Dear Friends,

Here are helps as you study Matthew 19-20 – two thrilling chapters that lead to Calvary. Read the chapters first, then re-read them as you study the notes. God bless you.

Because of Calvary,
John Janney

• Matthew 19-20 (ESV)

  Teaching About Divorce
  19 1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

  3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”[a]

  10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

  Let the Children Come to Me
  13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

  The Rich Young Man
  16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

  23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,[b] when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold[c] and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

  Laborers in the Vineyard
  20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius[d] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only 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 replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’[e] 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

  Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time
  17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

  A Mother’s Request
  20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,[f] 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,[g] 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

  Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
  29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord,[h] have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

John Janney Grace Bible Fellowship Church
Adult SS Elective: Matthew 19:1-20:35 November 8, 2015

Book 5 (19:1-26:2)
I. Revelation by Deed (19:1-22:46)
A. Healing Disease (19:1-2)
B. Regulating Divorce (19:3-12)
1. Conflict (19:3-9)
“Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him…by asking him if the law allowed a man to divorce his wife for whatever reason he wishes. The Pharisees permitted divorce but differed on the appropriate terms. Deuteronomy 24:1 speaks of a man divorcing his wife ‘because he finds something indecent about her.’ The school of Shammai held this to be immorality on the part of the wife. The school of Hillel interpreted it to be anything at all that proved to be displeasing to the husband. Rabbi Akiba (early second century) went so far as to say that if a man met another woman more pleasing than his wife this was tantamount to finding ‘something indecent’ in her and was an acceptable reason for divorce. God’s declaration ‘I hate divorce’ (Mal. 2:16) had conveniently been ignored by the more liberal school of thought.” [Mounce, p. 183]
“…The two principal groups, although they disagreed over which divorces should be permitted, were happy to accept each other’s rulings in individual cases. In other words, if the more lenient school sanctioned a divorce, the more conservative school would recognize the divorce as legitimate and sanction remarriage, even though the divorce in question was outside their own rules. It was as if the religious leaders closed ranks around their collective authority instead of standing up for the principles they espoused.” [Carson, God With Us, p. 116-117]
“Their reference was to Deuteronomy 24:1; and Jesus responded by telling them they hadn’t really understood their own proof text. Moses did not there command that people get divorced, but regulated the divorces taking place by insisting that there be proper certificates of divorce and that the wife twice divorced must not return to the original partner (Deut. 24:1-4). Thus the most Moses did was permit divorce, and this permission was granted because he recognized that the human heart can be so hard, so sinful, that divorce becomes necessary.” [Carson, God With Us, p. 118]
Jesus “took them straight back to the Maker’s instructions, in Genesis 1:27, 2:24, and he made six strong points about marriage.
“First, it is designed by God….
“Second, marriage was meant to be complementary: ‘he made them male and female.’…
“Third, marriage was intended to be permanent: ‘the two shall become one flesh’…. Incidentally the very physical words used to describe the union, ‘one flesh’ and ‘joined’ (literally ‘glued’) affirm the goodness of sexuality, one of God’s most gracious gifts to his people…
“Fourth, marriage is exclusive. The man is joined to his wife. He becomes one flesh with her. No way is he permitted to have a little flutter on the side, any more than she is. Both are pledged to find their fulfillment in the other, and so discover on earth a model, however inadequate, of the permanent relationship between God and the believer which nothing can break.
“Fifth, marriage is nuclear. It means ‘leaving’ as well as ‘cleaving’ (v. 5)….
“Sixth, marriage is not for everyone. This is the plain meaning of verses 10-12.” [Green, p. 181-182]
“It is now forty-six years since my parents divorced. The process of adjustment to the consequence of divorce has lasted for all those forty-six years and is likely to continue for the rest of my life….
