The Last Will Be First

The Gospel Reading from Matthew 20:1–16

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter 20, verses 1 -16. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, You also go and work in my vineyard and I will pay you whatever is right. So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.

About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing? Because no one has hired us, they answered. He said to them, You also go and work in my vineyard.

And when the evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first. The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.

So when those who were hired first, they expected to receive more, but each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. These men who were hired last worked only one hour.

They said, And you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them, Friend, I'm not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?

Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first and the first will be last.

This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Alright, so the last will be first and the first will be last. I don't know about you, but that phrase has always confused me. I don't get it.

Having studied for this sermon, translated it from the Greek, it's still one of these things that I'm having a hard time with. And there's a reason why. The reason why is because this goes against everything that is the desires of my sinful nature.

We think here on earth, and this is how it works, you work hard, you get ahead. You work hard, you're better than the next guy. You work hard, you have power over the next guy. Your status is all locked up in those things, right?

But here Jesus flips everything on its head and says the last will be first and the first will be last. And he says this is what the kingdom of heaven is like. And you just go, really? Really? Really?

The answer is yeah, really. And I struggle with this. So, let's talk about this text by putting it back in context. And you'll notice there's certain things I say over and over again. One of the things I say is the three rules for sound biblical exegesis are context, context, and context.

So this is one of those passages, if you notice the lectionary here, we skipped ahead a couple of chapters. And this is the assigned reading. But in order to understand what's going on in this text regarding the first being last and the last being first, we actually have to go back into chapter 19.

Spend a little bit of time there and then move forward. So we'll be done about 1 o 'clock this afternoon. No, I'm joking. I'm joking. It's really 2 o 'clock. Anyway, okay. So we're going to start at verse 16.

And we're going to take a look at the bigger context here because this parable shows up. You notice the first word in chapter 20 is for. The kingdom of heaven is like this. Well, that means there's something going on in the context.

The Rich Young Man and the Problem of Self-Salvation

So if you have your pew Bible, Matthew chapter 19, I'll start at verse 16, and we're going to hear a very familiar passage. Now, a man came up to Jesus and asked, Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?

Bad question. Okay. Now, a little bit of a note here. You'll notice in the gospel of Matthew, if you were to actually go and read it and kind of search for this, everybody who is a true disciple of Jesus always refers to Jesus as what?

Lord. Lord. This guy comes to Jesus and he calls him teacher. Teacher. This is kind of a weird thing about Matthew's gospel. And this kind of sets this up a little bit here. This guy is coming to Jesus and treating him as if he's like a teacher of the law.

What do teachers of the law do when you ask them questions? They point you to the law. Jesus kind of rebuffs this guy a little bit, but goes ahead and plays along in kind of like round one of this exchange.

He says, all right, fine. You want to treat me like I'm a teacher and I'm not Lord? Okay, fine. I'm going to answer as a teacher and you're not going to be satisfied because the question itself is a major problem.

What good thing must I do to get eternal life? The guy wants some kind of assurance of salvation and eternal life, and he's looking to himself and the things he's doing for this assurance. Well, that's no place to look.

So Jesus plays along and says, why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied, there's only one who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments. Well, the guy's not satisfied with this answer.

Yeah, any old teacher of the law can give me that answer. So he fires back. Round two. Well, which ones, the man inquired. So Jesus replied, all right, do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal.

Do not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself. Now, notice something about that list. Those are all second table of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments has two tables.

Table numero uno has to do with our standing before God. You will have no other gods before me. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, right? Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. These are the commandments regarding God.

Now, the ones do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery. That's how we treat each other. Love God, love neighbor. In this first list that Jesus rattles off to this young man, Jesus goes with all second table stuff, how we treat each other.

The guy's still not satisfied with this answer. All of these I've kept. The young man said, what do I still lack? I've already been doing all of that. Come on, Jesus, give me an answer that is useful here.

You see, the problem is that he's coming to Jesus as teacher, not Jesus as Lord. So Jesus goes ahead at this point, even though the guy has come to him and is treating him as if he's just any old teacher.

Jesus now is going to start acting as Lord. Jesus knows this guy's problem. His problem is that he is an idolater. And here's what it says. Jesus answered, all right, if you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions, give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

And then come follow me. To follow Jesus is to acknowledge him as Lord, not teacher. And by the way, this is not some general command. If you want to be a Christian, that means you have to go and sell all your possessions and give it to the poor.

