Last Will Be First

"And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last." Matthew 20:16

This phrase can also be found in Matthew 19:30, Luke 13:30, and Mark 10:31. And Jesus means exactly what he says. The thief hanging on the cross beside him must have done terrible things for him to merit the absolute worst punishment, but he received heaven's reward after he repented. That thief received the same fullness of life eternal that Saints Peter, Paul, and Timothy received. The thief just barely slipped through that narrow door! 

We will never know who we will meet when we get to heaven. (We're getting there not because of any good we've done but because God will finish the work He started in us!) 

We can try to think of the most evil person we know, the one who murders people, babies even, the one who goes to a crowded place and plants a bomb, the one who rapes, who deceives, who lies, curses, etc. And then when we see Saint Peter, we can ask him, "Why is that person here? I served God, tried my best to be good, told the truth, and prayed every day! And that person, what did he do?" Saint Peter might answer, "He repented, asked for mercy and called on the name of the Lord!”

It's the same as the workers in the vineyard in the 20th chapter of Matthew. Some worked a full day, others just an hour, and they all got the same wage! There can't, after all, be any more or less of eternal life. And NONE of us deserve the reward of heaven. None! Only God’s generosity gets us in. 

Lord Jesus, thank You for paying the price of admission to our eternal home! We will never realize how amazingly incredible our inheritance is until we join you, like the thief beside You on the cross, in Paradise!