Matthew 20:29-34

Matthew 20:29-34

Jesus’s comments about first and last are not mere rhetoric; but rather, the pattern of His life. As they leave Jericho the next city will be Jerusalem where Jesus will face the horrors that mark the path that will end at the cross. At such a moment we could well expect that Jesus would be preoccupied. We might expect Him to be thinking of how to keep His Messiah-ship from being used as a call for revolt. We might expect Him to be deep in thought about the nature of sacrifice, atonement or other sacred meditations. We would not be surprised if in knowing His end is near He would become pensive about his family and friends.

Jesus hears the cries of two nobodies. Their calling Him Son of David may indicate that they were Gentiles. As blind beggars they would have been on the lowest rung of every social ladder. It is not surprising that the crowds try to shout them down. Their Messiah is far too busy and important to be troubled by two people who have nothing to offer except distraction and bother. They wanted to protect Jesus and in so doing they would protect their agenda for Jesus. How often have people in the name of protecting the church, orthodoxy or something else actually been protecting their agenda that they had for those things? It is best that we not look to see how others do this; but rather, how we do so.

Matthew points out that Jesus stopped and in that progressing throng of pilgrims, stopping may have been easier said than done. Jesus takes the trouble (and it was trouble) to ask them what they wanted. Rather than give advice, a lecture or ignore them, He took time to listen to the most useless people in Jericho that day. It is amazing that Jesus never acted “big”, never acted hurried, never seemed to have any agenda other that the Father’s.

The greatest person, moving toward the greatest event, to do the greatest service stops and listens to and then serves two nobodies. The dictum that the first shall be last and the last first is no hollow cliche it is the ethic of the Lord and it is the expectation of all His followers.

"Lord, help me to hear the call of those I might easily ignore. AMEN"

Matthew 20:17-28

Matthew 20:17-28

Jesus and His followers are on the final leg of the trip to Jerusalem. Having just told the parable of the vineyard workers He has repeated that the, “First shall be last and the last first,” principle that is now reinforced in three ways.

In verses 17-19, Jesus clearly states that the rejection of the Messiah by Israel will be complete once He arrives in Jerusalem. He predicts the behavior of the religious elite and their collaboration with the Romans for His death. This will be no heroic battlefield death of a political messiah and martyr; but rather, the torturous, humiliating crucifixion with the dregs of societal scum. Jesus has called His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him. What has till now been a metaphor is about to become a stark reality. We cannot tell if the disciples considered this prediction of Jesus to be an abstract or a metaphor.

The second expression of the first and last inversion is how Jesus responds to the request of James, John and their mother. These two with Peter formed the inner circle of Jesus’s confidants. In 19:28 Jesus has promised the twelve that they will sit on thrones and judge Israel. Now it is just a matter of who will be the first among the twelve. Peter being identified with Satan in 16:23 and with verse 19:30 as a subtle rebuke for his self-aggrandizing comment in verse 19:27 the time was right for James and John to secure the position of supremacy among the apostles. Jesus asked them if they could drink from the cup He is about to take. With great audaciousness they assure Him that they can. Their boldness is reflective of grand confidence and practical ignorance. Jesus tells them they will indeed drink from the cup, James the first apostle to be executed and John the last who would endure Patmos. Then Jesus upset their plans telling them that the place in the Kingdom is not earned but given. All of us have a place in the Kingdom not because we earn it, but it is given by God’s gracious hand.

For a third time Jesus put first and last upside down. If there is any doubt, Jesus explains that He did not come to be served but to serve. The Son of Man, Matthew referring again to the Daniel passage, is going to fulfill the unique calling of the Father. While our service is different it must grow from the same motive, to serve-to be a servant. Jesus in one sentence sums up the entire covenant of grace, “to give His life a ransom for many.” In the inverted universe of the Kingdom the lower, more humble and more selfless the service the closer to the first place we move. This service must never be a means to the end of position. The service is always for the sake of the other.

The great weakness of the church has been that it has failed to teach the way of the cross, not a means to heaven or advancement or career, but as an uncomfortable way and inconvenient way to embrace being last and in so doing be like our Savior.

"God, help me to live in the Kingdom where daily I am willing the last. AMEN"

Matthew 20:1-16

Matthew 20:1-16

This parable is misinterpreted often because we try to make it too difficult. One question helps us to find a shortcut to the core of the parable. With which group of workers would you identify? The bookends of the story is the phrase about the first being last and the last being first. That phrase is so important that Jesus repeats it twice. This statement means that the tried-and-true system of a greater reward for greater effort does not apply to God's economy. Certainly no one in God's system will get less than they deserve, but a great many will get more. But this is beginning to move wide of the mark.

The contrast in this story is not between Christians who serve the Lord faithfully their whole lives and those who come to Christ late. The point of the story is about our attitude. If our attitude or identification is like those who are hired early it indicates that we do not agree with God's grace and would prefer law. The best question for this parable is, “Do I see myself or other believers as getting more than I deserve?” “Do I feel like I have earned more and in some way God owes me more?” A key word in this whole passage is in verse 11, “Grumbled”. When we complain about our lot in life and our treatment by God believing we deserve more we have become the early hirelings. If we identify with the late men hired we realize that we are not getting what we deserve but the very opposite of what we deserve, we are people of grace. The parable is not about large groups of people, eschatological rewards, or even directly about God's justice. It is a barometer of my attitude. Do I see myself as a recipient of grace or earned merit?

We are very much in favor of grace when it is bestowed upon us. We like grace a lot less when it is given to those we deem undeserving. Every Christian ought to see himself as an 11th-hour employee.

"Lord, keep me deeply aware of my need and dependence on Your mercy and grace. AMEN"