That's not what this text is saying. In this particular guy's case, Jesus is getting to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is that this man loves his money. He loves his wealth. He loves his possessions.

The one who has a lot of money, well, he's often tempted. Tempted to believe that he's self-sufficient. But Jesus says the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are the little ones, the little children, the ones who only receive.

So the guy, the young man, heard this and he went away sad because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, here's the fun part, I tell you it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again, I tell you it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And when the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, well, who then can be saved?

Notice this statement on the part of Jesus, that it's difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven is causing their theology that they are assuming to be challenged. I mean, doesn't it make sense?

You do good things. God says, oh, good boy, here's some more stars on your star chart, and I'm going to reward you with riches here on earth. So the most holy and pious among us are those who are wealthy, right?

That's how people think, is it not? Is that not how we sometimes pray? We find ourselves in financial distress. Oh, Lord, I promise if you rescue me from this, I promise I'll pray three times. No, okay, two and a half.

Okay, I'll pray at least once a day. Isn't this how we bargain with God? We take a look at our current circumstances. We find ourselves in financial need, and we start bargaining with our piety. We're all guilty of this.

I know I am. So the disciples hear Jesus saying that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, which is not going to happen, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Who then can be saved?

Then again, Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Pay attention to this. With man this is impossible. What's impossible? It's impossible for a man to save himself.

Who then can be saved? With man it's impossible. You can't save yourself by your good works, period. You think that somehow your prayers, your Bible reading, your tithing, your offerings, the time you spent engaging in social justice, helping people, if you believe that those things earn you salvation, you are in deep kimchi.

With man it's impossible. You cannot save yourself by your good works, but with God all things are possible. So Peter answered him, and now we're starting to get into the greater context. We're starting to transition here now into our text.

Peter answered, Well, Lord, we've left everything to follow you. What then will there be for us? Now, Jesus' answer is twofold. He affirms the fact that Peter and them have left things to follow Jesus, and he then also provides a warning, and don't think for a second that this makes you better than other people, is what's going on here.

So Jesus said, here's his affirmation, I tell you the truth. At the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Important verb there, inherit.

It doesn't say earn, it says inherit. When you inherit something, is it because you've earned it or because somebody has gifted it to you? It's because they've gifted it to you, right? An inheritance is something that's given as a gift upon the death of the giver.

And notice, eternal life is an inheritance. It is not a wage. A wage is something you earn. An inheritance is something that is given. So if eternal life is an inheritance, who died that we can inherit such an amazing thing?

Jesus. It's Jesus. So when you pay attention to the details of what's going on here, you begin to say, okay, now I'm starting to get it. So, let me read this again. Here's the positive side. Positive side.

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children for my name's sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit not because they've done these things, but the inheritance is a gift.

They will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first. So we're dealing with the person who thinks he's better than others because he's working so hard, right?

The Parable of the Laborers and the Scandal of Grace

So now we get into our text. For the kingdom of heaven is like. You see how it all works together now? All of the thoughts hinge together. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.

He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. Now the way Jesus tells the story, there's kind of like a tension that builds up. I'll kind of point it out. So about the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

He told them, you also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. He doesn't say how much he's going to pay them. Well, we don't know. So, you know, you go out into the third hour, hire these other guys.

He hasn't said how much he's going to pay them. So then he went out again. Sixth hour, ninth hour, did the same thing. About the 11th hour, okay, with an hour left to work, before the sun goes down, he went out and found still others standing around.

He asked them, why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing? Well, because no one's hired us, they answered. He said to them, you also go into my vineyard. Has he said how much he's going to pay them?

Nope, not a thing. He hasn't said. And so that's kind of the big mystery. Okay, there's the setup. There's the tension. So when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the workers, pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.

So the workers who were hired about the 11th hour, these last guys who barely put in any work at all, they came and each received a denarius. What? They're getting a whole day's wage? And these guys were sitting around doing nothing all day long?

And then they just happened to have this guy so graciously call them in, and he pays, really? Okay, so when those who were hired first, they expected to receive more. I'm better than the guy who came in at the 11th hour because of what I've done.

