What did Jesus mean when He said the first will be last and the last will be first?

The point in the beginning of the next chapter (Matt. 20) is not reward, but the right and title of God Himself to act according to His goodness. He is not going to lower Himself to a human measure. Not only shall the Judge of all the earth do right, but what will not He do who gives all good? "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard … And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny." He maintains His sovereign title to do good, to do as He will with His own. The first of these lessons is, "Many first shall be last, and last first." (Matt. 19:30.) It is clearly the failure of nature, the reversal of what might be expected. The second is, "So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen." It is the power of grace. God's delight is to pick out the hindmost for the first place, to the disparagement of the foremost in their own strength.

To the complainant, the goodman of the house answered, "Friend, I do thee no wrong. Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" (vers. 13-15). There comes out the whole secret. Man, yea, a professing disciple, a labourer in His vineyard, may be disputing because he thinks himself entitled to more than another who, in his opinion, has done little as compared with himself. The question of being a child of God does not enter in this parable; and, as to service, one may be a true servant or a mere hireling.

I would just ask, Why in the last chapter it was, "Many that are first shall be last, and the last first," and here, "The last shall be first, and the first last?" In speaking about rewards, according to the work done, the failure of man is intimated; for indeed weakness soon shows itself — "The first shall be last." But in this new parable it is the sovereignty of God that never fails; consequently here, "The last shall be first and the first last." "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present evil world." There was a first, we may say, who became last — a labourer for the Lord, who had not given up Christianity, but grown tired of the path of unremitting service for Christ. If, instead of honour now, the thousands of those who are engaged in the service of Christ were to receive scorn and persecution, there would be no slight thinning of their ranks. But shame and suffering must be looked for by him who intelligently seeks to serve faithfully the Lord in this world. Demas may have been a believer; but the trial and reproach, the love of ease and other things all came strongly over his spirit, and he abandoned the service of the Lord. "All seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's" is a similar principle.

Verse 31 was evidently uttered as a warning and corrective to Peter. Forwardness here may not mean the first place there. All depends upon the motive underlying the service. If Peter wished to drive a bargain — so much following for so much reward — that alone would show defective motive. Still it does not say that all that are first shall be last, and all 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?

The Lord adds a searching word, "But many that are first shall be last; and the last first." This would surely be a warning word against the self-complacency to which we are all so prone, and which apparently marked the words of Peter when he said, "Lo, we have left all." What, indeed, had he left, but a few old nets that wanted mending! Let us beware of boasting in what we have given up for Christ. It has been well said, "It is not the beginning of the race that decides the contest; the end of it is necessarily the great point. In that race there are many changes, and withal not a few slips, falls and reverses." The real question is not what we have left in the past, but what are we doing today?

"But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first." There is a solemn word. "But many that are first shall be last"; and I will tell you who particularly: these who think much of their losses and talk much about them. They are the very men that get weary of this trial, and the reason is plain. If they were filled with Christ they would not be talking about what they have done, and what they have lost; and I say that such persons, though they may not have been first, shall be last. But, thank God, He will always fill up. "The last shall be first." A serious thing for both sides — blessed in one, but very humbling in the other.

But then the Lord adds another, because that would not give the full truth, and there is nothing more remarkable, beloved friends, than this in the word of God — the care to keep us from being one-sided. There is hardly a more common, or a more serious, danger, and I shall be so if I am occupied with that which clearly Peter was. "Behold," he says, "we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall we have therefore?" It was clear that Christ was not all to him at that moment. He was thinking about himself. But the Lord brings in another word. "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers in his vineyard." And then we find him hiring at different hours of the day, on which we need not particularly dwell now. "And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour they received every man a penny," or what we should call a shilling, if I may so say. That as, it was at that time a sort of day's wages. That is, what was supposed to be necessary, and what was given for a day's work of this kind. "When the first came they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?"

What hearts are ours that even the solemn circumstance of the ruler, and the still more solemn sentence of the Lord which fell upon the amazed ears of the disciples, drew forth a self-complacent inquiry from him who seemed to be somewhat — yea, a pillar among those nearest to Jesus! "Peter began to say to Him, Lo, it is we who have left all, and have followed Thee. Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man who hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother [or wife],† or children, or lands, for My sake, and the Gospel's,109 that shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the coming age life eternal.110 But many first shall be last; and the last first." It is much to be noted that the Lord speaks but of abandoning nature for His own sake (and the Gospel's, as is added most appropriately in this Gospel only), even as Peter speaks of their leaving all and following Him. To leave for the reward would be worthless, and, moreover, never stands. Christ is the only efficacious 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 by-and-by, but saints follow not the rewards, but the Lord. As our Evangelist speaks of the Gospel's sake, so he shows that the faithful sufferer receives a hundredfold now in this time for what he has left, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. "But," says the Lord (and if it was a significant word to Peter, is it not for us all?), "many first shall be last, and the last first." Righteous judgment will in the long-run reverse many a thought founded on that which meets the eye. It is the end of the race that tells, not the start, though God is unrighteous to no person and to no act. It is well, therefore, here, as before, to trust in God and His grace. "There is none good but One [that is], God." "Answered (answering)": so A, etc., Syrsin pesch, Arm, Goth. Edd. omit, with ℵBΔ, Memph. †["Or wife"]: as AC and later uncials, 69, most Syrr. Goth. Æth., but omitted by Edd., after ℵBDΔ, I, Syrsin Memph.

