Him as a ransom.

2. It was intentional.

3. It was voluntary.

4. It regards the personal esteem He has for His people.

5. We see here where a poor burdened conscience can alone find relief.

6. Let the love of Christ strike your minds.

7. If He has ransomed you, you are not your own.

(W. Jay.)

I. THE NEGATIVE OBJECT OF CHRIST'S COMING — "Not to be ministered unto."

II. THE POSITIVE OBJECT OF HIS COMING — "To minister," etc.

1. The scenes of His private life. Christ a carpenter.

2. The scenes of His public life. Wearisome toils. LESSON —

(1)Be clothed with humility;

(2)Gratitude to Christ for His love;

(3)Repentance.

(H. L. Nicholson, B. A.)

I. THE SERVICE HE RENDERED TO MAN BY HIS LIFE.

1. He came not to be ministered unto as regards His external authority. He might have excited the admiration of the world by His outward show; but He was poor.

2. He came to minister as regarded instruction.

II. THE BLESSING HE EFFECTED FOR MAN BY HIS DEATH.

1. The blessing procured.

2. The means by which this blessing was procured. "He gave His life," etc.

3. The number for whom this blessing was procured.

(J. Sibree.)

The patriot is great, but he has served his country. The philosopher by the force of his genius has enlarged the sphere of human knowledge, thus of the greatest use to mankind. The same true in religion. Christ was not introducing a strange precept when He said that the men who are the most eminent in life are the most literally the servants of the public.

1. The greatness thus derived from usefulness may be augmented or decreased by the meanest of those you employ.

2. The touching reference of our Lord to His own case.

(H. Melvill, B. D.)

He is the most lovely professor, who is the most lowly professor. As incense smells the sweetest when beaten the smallest, so saints look fairest when they lie lowest. Arrogance in the soul resembles the spleen in the body, which grows most, while other parts are decaying. God will not suffer such a weed to grow in His garden, without taking some course to root it up.

(Archbishop Secker.)

The mother, wan and pale with incessant vigils by the bedside of a sick child; — the fireman, maimed for life in bravely rescuing the inmates of a blazing house; — the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae; — Howard, dying of fever caught in dungeons where he was fulfilling his noble purpose of succouring the oppressed and remembering the forgotten; — the Moravian missionaries, who voluntarily incarcerated themselves in an African leper-house (from which regress into the healthy world was impossible, and escape only to be ejected through the gates of death), in order that they might preach the glad tidings to the lepers, — all these, and many other glorious instances of self-devotion, do but faintly shadow forth the love of Him who laid aside Divine glory, and humbled Himself to the death of the cross.

David, Jesus, Zabdi, ZebedeeJericho, Jerusalem, JudeaIndeed, Minister, Ministered, Ransom, Redemption-price, Salvation, Servant, Servants, Serve, Served1. Jesus, by the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, shows that God is debtor unto no man;
17. foretells his passion;
20. by answering the mother of Zebedee's children, teaches his disciples to be humble;
29. and gives two blind men their sight.

Matthew 20:28

     1680   types
     2030   Christ, holiness
     2051   Christ, majesty of
     2221   Christ, Son of Man
     2321   Christ, as redeemer
     2324   Christ, as Saviour
     2327   Christ, as servant
     2354   Christ, mission
     2530   Christ, death of
     5522   servants, work conditions
     5974   value
     6027   sin, remedy for
     6615   atonement, necessity
     6617   atonement, in NT
     6714   ransom
     6723   redemption, NT
     7160   servants of the Lord
     7950   mission, of Christ
     8276   humility
     8301   love, and enemies
     8450   martyrdom

