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Matthew 19:30 - Rich young man
“But many who are
first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”
Matthew 20:16 – workers in vineyard
“The last will be first and the first will be last”
Matthew 20:27 – John & James seeking privilege position
… “Whoever wants to be first must be your slave”
Jesus does seem to bang on about this. And if you feel maybe a little disappointed that we are lingering on this subject then ask why? Jesus is not building a kingdom like the one we want, he is building a kingdom that will work for eternity. So if he is insistent that we must understand the implications of the kingdom in the area of power and leadership and hero-worship in the kingdom we must pay attention.
So we have seen that maturity, experience and knowledge do not put us up the ratings. We have seen dramatically that wealth is a barrier to entry to the kingdom. We have seen that grace is not measured by our length of service or how hard we worked.
At this point Jesus repeats and expands what he has said twice before.
READ Matthew 20:17-19
This is a very specific prophecy, so liberal theologians will tell you that these are words put into Jesus’ mouth. Not at all, God has been revealing that the Servant would die back in Isaiah 52-53 600 years earlier, so Jesus knowing the detail is not surprising. You will only believe when you accept that Jesus is the Son of God. If that is not true we explain away his miracles and his prophecy. But Matthew was there and heard Jesus say it more than once. Following the revelation that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God he says this
READ Matthew 16:21-21
Notice Jesus began..
At the transfiguration in Matthew 17:12 we read Jesus saying
“ In the same way the Son of Man is going
to suffer at their hands.”
So Jesus was repeating himself on two subjects, his death
and resurrection and “The last will be
first and the first will be last”
It is somewhat disconcerting
that the Mother of James and John blunders in at this point asking for her sons
to get privileged status. But that is the human problem. Jesus had promised
them thrones in 19:28, she was only asking to position them in the nearest
seats to Jesus. We hear what Jesus says but we interpret it in terms we
understand. Jesus has just blessed little children; surely he will not reject a
mother asking a blessing for her children?
But this is the
“The last will be first and the first will be last”
But John and James have heard, yet, as Mark and Luke record, they are seen fully involved in this attempt to pervert the Kingdom.
You may ask why Jesus did not simply dismiss the request.
Jesus knew what life in the kingdom was. He was going to
Jesus is teaching them what to expect. You want to sit on
those thrones I promised in 19:28 but the
That is the expected lot of Christians, We received grace that we don’t deserve, we have the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life but in this life we are promised a hard time.
The question remains “Do you think being a Christian is worth it?” Faith says “Yes!”
Read Hebrews 11: 32-40,
read up in Barnabus Fund and Open Door literature on 21st Century Martyrs and persecuted Christians. They are the men and women of faith. They are the heroes we should seek to emulate, which brings me back to the main issue. Jesus says
“The last will be first and the
first will be last”
How do you rate Christians? The cult of celebrity has inundated the church, so we are often measured by our following. For those that care I have 24 followers on Twitter so my not-so profound thoughts get viewed by 6 people according to Twitter! But small churches are out of fashion, prayer meetings, as always, for the few, there is an endless stream of new church plants, new organisations whipping up enthusiasm for new ventures. Events headline a bred of ‘super-christian’ who is suitably humble but is measured by their ability to draw a crowd. Jesus tops 5000 which is very impressive in the day in which he lived, yet in the resurrection appearances he was seen by a little over 500. And we do the same in our small church. We have our ratings of spirituality. As if we are likely to know who is really spiritually minded. We only know what they are like when they are on show. Sometimes we get a hint when God sends them to ring you up or pray with you or share their path of faith. Jesus simply says
“The last will be first and the first will be last”
He rates people by these criteria.
Jesus called them
together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over
them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and
whoever wants to be first must be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
So who is the slave? Who is the servant? Trouble is we use the terms and then change their meaning ‘Minister’ is meant to indicate servitude, instead it is taken to mean some special elite whether political or religious.
So understand Jesus we must listen to him. He says “Follow
me” and he is on the road to die in
“How much is your life a copy of Jesus?”
- In servitude
- In love
- In following
- In giving
You know when you are being treated like a servant, when you are annoyed by people taking advantage of you.
You know when you are loving when it hurts that your love is not reciprocated
You know when you are following when you are treated as Jesus was treated.
You know when you are giving when it costs you for others to be blessed.
Look at Jesus, he stopped for a woman who needed more than
healing, he crossed Samaria to meet an adulteress, he picked a man who had
given up on life by the pool of Siloam, he took time to bless the young
children, he will stop in a crowd to seek hospitality from a collaborator with
the oppressor, he stops to give two blind men sight. I could go on. Are you
getting the point? He was in with the
wrong crowd, spent most of his time in decadent Galilee instead of upright
Before we leave this passage we need to be reminded of Jesus’ uniqueness. Jesus came
to give his life as a ransom for many.
This is Matthew’s only time he refers to this. In the
shadowy world of kidnapping and hostage taking, this word pops up. It is
British Government policy not to pay ransoms as it encourages repeat
abductions. The pirates of
Jesus loves you this much. He gave his life, so that you could live. Hid death is unique because he was sinless, he died that you may be forgiven. He died so that you might have eternal life.
Here is love, here is servanthood, here is the model of the disciple, to be like Jesus. James and John were great in the Kingdom but not because they got special treatment. They served us and the kingdom in laying down their lives for us to hear the good news and be able to receive grace. We are called to follow just as they were. Paul put it this way.
READ Philippians 3:7-14
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