“What does it mean to be an adult child of divorce? It means that your life has been struck by a major traumatic event (or, rather, a series of events) that has shaken your security, disrupted your social and psychological development, and left you with challenges and demands for adjustment that other children have not had to face. It probably also means that your faith and belief in God was constantly challenged…. Divorce is often preceded by many years of intense hostility that creates conflict in the hearts and minds of children… And this conflict often continues just as intensely after a divorce, with battles over custody rights and financial support. Every study I have reviewed about the damaging effects of divorce has show that the years following divorce can be just as destructive as those that preceded it.” [Archibald Hart, Healing Adult Children of Divorce: Taking Care of Unfinished Business So You Can Be Whole Again, (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publications, 1991), p. 11-12]
“When I wrote the book, Children and Divorce, I stated quite strongly that divorce hurts children. The trauma of divorce is second only to death… In some respects it is worse than a death. Death is final; divorce drags on. Death is a single event; divorce is a chain of multiple events. Death is not normally associated with conflict and hostility; divorce invariably is. Death has relatively little social stigma attached to it; divorce nearly always does, even in these days of so-called ‘enlightenment.’ We accept the inevitability of death, even as children. But divorce can be avoided, so to a child it almost invariably feels unjust and undeserved…. After many years in the therapist’s chair and much opportunity to reflect on the impact of divorce, I haven’t changed my mind. If anything, I am more convinced than ever before…” [Hart, Healing Adult Children of Divorce, p. 42-43]
For further study: Judith S. Wallerstein, Julia M. Lewis, Sandra Blakeslee, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study, (New York: Hyperion, 2000); Elizabeth Marquardt, Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce, New York: Crown Publishers, 2005]
“Several studies have shown that the majority of divorcing children would prefer to remain in an intact but conflicted family than to face the unknowns that divorce brings…. Except for severe cases of abuse or mental illness, divorce does not mean a better life for children.
“This does not mean, of course, that living in a conflicted, unhappy home is good for children. By far the best solution, where possible, is to build a better marriage ― not dissolve it.” [Hart, Healing for Adult Children of Divorce, p. 53]
“Want to hear my definition of divorce? Divorce is where two adults take everything that matters to a child — the child’s home, family, security, and sense of being loved and protected — and they smash it all up, leave it in ruins on the floor, then walk out and leave the child to clean up the mess.” [Michael Reagan and Jim Denney, Twice Adopted, (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), p. 37]
“At a minimum, the ‘no-fault’ divorce, an invention of the no-responsibility sixties generation, should be eliminated, especially for those couples with young children, except in documented cases of physical or extreme mental abuse.” [Cal Thomas, The Things That Matter Most, (New York: HarperCollins Publishers 1994), p. 133]
“The idea that Christians are just as likely to divorce as secular folks is not correct if we factor church attendance into our thinking…. It is true that people who say they’ve had a born-again experience are about as likely to divorce as people who are completely secular. But if you look at this through the lens of church attendance, you see a very different story.” [Sociologist Brad Wilcox, “What Married Women Want,” Christianity Today, (October 2006), p. 122]
“Harvard University performed a study on divorce and discovered the following: the national divorce rate is 1 in 3. The average for people who were married in a church ceremony is 1 in 50. For those couples who were married in a Christian wedding ceremony, attend church weekly, read the Bible and pray together, the divorce rate average is 1 in 1,105. Christianity can truly divorce-proof your marriage!” [“The Foundation for a Strong Family,” Rick Warren, The Encouraging Word, 1992 in McHenry’s Quips, Quotes & Other Notes, p. 274]
“As for the men in my life, I couldn’t select my father. That was my mother, Ruthie’s, doing. But I could select my husbands and I was a four-time loser. For this, I received a life sentence, a life of loneliness without possibility of parole.” [Bette Davis in Charlotte Chandler, The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis: A Personal Biography, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006), p. 15]
Dr. Mavis Hethering, psychology professor at the University of Virginia, surveyed some 144 couples one year after they obtained their divorce. 63 percent of the men and 73 percent of the women felt they made a mistake by obtaining a divorce. Their marriages might have been saved, they suggested, if they had made a greater effort to reconcile differences. [The Biblical Evangelist, (August 16, 1985), p. 2]
