A holy paradox
The Last Shall Be First
How this is true
Jesus said it more than once, and He lived it. He welcomed children when the disciples pushed them away, praised a poor widow's two coins over the rich men's gold, and made a despised Samaritan the hero of His story. The Kingdom does not run on the world's scoreboard. The overlooked, the humble, the ones the world sends to the back, are the ones God delights to lift up, while the proud who put themselves first find the order reversed.
The Scripture behind it
“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”Matthew 20:16
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”Luke 14:11
“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.”Luke 6:20
Why it changes everything
If this is true, then the whole anxious business of getting ahead is built on a scoreboard that God does not use. It is unbearably good news for everyone the world has put last: the failure, the forgotten, the poor, the child. And it is a warning to the proud. In the Kingdom, greatness flows to the humble, and the way up is down. You do not have to claw your way to the front. God is drawn to the back of the line.
Questions people ask
What does the last shall be first mean?
In Matthew 20:16 Jesus taught that the world's order is reversed in God's Kingdom: the proud who put themselves first will be last, and the humble and overlooked whom the world sends to the back will be lifted up. Greatness in the Kingdom flows to the lowly, not the ambitious.
Why does Jesus say the first will be last?
To overturn the human scoreboard of status and success. Jesus honored children, the poor, and the humble, warning the proud and welcoming the overlooked, because God delights to exalt the lowly (Luke 14:11) rather than the self-promoting.