And Jesus said to them, Verily I say unto you, That *ye* who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit down upon his throne of glory, *ye* also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Peter has just watched a rich young man walk away from Jesus. He asks what he and the others will get, now that they have left everything behind. The answer goes far past anything Peter had in mind. It points to a future age, a throne, and a glory that other saints will share.
Peter's claim was true — he really had left all — but the way he framed it invited a correction as well as an answer.
What Peter states is a fact. He and his fellow apostles had really left all to follow Christ, and our Lord acknowledges this in His first answer. But it is clear that something of self-importance and self-congratulation lay behind Peter's question, "What then will we have?" It was the same spirit as the question in Matthew 18, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Peter's question suggests that no one could ever show the self-devotion they had shown, or have the claim on Christ that they had. It is as though he would make Christ a debtor to himself and his fellow disciples.
Older translations keep the Greek word as "regeneration." The ESV renders it "the new world." Commentators tie it to a coming age, not to anything happening now.
The "regeneration" here is "the world to come" of Hebrews 2:5, "the restoration of all things" of Acts 3:21 — in other words, the Millennial kingdom. It is called the "regeneration" because in that age evil will be put down and righteousness will be exalted. In that age all the saints will reign — even the faulty Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). But places are given out according to how faithful each one was in this present life. A special place is kept for the apostles, in connection with the twelve tribes of Israel.
In Titus the same word describes something personal, not a coming age.
The word translated "regeneration" occurs only twice in the New Testament. The other place is Matthew 19:28. There it means the new order of things that comes when the Lord Jesus Christ reigns, and when "a nation" — Israel — will be "born at once" (Isaiah 66:8). We learn in Titus that the hour of this world-wide regeneration has not come yet. Even so, believers today each receive the washing of regeneration for themselves.
The throne sets the timing. The new order waits until the Son of Man takes His seat.
A time of regeneration is coming. All things will be made over. Groaning creation will be set free, and the reign of Satan and of sin will end. It is the millennial age. Throughout the Old Testament the prophets declare this great regeneration... This regeneration is not yet, and it cannot come as long as the Son of Man does not occupy the throne of His glory. He will not occupy that throne as long as His fellow heirs are not with Him.
This throne is not the great white throne of the final judgment, and the time is not before Christ's coming:
Scripture says plainly that "the regeneration" is when the Son of Man sits on His throne of glory. That is when He comes — not before His coming, and not when heaven and earth flee away before His face as He sits on a wholly different throne, the great white throne for judging the dead, not the twelve tribes of Israel... If it is neither, the millennium is the only option left. And if it is so, in what condition but a glorified one can the apostles judge Israel?
The honour promised here is real, but it is not the highest place a believer receives.
Remember that what we read here does not refer to heaven: there is still better work in heaven than judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Yet it is a glorious destiny reserved for the twelve apostles during the reign of Christ over the earth. God has designed a similar glory for other saints, as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:2: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?"
The verse promises rewards, but not wages.
Whatever a disciple, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, has done or suffered for His sake will not be forgotten. This, however, does not mean that we can earn a position in glory; it is grace and grace alone which has brought us there. A believer's service and self-denial are the results of grace. So the rewards are mercies, nothing else.
- Followed — the promise goes to those who left all to follow Christ. Yet no one can make Christ a debtor.
- Regeneration — not the new birth, but a whole new order on earth. It is the "restoration of all things," when evil is put down and righteousness exalted.
- Throne — nothing begins until the Son of Man sits on His throne of glory. And He waits until His fellow heirs are with Him.
- Thrones — twelve seats over the twelve tribes. It is a real honour on earth, but not the highest portion of the saints.
- Reward — nothing done or suffered for Christ is forgotten. Yet every reward stays a mercy, never a wage.
And every one who has left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit life eternal.
Peter had just watched a rich man refuse to follow Christ, and he asked what the disciples would get for leaving everything. The Lord's answer reaches far past the twelve apostles, and it raises hard questions about forsaking, the hundredfold, and how reward fits with grace.
Peter's words were true, but his tone mattered. One writer weighs the question that drew out this promise:
What Peter states is a fact. He and his fellow-apostles had truly left everything to follow Christ, and our Lord acknowledges this in His first answer. But clearly there was self-importance and self-congratulation behind Peter's question, "What then will we have?" ... It is as though he would make Christ a debtor to himself and his fellow-disciples.
The Lord answers, and then widens the circle: the promise is not to apostles only but to "everyone."
Some readers hear the list — houses, family, lands — as a call to abandon your relatives. One commentator answers that:
This forsaking does not mean dropping all sense of responsibility toward these relationships. It does mean giving Christ the highest place, so that none of them gets in the way of our first responsibility to Him.
The reason for the loss is what gives it value. One writer weighs what the words "for my name's sake" rule out:
Notice that the Lord speaks only of giving up natural ties for His own sake ... To leave for the reward would be worthless, and, moreover, never lasts. Christ is the only effective attraction, the motive that governs a renewed heart. There is pasture for the sheep, there is the flock also; but the sheep follow Christ, for they know His voice. Rewards will follow later, but believers follow the Lord, not the rewards.
Mark records the same promise. Two small words in his account carry a lot of weight:
We should notice the separating word or in verse 29, and the joining word and in verse 30. One might be called to surrender "houses, or brothers, or sisters," and so on. Such a person will receive a hundredfold, and the Lord expands that into "houses, and brothers, and sisters," and so on. These two little words, or and and, add weight to the gracious declaration.
