Matthew 20:27-28 NIV
"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."
What an interesting chapter. It starts out with a story about a landowner who hires day laborers. Some are hired at the beginning of the day. Others are hired only an hour before quitting time, yet he pays them all the same. The story is told to invoke an emotional response to this inequity so that Jesus can make a point.
Matthew 20:15-16 NIV
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."
I find it interesting that some Bible teachers are so offended by the inequity that rather than realizing what Jesus was saying, they try to explain that the landowner was really being fair because those workers hired last had faithfully stood in the sun waiting to be hired. That's hardly the point Jesus was making.
Is the principle that the first shall be last and the last first a "fair" principle? No! It is, however the principle that characterized the life and ministry of Jesus. "The Son of Man did not come to be served..." This is the principle that James, John and their mother don't seem to understand. It is the principle the other disciples don't seem to understand. But it is the principle that took Jesus to the cross. And, it is the principle that should be the driving characteristic of a follower of Jesus. In this chapter, the only people that seem to get what Jesus is saying are the two blind men who cry out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us." Greatness in the Kingdom is never about what we deserve. It is always about the mercy of God.
Father, thank you for your mercy. All I am, all I have, all that I have done is only because of your mercy. Like everyone else, I prefer acknowledgment to serving. By your mercy and grace may my life reflect Jesus today.
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