Matthew 20:20-28

     2060   Christ, patience of
     5937   rivalry

Matthew 20:20-31

     5554   status

Matthew 20:25-28

     2339   Christ, example of
     5395   lordship, human and divine
     5857   fame
     8115   discipleship, nature of

Matthew 20:26-28

     5765   attitudes, to people

Matthew 20:26-34

     2036   Christ, humility

February 2. "And Whosoever Will be Great among You, Let Him be Your Minister. And Whosoever Will be Chief among You, Let Him be Your Servant" (Matt. xx. 26, 27).
"And whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (Matt. xx. 26, 27). Slave is the literal meaning of the word, doulos. The first word used for service is diakanos, which means a minister to others in any usual way or work: but the word doulos means a bond slave, and the Lord here plainly teaches us that the highest service is that of a bond slave. He Himself made Himself the servant of all, and he who would come …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Nearest to Christ
'To sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not Mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of My Father.'--MATT. xx. 23. You will observe that an unusually long supplement is inserted by our translators in this verse. That supplement is quite unnecessary, and, as is sometimes the case, is even worse than unnecessary. It positively obscures the true meaning of the words before us. As they stand in our Bibles, the impression that they leave upon one's mind is that Christ in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Servant-Lord and his Servants
'Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.'--MATT. xx. 28. It seems at first sight strangely unsympathetic and irrelevant that the ambitious request of James and John and their foolish mother, that they should sit at Christ's right hand and His left in His kingdom, should have been occasioned by, and have followed immediately upon, our Lord's solemn and pathetic announcement of His sufferings. But the connection is not difficult to trace. The disciples believed that, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

What the Historic Christ Taught About his Death
'The Son of Man came... to give His life a ransom for many.'--Matt. xx. 28. We hear a great deal at present about going back to 'the Christ of the Gospels.' In so far as that phrase and the movement of thought which it describes are a protest against the substitution of doctrines for the Person whom the doctrines represent, I, for one, rejoice in it. But I believe that the antithesis suggested by the phrase, and by some of its advocates avowed, between the Christ of the Gospels and the Christ of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Blind Bartimeus
Mark 10:52 -- "And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way." When the apostle Peter was recommending Jesus of Nazareth, in one of his sermons to the Jews, he gave him a short, but withal a glorious and exalted character, "That we went about doing good." He went about, he sought occasions of doing good; it was his meat and drink to do the works of him that sent him, whilst the day of his public administration …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

Delivered on the Lord's Day, on that which is Written in the Gospel, Matt. xx. 1, "The Kingdom of Heaven is Like unto a Man That
1. Ye have heard out of the Holy Gospel a parable well suited to the present season, concerning the labourers in the vineyard. For now is the time of the material [2841] vintage. Now there is also a spiritual vintage, wherein God rejoiceth in the fruit of His vineyard. For we cultivate God, and God cultivateth us. [2842] But we do not so cultivate God as to make Him any better thereby. For our cultivation is the labour of the heart, not of the hands. [2843] He cultivateth us as the husbandman doth …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xx. 30, About the Two Blind Men Sitting by the Way Side, and Crying Out, "Lord, have Mercy On
1. Ye know, Holy Brethren, full well as we do, that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Physician of our eternal health; and that to this end He took the weakness of our nature, that our weakness might not last for ever. For He assumed a mortal body, wherein to kill death. And, "though He was crucified through weakness," as the Apostle saith, "yet He liveth by the power of God." [2870] They are the words too of the same Apostle; "He dieth no more, and death shall have no more dominion over Him." …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Divine Sovereignty
We must assume, before we commence our discourse, one thing certain, namely, that all blessings are gifts and that we have no claim to them by our own merit. This I think every considerate mind will grant. And this being admitted, we shall endeavour to show that he has a right, seeing they are his own to do what he wills with them--to withhold them wholly is he pleaseth--to distribute them all if he chooseth--to give to some and not to others--to give to none or to give to all, just as seemeth good …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Private Thoughts and Words of Jesus
"And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again."--Matthew 20:17-19. YOU HAVE THIS SAME STORY in Matthew and Mark and Luke, a little differently told; as would naturally be the case …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Particular Redemption
I begin this morning with the doctrine of Redemption. "He gave his life a ransom for many." The doctrine of Redemption is one of the most important doctrines of the system of faith. A mistake on this point will inevitably lead to a mistake through the entire system of our belief. Now, you are aware that there are different theories of Redemption. All Christians hold that Christ died to redeem, but all Christians do not teach the same redemption. We differ as to the nature of atonement, and as to …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Sermon for Septuagesima Sunday
(From the Gospel for the day) In this Sermon following we are taught how we must perpetually press forward towards our highest good, without pause or rest; and how we must labour in the spiritual vineyard that it may bring forth good fruit. Matt. xx. 1.--"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard." THIS householder went out early at the first hour, and again at the third and at the sixth hours, and hired …
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

Augustine 354-430 -- the Recovery of Sight by the Blind
I. Ye know, holy brethren, full well as we do, that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the physician of our eternal health; and that to this end we task the weakness of our natures, that our weakness might not last forever. For He assumed a mortal body, wherein to kill death. And, "though He was crucified through weakness," as the apostle saith, yet He "liveth by the power of God." They are the words, too, of the same apostle: "He dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him." These things, …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume I

