Mat 20:16 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord Jesus teaches His disciples, for to them He spoke this parable from the previous section. There is the order: the first will be the last and the last will be the first ( ) because it is about the failure of man. Here the order is the other way around: the last are the first and the first are the last, because this is about the sovereignty of God. The lesson to be learned – and difficult to learn – is that the Lord does not leave any work unremunerated, but that He values simple faith in Him higher than the greatest effort made for Him. This is the faith that goes out for Him, even though the day has already passed, without thinking of wages, but because He sends out. The faith and love for Him as a motive for His service are more important to Him than the actual work that can be done. True servants of Christ have drunk of His grace and are guided by the desire that He be glorified and their fellow men served. They are filled with what has been bestowed upon them by grace to serve such a Master, their Savior. This unprecedented privilege of serving Him would be completely lost if we were to negotiate it with Him. That this happens in this parable of the kingdom of heaven means that we see the kingdom here in its widest sphere which also includes those who confess only in name to belong to the Lord, the nominal Christians. Working for the Lord from the motive to be rewarded in the future is misleading. But working for Him in the power of inner devotion for Who He is, puts the stamp of heaven on the service. The latter makes us conform to Him Whom we serve. Certainly the Lord promises a reward, but that is not the motive to serve. As we look at the Lord Jesus in His service, we learn how to serve.

‏ Matthew 20:16

The Lesson

The Lord Jesus teaches His disciples, for to them He spoke this parable from the previous section. There is the order: the first will be the last and the last will be the first (Mt 19:30) because it is about the failure of man. Here the order is the other way around: the last are the first and the first are the last, because this is about the sovereignty of God.

The lesson to be learned – and difficult to learn – is that the Lord does not leave any work unremunerated, but that He values simple faith in Him higher than the greatest effort made for Him. This is the faith that goes out for Him, even though the day has already passed, without thinking of wages, but because He sends out. The faith and love for Him as a motive for His service are more important to Him than the actual work that can be done.

True servants of Christ have drunk of His grace and are guided by the desire that He be glorified and their fellow men served. They are filled with what has been bestowed upon them by grace to serve such a Master, their Savior. This unprecedented privilege of serving Him would be completely lost if we were to negotiate it with Him.

That this happens in this parable of the kingdom of heaven means that we see the kingdom here in its widest sphere which also includes those who confess only in name to belong to the Lord, the nominal Christians. Working for the Lord from the motive to be rewarded in the future is misleading. But working for Him in the power of inner devotion for Who He is, puts the stamp of heaven on the service. The latter makes us conform to Him Whom we serve. Certainly the Lord promises a reward, but that is not the motive to serve. As we look at the Lord Jesus in His service, we learn how to serve.