“Those who are last will be first and those who are first will be last”
What does this really mean? What is the point of stiving, of aiming for first position, if it really means that we end up last?
Let’s look at the scripture from where it is taken.
Matthew 20:1-16 Good News Translation
The Workers in the Vineyard
20 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a man who went out early in the morning to hire some men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them the regular wage, a silver coin a day, and sent them to work in his vineyard. 3 He went out again to the marketplace at nine o’clock and saw some men standing there doing nothing, 4 so he told them, ‘You also go and work in the vineyard, and I will pay you a fair wage.’ 5 So they went. Then at twelve o’clock and again at three o’clock he did the same thing. 6 It was nearly five o’clock when he went to the marketplace and saw some other men still standing there. ‘Why are you wasting the whole day here doing nothing?’ he asked them. 7 ‘No one hired us,’ they answered. ‘Well, then, you go and work in the vineyard,’ he told them.
8 “When evening came, the owner told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with those who were hired last and ending with those who were hired first.’ 9 The men who had begun to work at five o’clock were paid a silver coin each. 10 So when the men who were the first to be hired came to be paid, they thought they would get more; but they too were given a silver coin each. 11 They took their money and started grumbling against the employer. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘while we put up with a whole day’s work in the hot sun—yet you paid them the same as you paid us!’ 13 ‘Listen, friend,’ the owner answered one of them, ‘I have not cheated you. After all, you agreed to do a day’s work for one silver coin. 14 Now take your pay and go home. I want to give this man who was hired last as much as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do as I wish with my own money? Or are you jealous because I am generous?’”
16 And Jesus concluded, “So those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last.”
I believe that this passage is all about the the condition of the heart.
If the workers who had come in first were happy to see how those who came in last, were blessed by being paid a full wage even though they only worked one hour, then there probably would not have been a story. But it was because of their jealousy that they were reprimanded.
Don’t you often get asked the question “How can it be fair that a person can live there whole life for Christ, and someone else can skid in right at the very end of their live – confessing their sins on their deathbed – and both are received equally into the kingdom of God?”
It is a big question but I have a simple explanation below;
We are all on the journey of life.
We are continually learning new things about our relationship with God and his relationships with others.
He loves us all with a powerful and active love … a love that pursues … a love that adores … but a love that never invades!
No-ones relationship with Jesus is the same, because we are all different. The level of intimacy and love that we experience from Jesus is proportionate to how much of our heart we give away to him.
It is all about the heart.
The word HEART is used 830 many times in the bible. (NKJ version). In fact, it is the most used word after the words Lord and God.
That means that the heart is pivoted between the Lord and God.
The more we open up our heart, the more Jesus comes in. Our faith grows in proportion to this love that we are experiencing.
Ezekiel 36:26 New Living Translation
26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
At every stage of our relationship with the Lord, we will feel his closeness relative to our openness.
Because we are human, our hearts tend to open and close according to what we are going through emotionally in our lives. This means that our relationship with the Lord is ever changing.
Here’s a great visual picture that will help you understand this concept.
Think of your relationship with the Lord as a journey up a mountain.
A beautiful, high mountain.
As you climb higher and higher your views become more breathtaking and your experience more incredible. But you only know that its gets better because you keep climbing higher.
The height that you climb, is proportional to the level of intimacy that you enjoy with the Lord.
It takes commitment, energy and a considerable amount of time to climb a mountain. It also takes all these things to arrive at a beautiful ‘high’ place of intimacy with God.
Everyone has their own desires and their own place of comfort or need. We cannot criticize someone who is simply enjoying a comfortable stroll on the lower contour paths, just as we cannot criticize someone who has summited the mountain and is basking in the splendor of God’s incredible, intimate presence.
We are all on our own journey. We all have our own life to life.
It is a personal and wonderful choice – and the Lord will always meet us exactly where we are at!
But blessed are those who choose to live each day in the wonderful splendour of God’s presence.