The King & His Reverse Order (Matthew 19:16-20:16)

Matthew 19:16-20:16

The King and His Reverse Order

October 19, 2025 — Land O’ Lakes Bible Church

Introduction

“If your not first, your last"…this sentiment has been part of our fallen humanity for a long time. And then in the not too distant past, it was popularized even more by a popular movie of the day, Talledaga Nights. A movie about a race car driver who based his racing career off this idea. Being 2nd best was not an option for him, because it was as good as last. 

And yet the reality is, this idea that if you are not first, you are last presses against the mindset that King Jesus calls his people too. A mindset that we want to consider this morning as we continue to press on through the Gospel According to Matthew. Please then take your Bibles and turn with me to Matthew 19:16-20:16, our sermon passage this morning. If you do not have a Bible, there are some Red Bibles there in your seats. Our passage can be found on Page #980 in that Bible. 

As we have made our way through Matthew’s account of the gospel, we have continually been shown both who Jesus is as God’s Son who is his promised Forever King who is to bring blessing to the nations. And therefore, we are being taught what it means to come after him, to follow him as his disciples, as his people. 

A following that begins with repentance. Repentance is a turning from one allegiance to another. In the case of King Jesus, it is a turning from an allegiance to our fleshly selves and the things of this world to an allegiance in Christ. It is a turning from seeing ourselves as our own authority to coming back under the authority of the Triune God in accordance with how he has revealed himself in the Scriptures. 

A repentance then that is to change the way we see the law and its purpose. God’s law was and continues to be good. But in the giving of the law, it was never meant to be a checklist to measure our goodness or our right standing before God. It was given to expose our sinfulness and bring us to a place of humility before God. 

We saw this in Jesus’ teaching with the Sermon on the Mount. He calls us not to mere external keeping of the law, but an inward obedience. He even points out that we must be perfect as his heavenly Father is perfect or complete depending on how we translate that word, τέλειος (Matthew 5:48). This being a call then to a greater righteousness than that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). 

As part of this high calling of repentance and discipleship, Jesus teaches us that to be his followers is a call then to see that we can not serve both God and the things of this world. He specifically talks about how we cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24) and how we are to labor to lay our treasures then not on earth, but in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). 

A theme that only picks up speed after the Sermon on the Mount. For in the parable of the sowing of the various seeds, there is warning of how the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches will choke out the word in some (Matthew 13:7, 22). Then later in the same chapter there of Matthew 13, Jesus tells another two parables, one comparing the kingdom to hidden treasure and a great pearl (Matthew 13:44-46). 

We then as readers are meant to be seeing this theme as we read and study The Gospel According to Matthew, so that we see that the kingdom of heaven is of great value worth searching for, worth risking it all for. And it is this theme we return to once more in our passage this morning. 

And this time the setting is continuing here in the same section of Jesus teaching us that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is one who humbles himself like a child (Matthew 18:4), for to such belongs the kingdom (Matthew 19:14). But now, it is not a child coming to Jesus, it is a rich young man who comes. Let’s now hear the word of the LORD on this matter. Read Matthew 19:16-20:16… 

Main Idea: With man, salvation and eternal life are impossible, but all things are possible with God through the outpouring of his grace in Jesus.      

The Treasure of God’s Kingdom

The Wages of God’s Kingdom

The Treasure of God’s Kingdom (19:16-30)

Our section here in V.16 starts with the phrase, “And behold.” This is to grab our attention, calling us to look carefully and closely at what follows. For what follows is going to be important, especially in light of what Jesus has just been saying about little children both back in V.14 and in Matthew 18:4. 

For previously, it was little children who were put before Jesus and told to not hinder these from coming to him, for to these belonged the kingdom. But now, we are being called to behold, to pay close attention for it is not a child who comes to Jesus, but a man there in V.16. A man who is later described as a rich young man, and then in Luke’s parallel of this account, called a rich young ruler (Luke 18:18). And this man comes with a question. A question we see there still in in V.16,, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

A Misguided Question

As modern readers, we are tempted to hear the question and think that this is a good and valid question. But even in how Jesus first replies tells us that the question is misguided from the start. That this young rich man is asking the wrong question, particularly surrounding that which is good. For Jesus answers there in the first part of V.17, “And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good.” 

Jesus here is then redirecting the question concerning goodness, drawing out what has been emphasized in the Scriptures that there is only one who is good, God. 

For do we not read this from the Psalms alone about God’s goodness? 

Psalm 34:8–9 (ESV)

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!

Psalm 100:5 (ESV)

5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

God alone is good! It is then added of mankind:

Psalm 14:1 (ESV) 

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. 

There is no good in man. Sin has left the heart and minds of man corrupt, leading us to live in a pattern of unrepentant sin. Even in our attempts to keep the law, sin prevails (Romans 7:21-24). For man is not good. 

God alone is good, and so we must measure ourselves against his goodness!