For further study: Jay Adams, Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, (1980), and John Murray, Divorce, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing Company, 1953)
2. Consternation (19:10)
“The disciples felt, like so many moderns, that Jesus’ answer was inhuman.” [Ellison, p. 1086]
3. Correction (19:11-12) Cf. I Corinthians 7:1-9
“Jesus responded that not everyone can live by this word ― not Jesus’ teaching…but this word of the disciples.” [Carson, God With Us, p. 119]
Jesus lists “three categories of men who, in fact, do not marry: (1) those who are unable to do so by reason of birth defect; (2) those who are rendered incapable of marriage at the hands of others; and (3) those who choose to remain single in order to more effectively serve the kingdom of heaven…” [Garry Friesen with J. Robin Maxson, Decision Making and the Will of God, (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1980), p. 287]
“Why singleness? That the works of God might be made manifest in the deepest recesses of our beings. To declare God’s glory in a fallen world. To show that God is enough for the human heart. To demonstrate to earth and hell the triumph of the life of God in the soul of man.” [Margaret Clarkson, So You’re Single! (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1978), p. 21]
C. Blessing Children (19:13-15)
“The linking of the passage with infant baptism is a curiosity in Christian thought.” [Ellison, p. 1086]
“…This text has not the shadow of the shade of the ghost of a connection with baptism. There is no line of connection so substantial as a spider’s web between this incident and baptism… ” [Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit X, (1864), p. 414]
“What has this to do with baptism? Certainly nothing directly…” [The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield IX, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1932), p. 398]
“It is important to see that Jesus did not say the Kingdom of heaven belongs to these, but to such as these ― not to children per se, but to those who are like them.” [Carson, God With Us, p. 122]
“Here was the children’s charter written in indelible letters because spoken in the Master’s indestructible words: and though no legislature confirmed it, and no world-ruler patronized it, it has been shaping history all through the centuries. To read in such a book as Lecky’s History of European Morals the story of the child in paganism, with all the horrors of exposure and infanticide, and then to turn to the story of the child within the Christian Church, is to enter a new world, a world of which the Lord Christ Himself is the Creator and Redeemer. The children may well crown Him with their praises, even though they cannot realize from what He has delivered them.” [The Speaker’s Bible VII, p. 66-67]
D. Repudiating Wealth (19:16-26)
1. The Incident (19:16-22)
“The Lord put His finger on the very nerve of this man’s existence. Knowing where his heart was, He said, ‘Unless I can be the highest authority in your life, there’s no salvation for you.’ By placing Himself alongside the man’s wealth and demanding he make the choice, our Lord revealed the true state of the young man’s heart…. Jesus’ request of this man was simply meant to establish whether he was willing to submit to the sovereignty of Jesus over his life. Scripture never records another demand that anyone else sell everything and give it away. The Lord made a frontal attack on the man’s weakness ― the sin of covetousness, indulgence, and materialism.” [MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus, p. 86-87]
“What kind of evangelism is that? Had Jesus changed His mind about salvation by grace through faith? Hardly. He was describing its very essence. Saving faith transforms; it regenerates; it produces new creations in Christ. Genuine salvation is always evidenced in the activities of life. The rich young man would not have gone away grieved if he had possessed a transformed, regenerated, re-created heart of flesh. His unwillingness to part with his property evidenced the unchanged condition of his heart of stone.” [Carol Ruvolo, James on Works: How Faith is Revealed in Pure and Undefiled Religion, (Los Alamos, NM: Deo Volente Publishing, 1998), p. 63]
2. The Instruction (19:23-26)
“Property, I believe, sends more souls to hell than anything else except neglect.” [Charles M. Alexander in George T. B. Davis, Torrey and Alexander: The Story of a World-Wide Revival, (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1905), p. 159]
“The camel was the largest animal in Palestine and the eye of a needle was the smallest opening in a familiar object…” [Mounce, p. 187]
“There’s a line in Matthew’s Gospel that states: ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ And perhaps not so coincidentally, our survey shows the richer people are, the less likely they are to believe there’s a Heaven.” [Bill Newcott, “Life After Death,” AARP: The Magazine, (September/October 2007), p. 72]
“The popular interpretation in certain circles that the eye of a needle is a small door within a city gate is baseless.” [Ellison, p. 1086]