I'm better. I've worked harder. I've earned more. That's the thought. This is how we think. So when those who were hired first, they expected to receive more, but each one of them also received a denarius.

And when they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. Not a good thing because who's the landowner in this parable? It's God. And here's the rub. These men who were hired last worked only one hour, they said, and you've made them equal to us.

Right. Exactly. That's the thing about grace, is it makes us all equals. For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God so that no man may boast.

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 says, right? If it's a gift, you can't boast. See, even the denarius, in a real sense here, is a gift. God just graciously gives out salvation. He's so gracious. Merciful. Kind. Extravagantly so.

A friend of mine in the ministry, he says, God is promiscuously gracious. It's an interesting way of putting it, right? And you know what? Those who think that they are better than others because of how much work they've done, they're looking around and saying, oh, I'm better than him.

Got her beat by a mile. God's got to love me more than that person. Jesus said, no, not at all. In fact, Jesus is making even the one who confesses Christ on their deathbed equal to the one who has been in the faith from the time of their youth.

Is this not the scandal of the cross where Jesus is hanging, being crucified, and one of the guys, one of the robbers on one side is heaping up abuses against Jesus, and what does the one guy say? Knock it off.

We're getting what we deserve. This man has done nothing wrong. Nothing. And then he says to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Now, this guy just confessed he was getting what he deserved.

He was a thief. Spent his entire life sinning. Got caught. And now is being executed for his crimes. Doesn't he deserve to go to hell? Yep. He sure does. And so do I. And so do you. But what does Jesus say to this one who says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom?

Jesus says, truly, truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Did he earn it? What good work could he possibly do while being nailed to a cross to earn salvation? Nothing. He didn't earn it at all.

Christ has made the thief on the cross equal to even the apostles. That's the scandal of it. I remember years ago, I used to work at Focus on the Family, and Ted Bundy. Remember Ted Bundy, the serial killer?

It was a horrible story. But he went on trial. He defended himself and ultimately lost. And they put him on death row. Remember all of that? And then James Dobson went and met with him. And I remember about that time people were talking about Ted Bundy.

And the guy confessed faith in Christ before he was executed. And a friend of mine, we were talking, and he said, you know, this is one of the things that bugs me about Christianity. Do you really believe Ted Bundy's in heaven?

I said, well, he confessed Christ. He believed that he was forgiven by what Christ did on the cross. Christ died for the sins of the world. Why couldn't Ted Bundy be in heaven? Well, see, that's the thing that bugs me.

I mean, you just go and, you know, live like, you know, the devil. And then at the last second, you're brought to repentance and you believe in Jesus and you're in? Yeah, that's kind of the scandal of all of it, isn't it?

Now, don't think for a second I'm saying, well, just go ahead and wait until you're on your deathbed. And then come see me or call me up and we'll pray a prayer and get you in real quick. No, today is the day of salvation for all of us, right?

But Christ, in his gracious mercy, has made it so that there's no way for any of us to boast. The one who thinks he is first will be made last. All of us come into the kingdom of heaven as beggars, spiritually poor, bankrupt.

We've got nothing. But Jesus, because of his grace and mercy and love towards us, he forgives us. So that the last will be first and the first will be last. And who was the one who was treated as the last?

Jesus. He was the one who was the one treated like the last one. He was beaten, scourged, whipped for our transgressions. Had his clothes stripped from him. Beaten with a cat of nine tails, right? Goes to the cross.

God made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that we might be the righteousness of God. This is the gospel. The one who became the least and the greatest servant of all, God has now exalted and he now is the first.

King of kings and Lord of lords. So if you think the kingdom of heaven is all about you and what you do, you don't understand it. The last will be first, the first will be last. You get it? The economy of the kingdom is not like anything here on earth.

And I'm so thankful for that. Because it's good news. Because even my piety fails. Yours does too. My prayers fail at times. Temptations I give in to. I can't say that I'm the most productive worker in the kingdom of heaven and neither can you.

And yet, God in his graciousness, at the end of the day, on the day of judgment, will pay us all the same wage. Eternal life in him. Because it's a gift. Not something we earn. It's an inheritance given to us.

Because the one who is the one who's giving it to us, he's died. That's Jesus Christ. So the last will be first, the first will be last. And this is truly good news. In the name of Jesus, amen.

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