Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16

This week’s Scripture reading jumps ahead from Matthew 18 to Matthew 20. Jesus has left the area around the Sea of Galilie and has headed southeast. Coming very near to Jerusalem, but to the east, across the Jordan River. He continues to prepare his disciples for their mission (our mission), teaching about the Law, leadership, and wealth and poverty (material and spiritual).

In Matthew 20:1-16, our reading for this week, Jesus offers a challenging parable about labor and reward as disciples.

This is referred to as a parable of “dramatic reversal”. How are our expectations reversed here?

What is Jesus trying to say in this parable, which he concludes with a generalization: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last”?

Last week, we heard a parable in which forgiveness cost the one who forgave $40 million. What must we lose in order to make room for “the last” in our world?