“To say that God can do all things is to open the door to all kinds of foolish questions, such as: Can God sin? Can God make a stone too heavy for Himself to lift? It is better to define omnipotence as that power by virtue of which God can do whatever He wills to accomplish? (Matthew 19:26)” [Anthony A. Hoekema, “The Attributes of God: The Communicable Attributes,” “Basic Christian Doctrines,” Contemporary Evangelical Thought edited by Carl F. H. Henry, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962), p. 34]
E. Encouraging Disciples (19:27-30)
“What did they forsake? A great all! a net, a fisher-boat; but yet they speak magnificently of it…” [The Complete Works of Thomas Manton XIV, p. 430]
“The reply of our Lord to Peter’s self-righteous demand is two fold…. In the discourse recorded at the close of the nineteenth chapter, he teaches the cheering truth that the Lord will richly reward the services of his people, and in the subsequent parable gives to them and us a solemn admonition against the error into which Peter had been for the moment betrayed.” [Arnot, The Parables of Our Lord, p. 208-209]
“In short, the kingdom demands workers; hirelings it disdains.” [Draseke quoted in Arnot, The Parables of Our Lord, p. 209]
F. Explaining Grace (20:1-16)
“St. Paul’s fundamental argument that the just shall live by faith, not works, derives its authority from the story before us. It…encourages such as are disposed to cry: ‘Too late!’ to enter the Kingdom here and now.” [Cadman, The Parables of Jesus, p. 66-67]
“Though all titles given to this parable consistently refer to the workers, I believe the emphasis of the parable is on the landowner and his generosity to his workers. I would title the parable ‘The Gracious Landowner.’” [Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God’s Unfailing Love, (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1991), p. 48]
“There is still another valuable lesson to be learned from the parable of the generous landowner. God is not only generous, he is also sovereign. That is, God has the right to dispense His blessings as He chooses. Jesus asserts this prerogative of God very clearly in the landowner’s question, ‘Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?’ (Matthew 20:15).” [Bridges, Transforming Grace, p. 67-68]
“Jewish law held that a laborer should be paid on the evening of the same day he had worked, so that the poor would not go hungry (Deut. 24:14-15; cf. Lev. 19:13).” [Mounce, p. 191]
“He has paid him as he promised; he has merely pitied the latecomer, who would otherwise have had to find a night’s lodging with only an hour’s wage.” [Garrett Keizer, The Enigma of Anger: Essays on a Sometimes Deadly Sin, (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2002), p. 244-245]
“The good man stands to his determination of bounty. He will not be driven from liberality by envious tongues. What he gives is his own, and he maintains his right to do as he pleases with it.” [Spurgeon, The Gospel of the Kingdom, p. 278]
“His generosity hurt no one but himself.” [J. Oswald Sanders, A Spiritual Clinic, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1958), p. 131]
“The ‘evil eye’ (cf. AV) was a common expression in later Judaism that denoted a covetous eye filled with envy…” [Mounce, p. 195]
G. Rebuking Ambition (20:17-28)
1. The Future of the Savior (20:17-19)
“The Third Prediction of the Passion…” [Ellison, p. 1086]
2. The Folly of the Disciples (20:20-24)
“The making of the request shows how little 16:18f. was looked on as giving a primacy to Peter.” [Ellison, p. 1086]
“When Matthew 27:56 is compared with its parallel in Mark (15:40), we learn that her name is Salome. On the basis of John 19:25, it seems quite probable that she was the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus. This would make James and John cousins of Jesus and may explain why she imagined that they would receive special favor…. The fact that when the others hear about it they are ‘indignant with the two brothers (v. 24) shows that the mother was no more than a spokeswoman. That the Gospel writers include an account such as this, which puts two leading apostles in such an unflattering light, strengthens one’s confidence in the historical reliability of the narrative.” [Mounce, p. 192-193]
She wants Jesus to be her tool rather than her Lord!
“How like Chickens we are! In the chicken pen there is no peace until it is clear who is the greatest and who is the least, and who is at which rung everywhere in between.” [Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988), p. 127]
“How hard a thing it is to be rid of the love of this world, and of pleasant dreams about it, for still the apostles and their friends did dream of an earthly kingdom of Christ, and of worldly honor to his servants, notwithstanding Christ did so often tell them the contrary, and did study to prepare them for the cross rather, in this world.” [Dickson, p. 267]
“…Jesus had…recently twice told of His impending death (16:21-23; 17:22,23); but despite their initial grief the disciples quickly forgot their Master’s suffering and returned to their own self-promotion.” [Carson, God With Us, p. 111]
