BIBLE STUDY LESSON 15

SERIES S --- THE SON OF YHVH

WORKERS

THE GREATEST AMONG YOU

From Matthew 19:13-20:28; Mark 10:13-45; Luke 18:15-34

One day some mothers brought their little children to Yeshua so that He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Yeshua saw that, He was displeased and told the disciples, [Let the children come to Me, and do not refuse them, for YHVH’s Kingdom belongs to those who come in a childlike manner. Whoever will not come to YHVH as a little child cannot enter His Kingdom.] Then He took the children into His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them. A wealthy young man approached Yeshua with a question. [Good Master, what must I do to receive eternal life?] [Why call Me good?] Yeshua asked. [Only YHVH is good. But to answer your question, keep the Commandments.] [Which Commandments?] the young man asked. [The Ten Commandments of Moses,] Yeshua told him. [Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie, honour your father and mother, and love your neighbour as yourself.] [I have kept these Commandments since I was young,] the man replied. [Is there something else?] [Sell what you have and give it to the poor,] Yeshua said. [You will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow Me.] The young man turned and walked away, for he was very wealthy. Then Yeshua said to His disciples, [How difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of YHVH.] [Who then can be saved?] the disciples asked, for they were astonished to hear this. [If you depend on human strength, no one can,] Yeshua said. [But with YHVH all things are possible.] [But we have left everything to follow You, Adonai,] Peter said. [What will we receive for that?] [In My Kingdom, I, the Moshiach, shall sit upon My throne of glory,] Yeshua responded. [Each of you twelve shall sit upon a throne, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Whoever gives up home, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or fields to become My disciple, shall receive a hundred times as much and shall have eternal life. Many who are first now will be last then, and many who are last now will be first then.] Yeshua then told another parable to illustrate the Kingdom of heaven. [A man who owned a large vineyard went early one morning to hire laborers to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay some men one denarius, a standard day’s wage, and sent them to his vineyard. About nine that morning he found some other men, waiting in the marketplace for work, and sent them also with this understanding, ‘I will pay you what is fair.’ The same happened at noon and at three that afternoon. At five that afternoon he found still others waiting for work. ‘Why aren’t you working?’ he asked them. ‘No one has hired us,’ they answered. He sent them into the vineyard also. At the end of that day, the vineyard owner ordered the foreman to call the laborers and pay them, from those who came last to those who came first. Imagine the surprise of those who were hired at five o’clock when they received a denarius, a full day’s wages! When those who had worked all day saw that, they felt certain that they would receive much more, but they were also paid one denarius. These men complained to the owner when they received their pay. ‘You paid the man who came at five o’clock as much as you paid us,’ they said. ‘It isn’t fair, for we did most of the work during the hottest hours of the day.’ ‘Friend, I gave you exactly what I promised,’ the owner replied to one of them. ‘Did you not agree to work throughout the day for one denarius? I did nothing wrong to you. Now take what I paid you and go, for I choose to pay the others as much, and if I want to give away my own money, is that against the law? Should you be angry because I am generous?’] Then Yeshua added, [Thus the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.] After this, Yeshua walked up the road toward Jerusalem. As they approached the city, the disciples were increasingly afraid. Then He took them aside to tell what would happen to Him. [While we are in Jerusalem I will be arrested and tried before the chief priests and other religious leaders,] He said. [Even though I am the Moshiach, they will condemn Me to die and will give Me to the Romans for execution. They will mock Me, spit upon Me, scourge Me, and kill Me. Three days later I will arise from the dead.] But the disciples did not understand what He was saying, nor would they understand until after these things would happen. Then James and John came with their mother to ask Yeshua a favour. [What is it?] He asked. [Let one of us sit on Your right hand and the other on Your left hand in Your Kingdom,] they asked. [You don’t realize what you ask for,] Yeshua replied. [Can you drink from the same cup that I drink from and be baptized with the same baptism with which I am baptized?] [Yes, we can,] they answered. [This is true,] Yeshua responded. [For there are some things which I do that you can do. But there are some things which even I cannot give you. To sit on My right or left hand is not Mine to give. It will be given to those for whom it is prepared.] The other ten disciples were angry when they heard about this, for they assumed that James and John were trying to become their leaders. Yeshua told them, [Gentile rulers lord it over their subjects with great authority. But this is not the way it must be among you. Whoever will be great among you must be a servant and whoever wants to be the chief must first be the slave of all. Even I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give My life a ransom for many.]

COMMENTARY

THE NEEDLE’S EYE

When Yeshua compared the rich man entering heaven to a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle, He may have been speaking about a simple sewing needle, as many believe, or He may have been speaking about a small door. Needles were a common part of everyday life in Bible times. They were already an ancient invention when Abraham left Ur. The needle that was used to sew his cloak may have been made from a fishbone, but it probably was shaped very much like a modern needle. Like the wheel or the pulley, the needle is an ancient invention that has changed very little through the centuries. But in Bible times a [needle’s eye] could also refer to something quite different than the eye of a sewing needle. The small door cut into the heavy gates that surrounded cities was also called a [needle’s eye.] After the large gates were closed at night, the smaller door could still be easily opened to let in latecomers. But it was large enough only for one person at a time to enter. It was impossible for a fully loaded camel to pass through, that [needle’s eye.] He had to be stripped of his load and coaxed through on his knees. In the same way, the rich man had to give up the burden of his wealth and enter heaven humbly.