Commentary on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2.pdf

<strong>Commentary</strong> on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2
command and calling of God. Hence it follows, that they labor to no purpose, who rashly undertake
this or that course of life, and do not wait for the intimation of the call of God. Lastly, we learn
from the words of Christ, that those only are pleasing to God, who labor for the advantage of their
brethren.
A penny (which was rather more than four times the value of a French carolus,) 645 was probably
the ordinary hire for a day’s work. The third, sixth, and ninth hour, are expressly mentioned, because,
while the ancients were wont to divide the day into twelve hours, from sunrise to sunset, there was
another division of the day into every three hours; as, again, the night was divided into four watches;
and so the eleventh hour means the close of the day.
8. And when the evening was come. It would be improper to look for a mystery in the injunction
of the householder to begin with the last, as if God crowned those first who were last in the order
of time; for such a notion would not at all agree with the doctrine of Paul. They that are alive, he
says, at the coming of Christ will not come before those who previously fell asleep in Christ, but
will follow, (1 Thessalonians 4:15.) But Christ observes a different order in this passage, because
he could not otherwise have expressed — what he afterwards adds — that the first murmured,
because they did not receive more 646
Besides, he did not intend to say that this murmuring will take place at the last day, but merely
to affirm that there will be no occasion for murmuring The personification (προσωποποΐα) which
he employs throws no small light on this doctrine, that men have no right to complain of the bounty
of God, when he honors unworthy persons by large rewards beyond what they deserve. There is
no foundation, therefore, for what some have imagined, that these words are directed against the
Jews, who were full of malice and envy towards the Gentiles; for it would be absurd to say that
such persons receive an equal hire with the children of God, and this malignity, which leads men
to exclaim against God, does not apply to believers. But the plain meaning is, that, since God
defrauds no man of a just hire, He is at liberty to bestow on those whom He has lately called an
undeserved reward.
16. So the first shall be last. He does not now compare the Jews to the Gentiles, (as in another
passages) nor the reprobate, who swerve from the faith, to the elect who persevere; and therefore
the sentence which is introduced by some interpreters, many are called, but few are chosen, does
not apply to that point. Christ only meant to say that every one who has been called before others
ought to run with so much the greater alacrity, and, next, to exhort all men to be modest, not to
give themselves the preference above others, but willingly to share with them a common prize. As
the apostles were the first-fruits of the whole church, they appeared to possess some superiority;
and Christ did not deny that they would sit as judges to govern the twelve tribes of Israel. But that
they might not be carried away by ambition or vain confidence in themselves, it was necessary also
to remind them that others, who would long afterwards be called, would be partakers of the same
645 A penny (δηνάριον) was worth about sevenpence-halfpenny of our money. — Ed.
646 “Pource qu’on ne leur donnoit non plus qu’aux derniers;” — “because no more was given to them than to the last.”
290
John Calvin