“Why were the ten displeased…? Because they also wanted place and power…. Jesus teaches that to serve is to reign…. We are great not as we get, but as we give, not by being lords, but by being servants, not by wearing crowns, but by bearing crosses, and by washing feet.” [W. Graham Scroggie, “The Gospel of Mark,” The Study Hour Series, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), p. 189, 191]
“Men will be angry at others for a fault whereof they themselves are guilty, and nothing grieved for it in their own person…” [Dickson, p. 269]
3. The Facts of the Case (20:25-28)
“One cannot help being struck by the patience of Jesus as he stared death in the face while his followers, on whom he had expended such efforts, were still thinking in terms of earthly ambition.” [Green, p. 194]
“Jesus’ response, which is directed to the two disciples…is that they don’t know what they are asking for themselves. Can they drink the cup of suffering (26:39; Isa. 51:17) that he is about to drink? James and John are certain that they can, but their desertion of Jesus in the garden (26:36) shows how unprepared they were for what would follow.” [Mounce, p. 193]
“Christ puts them in mind of suffering rather than reigning, and of suffering in this world ere they reign in the world to come.” [Dickson, p. 268]
“On a former occasion He cured these misplaced ambitions by setting a child in the midst of them. On this He cures them by a still more…wonderful example, His own…” [Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture VII, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, n.d.), p. 72]
“If anyone deserved to be served, it was He; but when He came, it was not to be served, but to serve. This incredibly costly service extended all the way to His own sacrificial death.” [Carson, God With Us, p. 121]
“This is the mightiest truth in the whole Bible.” [Wood, Through the Bible Day By Day, p. 42]
“‘The Son of Man came’ to live His life as a servant, and to give His life as a sacrifice…” [Wood, Through the Bible Day By Day, p. 79]
“The word of our Lord himself (Matt. 28:20; Mark 10:45) should place beyond all doubt three facts (1) that the work he came into the world to accomplish is a work of ransom, (2) that the giving of his life was the ransom price, and (3) that this ransom was substitutionary in its nature.” [John Murray, Redemption — Accomplished and Applied, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1955), p. 42-43]
“In the ancient world the ‘ransom’ was the price paid for release. It applied widely to the release of prisoners of war or of slaves. The Old Testament adds another use. In certain circumstances a man under sentence of death might be released on payment of ransom (Ex 21:30). Apart from metaphorical passages, these three groupings give us the uniform usage in antiquity. There is always a plight into which a man has fallen, be it captivity or slavery or condemnation. There is always the payment of the price which effects release, and it is this price that is called the ‘ransom.’” [Leon Morris, The Cross in the New Testament, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), p. 52-53]
“The Ransom-money is the only current coin at the court of heaven, and it has the resurrection stamp upon it. We used to speak of a ‘king’s ransom,’ but guess, if you can, what the value must be of a ransom that sets free nations, kingdoms, peoples!” [Andrew Bonar, Diary and Life, (London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1893), p. 436]
H. Relieving Misery (20:29-34)
“The crowds ― willing to bask in Jesus’ presence ― reflected none of Jesus’ compassion. They busily tried to silence the blind beggars who cried for help, while Jesus paused to meet their needs.” [Carson, God With Us, p. 125]
“The two blind men…could not open their own eyes; that was beyond their power, but they could get into the way where Jesus passed, and they could cry to Him for sight, who only could recover it. Those that are diligent in the use of means and ordinances they sit in the way where Jesus passes by.” [David Clarkson in The Golden Treasury of Puritan Quotations, p. 182]
“The exceptional fact that the name Bartimaeus (Mk. 10:46) has been preserved suggests that he became a well-known member of the Jerusalem church. Hence the other blind man recedes into the background in Mk. and Lk.” [Ellison, p. 1086]
“When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing, what effect did it have on him?… The great news electrified him…. Not only so, it set him to praying. His was not a long prayer, but it was intense and to the point…. Bartimaeus put all his knowledge and all his soul into that prayer.” [Chappell, Sermons from the Miracles, p. 220]
“Blind Bartimaeus did three things: (i) He cried to Jesus. It was: (a) A BELIEVING CRY…. (b) A PERSONAL CRY: ‘Have mercy on me.’ (c) A PERSEVERING CRY…. (ii) He came to Jesus. He came: (a) INSTANTLY. That was a good thing, for the Savior never passed that way again…. (b) EAGERLY…. (c) HOPEFULLY…. (iii) He followed Jesus. With: (a) SIGHT IN HIS EYES; (b) JOY IN HIS HEART; (c) CHANGE IN HIS LIFE.” [Wood, Through the Bible Day By Day, p. 79]