Matthew 20: How To Be First and How To Be Great

Matthew 20: How To Be First and How To Be Great

Collin Leong. May 10, 2025

(v1- v16) Parable of the Vineyard Workers

(v1-2) The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who hire workers for his vineyard in the early morning. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day's labor. (A denarius is a standard daily wage for laborer at Jesus' time.)

(v3-7) About 9am he went out and saw others at the marketplace doing nothing. He told them to work in his vineyard, and he will pay whatever is right. At noon, and 3pm and 5pm he continued to hire people to work in his vineyard. 

(v8-10) When evening came, the owner said to his foreman to call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first. The workers hired at 5pm received a denarius. So the ones who was hired first expected to receive more. However, they also receive a denarius. 

(v11-12) They began to grumble against the owner, that those who are hired last worked on 1 hour, and yet they received the same pay as themselves who have been working in the heat of the whole day. 

(v13-15) The owner replied to his "friends" that he is not being unfair, since they agreed to work for a denarius. Take the pay and go their way. Doesn't he has the right to do what he wants with his own money? Or are they envious because he is generous? 

(v16) Jesus ended by saying "So the last will be first, and the first will be last."   

Here’s a breakdown of the symbolism of v16:

• The Landowner represents God, who calls people into His kingdom.
• The Vineyard symbolizes God’s work and His kingdom.
• The Laborers represent believers, whether they come early or late in their age to faith.
• The Wages (Denarius) symbolize rewards, given to people who served Him. 

So, what does "the last will be first, and the first will be last" mean? If you remember, this was mentioned by Jesus at the end of Matthew 19, verse 30.  The parable above was Jesus illustrating what this sentence mean.   

The context of this sentence is that He is referring to people who are believers. For they all receive their pay (or reward) for their service in chapter 20. In chapter 19, Jesus was referring to those who leave their relationships and assets to follow him will receive a reward.  Both chapters spoke about people who believe in Christ and were serving God. 

So this is not referring to salvation like some people think - for you cannot be "first" or "last" in salvation or eternal life. Everyone who believe in Christ will have the same salvation and have the same eternal life. The thief on the cross did not do anything, but he also receive the same salvation as the disciples. 

However, each believers will be judged and receive rewards for the work they did for God. Jesus is explaining that believers will not be rewarded based on their possession or wealth, nor based on how long they have accepted Christ or how long they have served God. His reward is opposite of what humans think. 

We tend to think that believers who are rich and a generous philanthropist will be first in heaven and have much reward. We tend to think that people who are doing full time Christian work will bear more reward than those who don't. We tend to think those who have been serving for a long time will receive more rewards than those who served for a short time.  However, this is not how God works. 

God looks into the heart of the believers - in the way we cannot see - and will reward them according to the purity of their heart as they served Him.  From our point of view, we may think it is "unfair" when someone who serve Him shorter has more rewards than those who served Him longer; but we must accept that God's generosity overrides the "fairness" in the way we defined it.

*[The rich young ruler may be first on earth due to his wealth, but may be last in heaven. The disciples are poor and was hated on earth, but could be first in heaven. They are not judged on the riches or poverty, but from their dedication and their humility of their hearts. 

Paul was the last of the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:8–9) yet the one who worked the hardest (2 Corinthians 11:23). The Gentiles had equal access to the kingdom of heaven, although they had not served God under the Old Covenant. The Jews, who had labored long under the Old Covenant, were jealous of the grace extended to the Gentile “newcomers” (see Romans 11:11). There are some who are first in prestige and rank yet might never enter the kingdom. Jesus told the Pharisees that the sinners they despised were being saved ahead of them: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matthew 21:31–32). ]*

We shouldn't be surprised when we see someone who are not known on earth receive more rewards than a famous preacher. 

* Adapted from https://www.gotquestions.org/first-last-last-first.html

(v17-19) Jesus predicts His death a Third Time.  (Mark 10:32-34)

One the way to Jerusalem, He told his disciples that the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemned him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day He will be raised to life. 

This is the third time Jesus told His disciples about his death. The first one is in Matthew 16:21, the second one is in Matt 17:22-23. The difference is that the above has more details than the first two, that is, He will be handed to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified. We are not sure if Matthew didn't write this the first two times. But for all 3 times, Jesus always say that He will be raised to life on the third day. Perhaps He is trying to encourage His disciples that He will live again. 

(v20-28) A Mother's Request (Mark 10:35-45)

(v20-23) The mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with his sons, and knelt down and ask Jesus to grant her two sons to sit at His right and His left. Jesus told her that she doesn't know what she is asking; can they drink the cup He is going to drink? They answered that they can. 

Jesus told them that they will indeed drink from His cup, but to sit at His right or my left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by His Father. 

The Zebedee's sons are James and John. These two are often referred to the Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17).  When Jesus ask whether they can drink the His cup, he is referring to His suffering and sacrifice. "Drinking the cup" appears again in Matthew 26:39, where Jesus asked if the cup of suffering can be taken from Him. 

Jesus said the they will drink from the cup, but the right hand and left hand are reserved for persons that His Father has prepared. It appears that God, being omniscience, already know who will be sitting there. However, we do not know if Jesus knows it too, as he didn't reveal the persons. 

(v24-28) When the other ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and speak to them, saying that the rulers of the Gentiles lord over them, and the high officials exercise authority over them. This is not so for His followers. 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. 

Jesus reminded them that God's Kingdom is upside-down compared to earthly kingdoms. Over here, we know that our Chief Executives decides and order their people to do what they wants. But in heaven, God considers those who are humble and serve others to be the first. Jesus is reminding them of the parable above, where "the first will be last, and the last will be first."  

Jesus did what He asked them to do, when he served everyone by being a ransom for them.  The word "ransom" means a price paid to free someone from bondage, slavery and captivity. When someone kidnapped someone, they are asking for ransom before they release the person. In Jesus case, he is redeeming us from our destination to hell, and bringing us back to God through his death.

(v29-34) Jesus Healed The Blind Men (Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43)

(29-34) Another time when Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside and they shouted to Jesus to have mercy on them. The crowd tried to quite them, but they shouted all the louder. 

Jesus asked them what do they want Him to do for them. The said they want their sight. Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed Him.

Jesus was in Perea before their journey to Jerusalem. They cross the Jordan River and passed by Jericho towards Jerusalem. In Jericho, they saw the two blind men. In this event, we see the contrast between the crowd and Jesus. They did not care about the blind men, and asked them to keep quite. However, Jesus had compassion on them and healed them. Sometime, when no one cares about us or our need, let's cry out to Jesus instead.