A Journey in Matthew: The Last Shall Be First
Buuuuuttttt that’s NOT Fair!
“….. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”
“…. the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.”
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven
“…the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
“I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children,
you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon
and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around.
He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages,
beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more.
But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said,
‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go.
I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a LANDOWNER who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for HIS VINYARD”
Gods Generous Love Pursues Us
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner WHO WENT OUT EARLY IN THE MORNING TO HIRE LABORERS for his vineyard.”
“About nine in the morning he WENT OUT and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
“He went out again about NOON and about THREE in the afternoon and did the same thing
About five in the afternoon he WENT OUT and found still others standing around.
God’s Grace is Hard to Face
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ
even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
“… the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Be First to Serve