Matthew 20 - 11.26.25
Scripture
So the last will be first, and the first will be last. (Matthew 20:16)
Observation
The context is the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The owner of the vineyard hired workers for a denarius. He continued to hire people every hour from nine in the morning to five in the evening. When it was the end of day, the people who were hired at nine had put in a full days’ work, and the people who were hired at five, had worked only for an hour. When it was paytime, the master started paying starting with the ones hired last, going on to the first. The first laborers expected to be paid more. However, the master paid everyone the same - one denarius.
Jesus ends this parable by saying that the last wil be the first, and the first will be the last.
The length of time that we served God does not determine our reward. Some people have the privilege of knowing the Lord as a child, and living their whole lives for Him. Some others might have received the Lord just before they died. A typical example is the thief on the cross. The thief believed in Jesus just moments before he died - yet he was received into paradise along with Jesus!
Just because we received the Lord early, it does not put us into a different category to receive more gifts in eternity because we served the Lord for more time.
This verse is repeated 4 times in the Bible, twice in Matthew (Matt 19:30, 20:16), once in Mark (Mark 10:31), and once in Luke (13:30), showing that God’s standards are not like human standards. In all the 4 contexts, it is talking about eternal rewards when we get to heaven, and the Lord reminds us that the last will be the first, and the first will be the last.
Application
Prepare to be surprised when we reach heaven. The people whom God honors in heaven might not be the ones we might expect. We might expect God to reward people depending on the visible size of their earthly ministries, mega churches or other things that we value on earth. Jesus gave the example of prostitutes and tax collectors who had truly repented, entering the kingdom of God ahead of the self-righteous religious leaders (Matt 21:31). People who sacrificed all they had including families, friends and earthly wealth for their faith, and had to suffer persecution will receive a hundred times as much (Matt 19;29; Mark 10:30). Jesus taught them that people whom the Jews considered heathen, will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God (Luke 13:29).
People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (1 Sam 16:7). We don’t want to miss out on the eternal reward of salvation. Let us make sure that our heart is right before God.
Prayer
Dear Father, I know from your word that not many wise, mighty or noble are called by You (1 Cor 1:26). But Lord, You chose to call me. You made me your child. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for adopting me into your family. I am yours (Isaiah 43:1). Help me to guard my heart with all diligence as the issues of life spring out of it (Prov 4:23). Help me to set my mind on things above and not things of the earth. Please help me to always set my eyes on You, who are author and finisher of my faith (Heb 12:2). Help me to run the race you have kept before me in a way that I might win the prize (1 Cor 9:24). Help me to be holy as you are holy (1 Peter 1:16). May my life be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you (Romans 12:1). In Jesus’s name. Amen.
- Asha Chacko George