Keep the Commandments

Goodness that is revealed in the giving of the law, in the commandments. For does not the law say in:

Leviticus 18:5 (ESV)

5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

And so there at the end of V.17, Jesus affirms this in saying, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” The young man then there in V.18 desires to know which ones, which commandments must he keep?

The man still failing to understand the impossibility of this goodness finds himself receiving a list from Jesus there in V.18-19 where he is told:

You shall not murder (6th commandment)

You shall not commit adultery (7th commandment)

You shall not steal (8th commandment)

You shall not bear false witness (9th commandment)

Honor your father and mother (5th commandment)

You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Summary)

Jesus has here laid out all the external commandments. He starts with the negative commands, the 6th through 9th commandments, then he comes back to the more positive, 5th commandment before giving the summary of these in a call to love your neighbor as yourself. These are what was required of the young rich man if he was to inherit eternal life. And each was able to be fairly visible to be measured by others. 

Upon hearing this list, the man answers there in V.20…

Like this man, we too often are tempted to hear this list and think, we have done well here, we must be good. For we have done enough to inherit eternal life. To borrow from J.C. Ryle: 

How dark must his mind have been as to the nature of God’s law! How low must his ideas have been as to the holiness which God requires!

A lowness that King Jesus now seeks to expose, V.21…

Forsake All and Follow Jesus

The call of discipleship is a call to come after and follow Jesus at whatever cost. For whatever treasure exists that we previously sought, fails in comparison to him. And this is why we see in V.22, this rich young man who had been so desperate to know how he could have eternal life walking away sorrowful. He who had much treasure, could not and would not leave it all to follow Jesus. For he refused to value eternal life and God’s Kingdom more than his earthly treasures. 

Those who would inherit eternal life must come and follow Jesus. And it will mean them leaving behind various things depending on to what it is the King calls them to. And yet, this cost of discipleship will be difficult for many. A difficulty that Jesus wants to be plain for us. V.23-24…

The treasures of this man, the treasures of our hearts that we have stored up in this world will make it difficult for us enter the kingdom of heaven. Difficult in the sense impossible by all worldly means. Jesus here compares this impossibility to the eye or the hole of a needle. 

Some speculation of this eye of the needle exists. There are those who have tried to argue that in Jerusalem there were two gates. There was the main gate which large conveys and animals would enter. And then there was a second gate. A smaller gate. A gate that man would enter and that only if a camel was unloaded, and got down on its knees, could it crawl through. And it is this gate that Jesus is supposedly referring to. 

Well friends, no such gate has ever been actually discovered in the early writings of such a gate, nor any artifacts to support this theory. And such a theory discredits the impossibility here that Jesus is drawing out. For as we can see even as the dialogue between Jesus and his disciples progresses, it was meant to be understood as an impossible feat. Just look at the disciples question in V.25…

The disciples are distraught, for they think that if it is that difficult for a rich man to enter into God’s forever kingdom, then what hope is there for low, poorly fishermen such as themselves? Then there is a but. V.26…

Man cannot earn their salvation. Man cannot bring about their own salvation. Man cannot even initiate their own salvation. For salvation is impossible with man. For we are to weak and sin is too strong to overcome the bondage of it. But with God, all things are possible!

Salvation is made possible only when we humble ourselves before God like little children, confessing our desperate need for his grace and mercy for the forgiveness of our sins!

And so, friends, if there are any of you at present trying to do good deeds in an attempt to earn your salvation, to earn eternal life, your deeds cannot and will not save you. There is only one who is good, God! And in his goodness, the Second Person of the Triune God left the glory of heaven above to come down and dwell among us to rescue us from our sin by he who was preeminent humbling himself to the point of death on the cross so that we who were unworthy could be made first in inheriting his righteousness. 

As we read in V.30…

The way to life, to salvation is by becoming last in recognizing our poverty, and the only way to be first is to come empty handed to Jesus who then fills us in himself. 

What will we have in following you?

Of course between this realization of the difficulty of salvation for the rich, with the young rich man leaving sorrowful, the disciples turn to themselves to attempt to do just what Jesus is warning them against, from thinking themselves of any significance. We read now there in V.27-29…

The disciples want to elevate themselves above this young rich man who went away sorrowful. They emphasize through Peter, that they have left everything to follow Jesus and are now wanting to know what their reward is for doing so. 

Jesus proceeds to tell his disciples that they indeed will sit in glory with him on 12 glorious thrones to rule with him and pass down judgment on the twelve tribes of Israel. These first followers, with the exclusion of course of Judas, will sit with Jesus in glory as a result of their early following of Jesus. 

But others too will be rewarded in their counting and treasuring Christ more than other things. Those who leave behind these fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, houses, lands for Jesus’ sake will receive a greater treasure to come and will inherit eternal life. 

The question then simply is this, do we treasure Jesus and the Kingdom of God more than we do the treasures of this world? Are we willing to leave behind any and everything to come after Jesus? 

For some this will be like the rich man, a call to go and sell everything you own to follow Jesus. For others, this will be a call to abandon home and land and fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters to take the gospel elsewhere as you follow Jesus. 

