The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 286

reward,;_ but they ought not to seek great things for themselves; they ought not to desire pre-eminence; they ought to trust the bounty and the justice of God. They ought not to boast of what they had done; they ought not to say, "Behold, we hav~ left all, and followed thee; " but rather, BS St. Paul said afterwards, " I know wborn I have believed, and am persuaded that be is able to keep that which I ha.ve committed unto him against that day." Implicit faith in God's justice and love is the proper attitude of the Christian soul. His will is sovereign; he distributeth to every man severally as he will; but it is not arbitrary; it is holy and just and good. He knows, as none else can know, all the circumstances, all the surroundings, all the temptations, all the advantages and disadvantages, which must be taken into consideration in an~ accurate estimate of character. Without this knowledge it is impossible to weigh one man against another, or to balance the relative preponderance of good or evil im each, We cannot have this knowledge. God has it; we must trust his ruling. We must not dare to complain if others, whom we regarded as our inferiors, are put above us or on an equality with us. God has his reasons; he doeth all things well. Perhaps the householder in the parable knew that any addition to the stipulated reward was not deserved; perhaps be knew that it would be misused, that it would in some way do harm rather than good. God, who knows all things, certainly acts always for the best. The Lord is loving unto every man. He maketh all things work together for good to them that love him. This is enough for us to know. We must learn the blessed grace of humility, the holy lesson of contentment. Murmuring there must not be; it shows at once the unworthiness of the murmurers. Envy is an evil thing; it comes from the evil one; it bas no place in the kingdom of heaven, for the la.w of tha.t kingdom is love. 4. The conclusion. The Lord sums up the parable in the words which he had used before (eh. xix. 30). The parable was intended to illustrate their meaning. He now repeats them, " So the last shall be first, and the first last," He does not mean that it will be so in all cases; but that the fact of being first called, or first in other senses, first in station, first in the esteem of men, or even first in outward works, will not necesBBrily save a man from being last at the end. "MQ,11,y that are first shall be last." The first hired in the parable were last in several respects. They received their reward last; that reward was least in proportion to the time of service; and they were last in good feeling. .All the rest were con- tented; they only were dissatisfied and ungrateful. Then the first places in the kingdom are for those who are first in humility, first in self-abasement, who ue willing to be last of all and the servants of all; who recognize their own sinfulness, their unworthiness of the least of God's mercies; who, far from putting forward a claim to pre-eminence, are content to take the lowest place. Such men may seem last in the eyes of men; they may have been called late in life ; they may be very inferior to others in showy qualities; but they are first now in the sight of God; they will be first one day in the sight of men and angels. If the last clause of ver. 16 is genuine in this place, it cannot be taken in the same sense as in eh. xxiL 14. There the guest who had not on a wedding garment was called indeed to the marriage, but not chosen unto life eternal; he was cast into outer darkness. Here all receive the reward; but few are chosen out, as pre-eminent in holiness, for the highest places in God's kingdom, to sit on the right and left of the King, or to occupy the twelve thrones of the rulers of the spiritual Israel. God gives these highest distinctions to whom he will, to the lowliest and the most self-denying. But there is no room for ambition in the kingdom of heaven; all tht> faithful must be content, all will be content with the place assigned to them, for the very lowest place there is a prize unspeakably glorious, blessed above all that we can ask or think. LESSONS. 1. God's rewards are of grace, not of debt. 2. Christians must be humble and thankful, not jealous of others. 3. The very lowest place in God's kingdom is far higher than the best of us deserves. 4. We must obey the calling of God. He bas work for every one of us; let us earnestly try to do it. 6. Let us not despair if we are called at the eleventh hour. Only let us do our best. The last may be first. Vere, 11-19.-Predictions of the Passion. I. JouRNEY TO JERUSALEM. 1. The Lord. He was going up now for the last time to the holy city. His work in Galilee, in Perroa, was over; it seemed to have ended in disappointment. His popularity was 11AT'l'IIEW-ll. U 290 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [oH. xx. 1-84-.