Bible Memory Verse
“But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Matthew 19:30
Matthew 19:29-20:16
“And anyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
(1 For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. (2 He agreed to pay them a denarius (usual daily wage) for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
(3 About the third hour (9:00 a.m.) he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. (4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. (5 So they went.
He went out again about the sixth hour (noon) and the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.) and did the same thing. (6 About the eleventh hour (5:00) he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
(7 ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
(8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.
(9 The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. (10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. (11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. (12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
(13 But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? (14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. (15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?
(16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
1. How much did the landowner agree to pay those who started work early in the morning?
2. How much did the landowner agree to pay those who started work at the third hour?
the sixth hour? the ninth hour? the eleventh hour?
3. Was the landowner fair in what he gave his workers? Why?
4. What was different about the way the landowner agreed to pay the workers he hired early in the morning and the way he agreed to pay the workers he hired later? (made a contract with the first workers)
5. This parable is not about earning your salvation: about how old you are or how close it is to the time of His coming when you receive salvation, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 or about earning the reward we will receive “…each will be rewarded according to his own labor.” 1 Corinthians 3:8. What lessons can we learn from this parable? Jesus told this parable after He had talked to the rich young ruler. When He told His disciples that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than to enter the kingdom of God He implied that it was because the rich man would not sacrifice anything for the kingdom of God. Peter answered him., “We have left everything to follow you! What then is there for us?” Matthew 19:27 After assuring Peter that everyone would be rewarded for anything they gave up for the kingdom of God, Jesus told this parable. He wanted them/us to be careful about our attitude of service. Do we serve because we love the Lord or because we want a reward?
a. Are you willing to serve the Lord? (all of these servants were willing to work)
b. Don’t make a contract with God (the first workers did)—Jesus is always more than fair. Do you trust God’s Word and really believe He is fair and generous?
c. Don’t judge others. “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:4
d. Don’t be overconfident. The workers hired first thought they deserved more.
6. What does, “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Matthew 19:30 and “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:16 mean? (our willingness to sacrifice whatever He asks, our attitude of heart and our obedience to God will determine our reward–not our prominence in the body of Christ or how we might appear to others or what we think we deserve)