The first shall be last and the last shall be first? Means what!?

You remember the parable that Jesus spoke in Matthew 20:1-16. I’ve placed it below for you if you want to read it. What does this parable mean? It seems confusing until you tie it in with the Scriptural context Jesus was referring to here.

So if you remember the story, a landowner went to the marketplace and tried to hire some people to work in his vineyard. So he went at 9 o’clock and saw some people who were just standing around and didn’t have any work and he hired them. He also went again at noon and then at 3 o’clock and hired more people. Then at 5 o’clock he went to the marketplace again and he saw people who were just standing around and he ask them why they were not working and they said that no one had hired them. So he hired them at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon. At the end of the day when it came time to pay everyone, he paid everyone the same amount of money.

Well those who were hired earlier at 9 o’clock in the morning complained and protested that they weren’t getting paid enough because the people who were hired at 5 o’clock didn’t work as many hours but got paid the same amount of money.

Then Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

So what was Jesus talking about here? We have to remember that Jesus came “first” to the Jews who rejected him and then later salvation was opened up to the Gentiles. Remember Israel was selected by God to be his chosen people. They were first in line to receive God‘s wonderful salvation and all of the gifts that he would be bestow on those who were to become his children. When the Jews or Israel rejected Christ Jesus as the Messiah He turned to the Gentiles. In the book of Acts the church began. Though the first people who came to Christ were Jews along with many gentiles, the church has become predominately a gentile body of believers. We see that the first people offered salvation were the Jews.

So how do we reconcile this whole scenario with Scripture? We must remember that Jesus came under the Law so we were still in the Old Testament era until Jesus died on the cross. Keep in mind that He came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He instructed His disciples to go only to those lost sheep.

So in looking at the Scripture you have to remember the Gospels were written concerning the time Jesus came under the Old Testament law of Moses.

When you get to the book of Acts, which I call a transition book, we find that after Jesus ascension the church began in Acts 2. As we look further into New Testament Scriptures we find that the Church will be taken out of this world or raptured first, the Greek word meaning “caught up.“ Then we read that there would be a tribulation period of seven years. This period deals primarily with the Jews. It is a time of judgment because the nation of Israel rejected Jesus Christ when He came to be their Messiah. Those who follow Christ during the tribulation will be caught up in another rapture to be with those who had gone on before, meaning those who were in the true church, both Jews and Gentiles.

So we begin to see what this phrase means “the first shall be last and the last shall be first“ which I believe means that the church will be taken out of this world first and the unbelieving Jews who turned to Christ during the tribulation period will be taken out last.

So to wrap this up briefly we would say that the first people offered salvation was the nation of Israel or the Jews. They rejected God’s offer so salvation was then open to the Gentiles. Then this period of time which we call The Age of Grace or the Church Age and also the Times of the Gentiles will culminate in the church being caught up out of this world to be with Christ forever and then there will have a time of tribulation on this earth dealing with the Jews and is because they rejected God‘s offer of salvation when Jesus came to bring in the Kingdom.

The Bible also tells us that there will be a small remnant of Jews who will come out of the tribulation and go into the literal Kingdom of God which was promised to them when Jesus came the first time. So thus, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. The Jews first and the Gentiles last but in the end, the Gentiles (the Church) first and the Jews (Israel) last.

Does that make more sense to you? I trust that it does.

Thank you for reading and God bless.

Dr Ken Lewis ThD

Matthew 20:1-16 NLT

1 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.

3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing.

4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day.

5 So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’

8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.

9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage.

10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage.

11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner,

12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage?

14 Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.

15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”