As to all the natural relationships and advantages of this life, if lost for His name's sake, the losers shall receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life. The Gospel of John speaks of everlasting life as a thing that we possess now: the others speak of it as future. We have it indeed now dwelling in us; we shall then enter its own dwelling-place, and shall have its fulness in glory by and by. "But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first." What a hint to Peter — and to us all! A self-righteous claim is a ready snare, and soon finds its level. The leaving of all, if valued, has lost all its value. Thus many who began to run well turned aside from grace to law; and Peter himself was blamed by the last (but first) of the apostles, as we know from the Galatians.

The Lord's answer is not confined to the disciples, for many others have done similarly, but He answers them that the faith of any who have left anything for His sake and the gospels' will be more than fully rewarded. No-one will have to remind God of their self-sacrifice. He knows it well, and even on earth will reward it one hundredfold. Of all that they have left, everything is said to be replaced abundantly except fathers and wives. Of course the relationships of brethren, sisters, mothers and children speak of spiritual relationships, which are far more precious than those natural. Yet another blessing is added that may not be so attractive, "with persecutions." If we have spiritual appreciation of the Lord's thoughts, then in being persecuted we shall "rejoice and be exceeding glad" (Mt.5:11-12). Therefore, in giving up anything for Christ's sake the results are all abundant gain.

The Lord adds a word of caution here, however. If one desired the recognition of being first, this might reduce him to the last place. We may hope that Peter did not have this in his thoughts when he spoke as he did, but one who willingly accepted the last place now would very likely eventually be given the first.

In order to keep us in this sense of grace, the Spirit of God recurs in this chapter to the sovereignty of God, the counteractive to the self-righteousness that is to be found even in the heart of a disciple. Peter said, "We have left all, and followed Thee," and the Lord assures him that it would not be forgotten; but He immediately adds the parable of the householder. Here we find, not the principle of rewards, or righteous recognition of the service done by His people, but God's own rights, His own sovereignty. Hence there are no differences here — no one specially remembered because he had won souls to Christ, or left all for Christ. The principle is, that while God will infallibly own every service and loss for the sake of Christ, yet He maintains His own title to do as He will. Some poor soul may be brought to the knowledge of Christ at the day of his death. God claims His own title to give what He pleases, to give to those who have not wrought anything at all — as we may think — just what is good in His own eyes. This is a very different principle from what we had in the last chapter, and exceedingly counter to the mind of man. "The kingdom of heaven is like to a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard" (vers. 1, 2).

No doubt our first reaction as to the matter would be similar to theirs. Why? Because of the natural selfishness of our hearts. The employer pointed out that those hired first had agreed to a denarius for the day's work. They were treated perfectly rightly. The others were treated with remarkable grace. To them he had shown exceptional goodness. Should the others then have been resentful, because they had not received more? No: actually they should be thankful that others had received as much as they. The agreement had been on the legal principle of a just recompense for work done. Israel, if they had obeyed the law, could expect no more then they had bargained for. If God would deal with others in grace, as He has done with Gentiles today, then they ought to be glad, if indeed they loved their neighbors as themselves, as the law required.

The others had made no agreement, but simply depended on the goodness of the householder, and found him to be most gracious. Israel had preferred the legal principle, therefore could not expected to be treated with grace, but with justice. Then why complain at the outcome? What a lesson for us all! Let us take to heart the fact that God does not merely hire men for wages, but delights rather in those who willingly serve Him because they trust Him to do right. These will find Him to be not only just and fair, but abundantly gracious. The last therefore are those who do not bargain for t heir own rights, but in genuine faith depend on the grace of God: in their case, God will see to it that they become first. The first are those who put themselves first, exercising the legal principle of demanding justice. Therefore they receive justice: they are made last. This verse of course connects with Ch.19:30; but the Lord adds "for many be called, but few chosen." Compare also Ch.22:14. The few chosen are those who depend solely on the grace of God.