Still, for others, this will be a call to abandon loyalty to father and mother, husband or wife, children, siblings for the sake of following Jesus. Because in your coming to follow Jesus, you are forced to choose between these and Jesus. For to follow Jesus will cost you everything. 

And it is in these moments where we have to ask, what is it I treasure most? Do I treasure my life as I know it or do I treasure Jesus most? 

It is my prayer that we here at Land O’ Lakes Bible Church would be a people who are known for treasuring Christ. To treasure Christ that we desire him more than anything else. To treasure Christ that we draw so near to him that we begin to have the aroma of Christ in our gathering. For what a glorious thing to have as our greatest treasure! 

That is point #1, the treasure of God’s kingdom. 

The Wages of God’s Kingdom (20:1-16)

In Matthew 19:27-29, we have touched on Peter’s question about what he and his fellow disciples will receive for leaving all to follow Jesus. Jesus briefly answers them before wrapping up his thoughts on who can be saved, those who are last will be first. But now, moving into Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus circles back to this point with the use of a parable story. 

The Parable Story

As a reminder, a parable is an allegorical story calling us to action in accordance to the point of the story. The story here comparing the kingdom of heaven to that of a master of a house who goes out to hire laborers to work his vineyard as seen there in V.1 of chapter 20. 

 In this parable, Jesus tells of this vineyard who goes and hires these laborers to go work in his field. We read there in V.2, that he agrees to pay them a denarius a day for their labor. This is a typical day’s wages in the day. These first laborers would have gone out likely about 6:00 AM. 

But then as we see in V.3, the master of the vineyard went out the third hour, or 9:00 AM to call more who were still standing there. And he promised them a right or fair wage. Then the master goes out there in V.5 again in the sixth hour and the ninth hour doing the same thing. This being now at Noon and 3:00 PM. Then he goes out one final time at the eleventh hour and still finds others standing there idol and hires them to go and work the vineyard. 

And so, you have those who work a long, 12 hour day. You have those who work a 9 hour day, others who work a 6 hour day, still others who work a 3 hour day, and then the last only work for an hour before quitting time and pay time. 

And at pay time what happens, Jesus returns to this first is last and last is first theme. V.8…

And so, payment comes in this reverse order, paying the last first. And as pay comes, what happens is that those hired at the 11th hour are paid a denarius for their one hour of service. And then so with those hired the 9th hour, they too are paid a denarius for their service. And so forth to those hired at the 6th hour and the third hour. 

Finally then it is time to pay those who were hired first, and what shall they receive? A denarius as promised, though they had expected more after seeing the others all get a denarius. And what did they do? V.11-12, they grumbled at the master of house for having worked harder and longer and under crueler conditions than the others and still being paid the same. 

To put it in perspective, the present minimal wage today is $7.25 an hour. So those who would have been promised a denarius, the equivalent would have been $87 for a days work for their twelve hours. But, some of these later were paid $87 an hour, or others were paid $14.5 an hour for their 6 hours of labor. This helps us to see why it is that these laborers grumbled. 

But as they grumble, the master speaks. V.13…

No wrong has been committed by the master of the vineyard. He paid the laborers exactly what he had promised upon hiring them. And then he urges them to take it. V.14-15…

The master is said to do as he chooses in the paying of wages and out of his generosity in hiring them. 

The Parable Lesson: Gratitude

Now, of course none of this has to do exactly with a vineyard, yet this vineyard is a perfect example to display how God rewards those who labor in his own vineyard. Each will be invited, called to come to serve him and labor in his work. Each will be called at different times and in different means and under different conditions. And all will be rewarded by God. 

A reward though that is not earned by one’s length of service or their conditions or according to their own desire. Each will be rewarded in how God so graciously chooses to reward each one. 

For again, Jesus emphasizes there in V.16, that the last will be first, and the first last. 

Christian service is not to be done in an effort to receive a measured reward for the service. The Lord gives to each of his servants different gifting and different tasks for different purposes. Each is to then use these not for the sake of earning rewards, but out of thanksgiving for the LORD’s generosity in saving them and calling them to himself. They are to serve out of their thanksgiving to God for all that he has done and in light of his goodness. 

Beloved, we are to serve the Lord. We are to serve the Lord out of a joyous heart for all that he has done. It is not to be done begrudgingly and bitterly. It is not to be done in obligation. It is not to be done in hopes and pursuit of rewards. It is to be done out of our hearts of thankfulness. To the one who makes those who are last first by his grace! 

Therefore, let us here be a people marked by our gracious service to the Master, to the LORD our God! 

Conclusion

For those of us who are Christian, we are to live in light of God’s Reverse order for his kingdom. We are to seek not to be first or think we are first, but to humble ourselves like children in humble dependence. Recognizing that God saves and uses those who are last, not those who think they have it all together and are gifts to his kingdom. For even the good we do, it is only by the grace of God that we do it! Let then all we do be to the glory of God above! Amen! 

Let’s pray…