Scripture Reflections

The Gospel reading from Sunday (Matthew 20:1-16) is bracketed by Jesus’ statement, “The last will be first and the first last.” This sentence is familiar—perhaps so familiar that it doesn’t provoke us anymore, but it ought to. Throughout Matthew, Mark, and especially Luke (as well as I Peter and I & II Corinthians), there is regular attention given to the fact that in the new kingdom, fortunes will be reversed.
 
This concept of the reversal of fortunes in the new kingdom—the first last and last first—shows up in many contexts: The humble will be exalted, and the exalted will be humbled. The poor will inherit everything, and the rich will go away empty-handed. The kingdom belongs to children. Those who are persecuted will be blessed. The meek, not the ambitious, will own the promised land. Beggars will be in charge of the kingdom. Those who are weeping will receive comfort. The foolish will shame the wise. Etc. Etc.
 
We need a bit of nuance with these statements, because no individual verse should be interpreted outside the totality of Scripture. In other words, the humble or poor who refuse to repent and turn to Jesus in faith shouldn’t expect this exaltation. These claims about the poor and humble occur within the community of faith, not outside of it. And the wealthy and powerful who actually submit to Jesus in faith and repentance need not fear being brought low when Jesus returns, because they will have humbled themselves by submitting to Jesus.
 
But that nuance shouldn’t blind us to Jesus’ basic point and shouldn’t keep us from noticing the context in which this claim occurs. Frequently, when people are jockeying for status, Jesus cautions them with some variation of “the first will be last and the last first.”
 
We need that caution, because we are not being trained by our world to put ourselves last or delay gratification. Instead, the basic impulse of our culture is self-promotion, self-expression, self-actualization, and self-gratification. The self-help/care industry is worth billions of dollars. Everything in our broader culture says, “Treat yourself! Put yourself first!”
 
Yet Jesus cautions us that putting ourselves first will result in being last in the kingdom. And he invites us to give ourselves away as he did, promising that if we put ourselves last for his sake, we will end up being first in the kingdom.
 
Christians often speak of being countercultural. It is hard to imagination anything more countercultural than a life lived on the principle of, “In the name of Jesus, I will be last.”
 
Steven+