Matthew 20

http://www.esvbible.org/Matthew+20/

Jesus tells a parable about the owner of a vineyard who goes out and hires some day laborers at the beginning of the day and takes them to work in his vineyard. Later, he goes back out a few more time and brings more workers to work the vineyard. He goes out one last time towards the end of the day and brings in even more laborers. At the end of the day, the owner tells the labor supervisor to pay everyone what is fair, starting with those who arrived last. The men who arrived last received a full day's pay for their work, so by the time the workers who had been their all day got their turn to be paid, they expected even more; however, they received the same amount as all of the others. After they took their money, they began to complain about it. They said it was not fair for people who worked one hour to receive the same amount as people who worked nine hours. The owner simply replies that he is not treating anyone unfairly. All of the workers at the beginning agreed to a day's pay, and the owner gave them exactly that. He asks them if they resent his generosity towards others. Jesus concludes by saying the last will be first and the first will be last. What does He mean by that story leading up to that statement? Sometimes we resent God for His generosity. We take on an "I art holier than thou" attitude where we think we are better because we've read more of the people, fasted more, prayed longer, known Jesus for a longer period of time, done the outwardly right thing more often, yet the reward is the same for all who believe: eternal life. Instead of looking at the situation as if we are the workers who were there all day, look at the situation as if we are the workers who had been there one hour. We have received so much more than we deserve. We've been given more than we earned. So humble yourself, and always praise God for what He gives you. Help others see the Truth. Serve others just as Jesus did. If you make yourself last among this world, then you will be first in Heaven. If you make yourself all about this world and worldly things you will be last in Heaven because you will have already received your reward.

While Jesus and His disciples are on the way to Jerusalem, He tells them again that while they are there, He will be betrayed into the hands of the keepers of the law and the Pharisees. He will be handed over to foreigners, beaten, whipped, and crucified to death. On the third day after this, however, He will raise Himself back to life. Jesus came to Earth and knew full well what His fate was. He knew He had to die in the most painful, brutal, and torturous way imaginable. And He was doing it for people who rejected Him, mocked Him, turned away from Him, and distanced themselves from Him. WE are among those people. When Jesus died on the cross, He already knew you by name and the sins you would and will commit that caused Him to have to die. His love is so great that He came with that knowledge and followed the plan perfectly that led to His death. He also knew who He was and that He would not stay dead for long.

The mother of Zebedee's sons (James and John) asked Jesus a favor. She asked if her sons could sit at Jesus' right and left in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus told her she did not know what she asked, so He asked the men if they could drink from the cup He would drink from. They replied that they could. Jesus agreed and knew that they would, but He told the He did not have the authority to grant the positions on His right and left because God had already granted those positions to people, and it was out of Jesus' control. When the other ten disciples heard about what James and John had done, they were irritated. Jesus talked to all of them and told them that if anyone among them wanted to be great, he would have to serve the others. We are to follow the example of Jesus on Earth. He came to serve, not to be served. He didn't come and force all to bow down at His feet. In living this way, we will receive in Heaven what Jesus does. Of course, none of us are any good at this, especially not naturally, so we will not quite have the same great reward as Jesus.