Sermons
Last Shall Be First
LAST SHALL BE FIRST
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / November 12, 2017
Matthew’s gospel contains many parables.
Parables are word pictures meant to vividly convey a sometimes hidden truth.
One of Jesus’ most through-provoking parables is found in Mt.20:1-15.
The text itself does not actually call this story a parable, but it begins with a common
phrase that often accompanies parables: “For the kingdom of heaven is like…”.
This introductory catch-phrase repeatedly in Matthew chapter thirteen - -
Vs. 3 states, He spoke many things to them in parables (parable of the sower/seed)
Vs.24f – the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed seed (tares).
Vs.31 – The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…
Vs.33 – The kingdom of heaven is like leaven…
Vs.44 – The kingdom of heaven is live a treasure hidden in the field…
Vs.45 – The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls…
Vs.47 – The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea…
I think it is safe to say that the story is Mt.20:1ff is a parable.
Recently in our Wednesday evening series on Great Chapters Of The Bible we studied from Galatians chapter four.
In Gal.4:21f we encounter a very rare literary device - - an allegory.
An allegory is somewhat like a parable except it tends to be more expansive and interpretative.
My own definition of an allegory is “a parable on steroids”.
Sometimes parables are not as clear (not as self-interpreting) as we’d like them to be.
This is why we often find the Lord’s disciples appealing to Jesus to explain them. cf. Mt.13:1-9 with 13:36f.
Scholars have concluded that part of the design of a parable was to both capture attention
and to plant a seed that would serve to provoke contemplation: “what does this story mean?”.
One can almost detect a kind of teasing-effect that is inherent in the brand of parabolic tutelage.
It’s as if Jesus plants a seed-thought and then walks away leaving his listeners hanging, hoping that it will percolate.
While the aim of the parable may be to encourage others to “think outside the box”,
care must be taken that we don’t draw conclusions or interpretations that are not intended.
We will return to the parable in Mt.20 momentarily.
First, let’s look at the context that fostered this parable.
First, let’s begin in Mt.19:13f
Children were brought to Jesus so that He might lay His hands on them and pray.
The disciples rebuked those who brought the children, but Jesus said (vs.14) - -
Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom belongs to such as these.
Mark’s gospel tells this same story but with includes two added emphases.
Mk.10:14 notes that in response to the disciples’ rebuke Jesus became indignant.
And then Mk.10:15 records these words of Jesus - -
Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.
With all that we now know (standing here in the 21st century with a complete Bible), this point seems obvious.
But back then, children were meant to be see and not heard.
Yet there are qualities that children often possess innately that God desires in adult believers.
Being inquisitive … openness … frankness … being humble … being without guile (pure in heart).
Nic Wildman conveyed a story of Nicolas responding to Lucas eating forbidden fruit.
Dad and the boys were in their backwoods and Luke might have eaten a kind of berry that he shouldn’t have.
Daddy Nic’s first thought was to secure an antidote for a possible poison, but young Nicolas’s first thought was to pray.
The point here is not which Nicolas had the better sense of urgency, but simply to underscore a child’s purity of heart.
Secondly, in appreciating the context of the Mt.20 parable, let’s note Mt.19:16f.
It is the story of the rich young ruler. Read the story.
Jesus follows up the story by saying to His disciples - - It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
To which Jesus’ disciples asked, “Then who can be saved?”
Finally, in Mt.19:27 we have Peter’s bold (brash?) declaration - -
Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will be for us.
Jesus tells them what to expect.
And then He states a quasi-riddle: many who are first will be last; and the last (shall be) first.
This provides the springboard for one of Jesus greatest thought-stimulating parables.
Read from Mt.20:1-16
What is the point of this parable?
On the surface this parable appears to be “incite-ful” (it stirred up anger among men).
But when you dig down deeper is actually quite insightful about the character and nature of God.
One commentator states rather emphatically, “This parable has nothing to do with salvation.”
I tend to disagree somewhat.
I think that behind the scenes this parable speaks about the Johnny-come-latelys In the kingdom of Christ.
There were many Jews, perhaps even quite a few Jewish Christians who begrudged salvation coming to the Gentiles.
If you listen closely, it is not hard to detect a haughty disdain in his verbiage.
Like the elder brother in Lk.15 who was fit to be tied that the father was so welcoming to the prodigal son.
Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a commandment of yours;
and you never gave me a kid that I might be merry with my friends, but when this son of yours came,
who have devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him. / Lk.15:29
It’s obviously not just about the size of the rewards.
And it is certainly not about God being unfair and/or stingy.
i.e. why didn’t God (the owner of the vineyard) pay those who toiled longer more?
One might argue that the point of the parable was to warn about the sin of envy (Mt.20:15b)
The primary point seems to underscore the graciousness and generosity of God (Mt.20:15c).
It is a parable about marvelous mercy; the gracious grace; and the inexplicable lovingkindness of God, which none earn.
In trying to recover the meaning of this parable we must not overlook its summary statement - -
Thus the last shall be first, and the first last.
With this lesson we conclude our series on “Holy Contradictions”.
God’s ways are not only different from man’s way but they are higher and better (Isa.55:9).
While God’s way often defy conventional wisdom, they provide us with a wisdom that is from above (Js.3:15).
In the shadow we sing
He who is least is greatest
It is more blessed to give than to receive
Good things come to those who wait
Power is perfected in weakness
God gives grace to the humble
Little is much when God is in it
There is joy even in the midst of sorrow
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.
He was the last child of his father Jacob, and his brothers hated him.
He who was hated by his brothers came to be loved and blessed greatly by the Lord.
What Joseph’s brothers meant for evil, God transformed for good (Gen.50:20).
What we see in the story of Joseph (the first-born son Reuben is displaced by the last-born Joseph) we see repeatedly.
Cain is the first-born son, but Abel is the one honored.
Ishmael is exiled, but Isaac is made heir.
The first-born Esau is hated, but Jacob is loved.
Aaron was the first-born son, but God chose the latter-born Moses to the lead role in liberating Israel.
It was not Jesse’s first-born Eliab, nor any of his next six sons, but his last-born David, who was anointed King.
Haman was high on the totem pole serving as the prime minister to the King of ancient Persia.
He sought to exterminate his arch-enemy Mordecai. But God raised up Mordecai and Haman
wound up being hung to die on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai (Esther 7:9-10).
When all is said and done, God has an undeniable way of both rectifying wrongs and rewarding faithfulness.
Read Lk.6:20-26
God took a rag-tag group of men (ones looked down on by the religious elite)
and molded them into apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who saw that coming?
Babe Ruth, the baseball legend, once reportedly said:
Most of the people who have really counted in my life were not famous. Nobody ever heard of them, expect those
who knew and loved them. I knew an old minister once. His hair was white; his face shone. I have written my name
on thousands of baseballs in my life. The old minister wrote his name on just a few simple hearts. How I envy him.
He was not trying to please his own immortal soul. So fame never came to him. I am listed as a famous
home-runner, yet beside that obscure minister, who was so good and so wise, I never got to first base.
Isn’t it great to know that GOD KNOWS.
Sometimes we might feel like we are last and least, but God doesn’t use the standards of the world to reward us.
So even when we are in a slump, and the future seems questionable at best and even sometimes bleak, let us
remember that His eye is on the sparrow (Mt.10:29)- - that common, unflattering bird that seldom receives accolades.