The Lord leaves one item out of the list of things given back:
"There is no man who has left house," etc., "for My sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold" — in kind even. It comes in all the comforts, kindness, peace and enjoyments that belong to Christians here, with persecutions from the world, and in the age to come eternal life. The Lord here omits "wife"; there is no promise to give him back this — this stands on other and its own ground ... Though love for Christ and the Church may bring infinitely more than a hundredfold for giving up a wife, that loss is never replaced in kind ... because Christ alone can make it up.
If God rewards service, has the disciple earned his place? One writer holds both sides:
Here is the declaration of an important principle, the principle of rewards in glory. God will not forget anything a disciple, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, has done or suffered for His sake. This, however, does not mean that we can earn a position in glory; it is grace and grace alone which has brought us there. A believer's service and self-denial come from grace, so the rewards are mercies, nothing else.
The verb matters. One note explains what "inherit" means here:
"Inherit eternal life." Inherit stands for "take possession of" ... Matthew, Mark and Luke treat it as something held in reserve, and so do Paul's letters.
Commentators differ on how much of that life is ours already. One holds both sides together:
The believer has eternal life now, and eternal life reaches beyond the world to come. But we will enjoy that life more fully then than we can in our present circumstances.
- Motive — The promise hangs on "for My name's sake." Leaving things to collect a reward is worthless. Christ Himself is the attraction that moves a renewed heart.
- Measure — You may give things up one at a time — "houses, or brothers, or sisters." He gives them back together — "houses, and brothers, and sisters" — a hundredfold, and with persecutions.
- Exception — A wife is not promised back in kind. That loss stands on its own ground, and Christ alone makes it up.
- Reach — The promise is not reserved for the twelve apostles. It is for "everyone," so no one can claim a special contract with Christ or make Him their debtor.
- Result — Reward is real, but no one earns it. Service and self-denial come from grace, so the rewards are mercies. And eternal life is the inheritance kept in reserve, ours to take possession of and enjoy in full.
But many first shall be last, and last first.
Peter had just asked what he and the others would get for leaving everything to follow Jesus. The Lord promised a hundredfold and eternal life, then added this warning — so who are the "first," and how do they end up last?
The warning answers the spirit behind Peter's question, not just its words. One writer weighs that question against the One Peter was asking:
Then Peter stepped forward. "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" The commercial spirit of such a question is truly painful. He was speaking to One who had left heavenly glory and emptied Himself for the blessing of men. The question was little short of an outrage. What was the "all" that Peter and his friends had left? Just fishing boats and tackle, and a few family comforts. And what had they gained even in this present life? The knowledge of God as revealed in the Son, and daily companionship with the Son of the Father's love.
The Lord does not cancel the reward He has just promised. He guards the reason a person serves at all:
Our Lord shows that God will not stay in anyone's debt. For every loss suffered for His name's sake, everyone will receive back a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. But He adds the warning words: many who are first will be last, and the last first. Where there is faith, Christ is the motive. Reward is only the encouragement of the one who follows the Saviour. It cheers him when he is already on the way. Make the reward the object, and everything becomes mercenary. Even where Christ is the driving power, we can still cloud Him by overrating what we give up for His sake. So we need to think about the shortcoming that self-reliance brings in. In every case, though, God never forgets, and He repays for certain.
The same words return at the end of the next chapter, but with the halves swapped. One writer takes the two forms as two different lessons:
The next chapter (Matthew 20) is not about reward, but about God's own right to act according to His goodness. The first of these lessons is, "Many who are first will be last, and the last first." This is the failure of nature — the reverse of what you would expect. The second is, "So the last will be first, and the first last." (Older translations add, "for many are called, but few are chosen.") This is the power of grace. God delights to pick out the one at the very back and give him first place, which puts down those who are first in their own strength.
Scripture supplies a live example of a strong start that did not hold:
"Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me." There was a first, we may say, who became last. He was a worker for the Lord who had not given up Christianity, but had grown tired of the path of unbroken service for Christ. Demas may have been a believer. But trial, shame, the love of comfort and other things came strongly over his spirit, and he abandoned the Lord's service.
Note the word "many." One writer comments on the same saying in Mark 10:31. He refuses to make it a rule that every leading servant must fall:
It is clear that the Lord meant verse 31 as a warning and a correction to Peter. Pushing yourself forward here may not mean the first place there. Everything depends on the motive underlying the service. If Peter wanted to strike a bargain — so much following for so much reward — that alone would show a defective motive. Still, it does not say that all who are first will be last, and all who are last first. Paul went ahead of all in his day, and who can challenge the purity of his motive, or the reality of his devotion to his Lord?
So the practical step is to stop chasing prominence:
Human vanity likes to be popular and self-important. It likes to push itself forward before the world and before God's people. But with that coming day in view, it is better to take a lowly place and stay out of sight than to take a public place and advertise yourself. On that day many who are first will be last, and the last first.
- Occasion — Peter asked, "What then will we have?" The Lord confirms the reward, then guards a heart that was already pricing it.
- Motive — Reward should cheer a servant already on the road. It should never be the reason he set out. Make it the object, and service turns mercenary.
- Failure — The first half of the verse exposes the failure of nature. A fast start can slow to a stop, as Demas showed.
- Grace — The same words come back reversed in the next chapter, and they carry the other half: the power of grace. God delights to pick out the one at the back and give him first place.
- Limit — It says "many," not all. Paul led the way in his day with a pure motive. The verse warns about motive; it does not predict that every leading servant falls.