The Historical Books of the New Testament, Meaning Thereby the Four Gospels and the Acts...
The historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or alluded to, by a series of Christian writers, beginning with those who were contemporary with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and proceeding in close and regular succession from their time to the present. The medium of proof stated in this proposition is, of all others, the most unquestionable, the least liable to any practices of fraud, and is not diminished by …
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity

The Johannine Writings
BY the Johannine writings are meant the Apocalypse and the fourth gospel, as well as the three catholic epistles to which the name of John is traditionally attached. It is not possible to enter here into a review of the critical questions connected with them, and especially into the question of their authorship. The most recent criticism, while it seems to bring the traditional authorship into greater uncertainty, approaches more nearly than was once common to the position of tradition in another …
James Denney—The Death of Christ

Ci. Foretelling his Passion. Rebuking Ambition.
(Peræa, or Judæa, Near the Jordan.) ^A Matt. XX. 17-28; ^B Mark X. 32-45; ^C Luke XVIII. 31-34. ^b 32 And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem [Dean Mansel sees in these words an evidence that Jesus had just crossed the Jordan and was beginning the actual ascent up to Jerusalem. If so, he was in Judæa. But such a construction strains the language. Jesus had been going up to Jerusalem ever since he started in Galilee, and he may now have still be in Peræa. The parable …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Cii. Bartimæus and his Companion Healed.
(at Jericho.) ^A Matt. XX. 29-34; ^B Mark X. 46-52; ^C Luke XVIII. 35-43. ^c 35 And it came to pass, as he drew nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: 36 and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. [Jesus came from the Jordan, and was entering Jericho by its eastern gate. As the crowd following Jesus passed by, Bartimæus asked its meaning and learned of the presence of Jesus. Jesus on this …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The vineyard Labourers.
"For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market-place, and said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. …
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord

Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome.
IT pleased God, to whom all his works are known from eternity, to prepare Gregory by a twofold process, for the great and difficult work of the guidance of the Western Church, then agitated by so many storms. Destined to be plunged into the midst of an immense multitude of avocations of the most varied character, he was trained to bear such a burden by administering, until his fortieth year, an important civil office. Then, yielding to a long-felt yearning of his heart, he retired into a monastery, …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

The Blessing of Being with Good People. How Certain Illusions were Removed.
1. I began gradually to like the good and holy conversation of this nun. How well she used to speak of God! for she was a person of great discretion and sanctity. I listened to her with delight. I think there never was a time when I was not glad to listen to her. She began by telling me how she came to be a nun through the mere reading of the words of the Gospel "Many are called, and few are chosen." [1] She would speak of the reward which our Lord gives to those who forsake all things for His …
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus

Why Men do not Attain Quickly to the Perfect Love of God. Of Four Degrees of Prayer. Of the First Degree. The Doctrine Profitable for Beginners,
1. I speak now of those who begin to be the servants of love; that seems to me to be nothing else but to resolve to follow Him in the way of prayer, who has loved us so much. It is a dignity so great, that I have a strange joy in thinking of it; for servile fear vanishes at once, if we are, as we ought to be, in the first degree. O Lord of my soul, and my good, how is it that, when a soul is determined to love Thee--doing all it can, by forsaking all things, in order that it may the better occupy …
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus

The First Last, and the Last First
"But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."--Matthew 19:30. "So the last shall be first, and the first last."--Matthew 20:16. WE MUST BE SAVED if we would serve the Lord. We cannot serve God in an unsaved condition. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is vain for them to attempt service while they are still at enmity against God. The Lord wants not enemies to wait upon him, nor slaves to grace his throne. We must be saved first; and salvation is all of grace. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Christ's Resurrection and Our Newness of Life
The idea that the grace of God should lead us to licentiousness is utterly loathsome to every Christian man. We cannot endure it. The notion that the doctrines of grace give license to sin, comes from the devil, and we scout it with a detestation more deep than words can express. "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" On our first entrance upon a Christian profession, we are met by the ordinance of baptism, which teaches the necessity of purification. Baptism is, in its very …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

The Compassion of Jesus
THIS is said of Christ Jesus several times in the New Testament. The original word is a very remarkable one. It is not found in classic Greek. It is not found in the Septuagint. The fact is, it was a word coined by the evangelists themselves. They did not find one in the whole Greek language that suited their purpose, and therefore they had to make one. It is expressive of the deepest emotion; a striving of the bowels--a yearning of the innermost nature with pity. As the dictionaries tell us-- Ex …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 60: 1914

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