So the last will be first! [Matt 20aq]*

So the last will be first!

Matthew 20:1-16
Key verse – Matthew 20:16

1.            What do you think was the main issue that was raised in Jesus’ last teachings [Matthew 19:13-30]? Why might it have been necessary for Jesus to speak the words found in Matthew 19:30 [ref. Matthew 19:27]?

2.            How is God’s kingdom depicted in this parable? Who or what is involved? What or who might be the comparable subject or characters in the kingdom of God? 

3.            Read Matthew 20:1-2. When and in what condition did the land owner call in the workers? What were the wages of those who are called early in the morning based on?

4.            Read Matthew 20:3-4. On what terms did the land owner offer the workers labor at the third hour? How is this similar or different from the previous terms he had set?

5.            Read Matthew 20:5-6. When did the landowner go out again to find more workers? Under what conditions were these men hired? Read Matthew 20:5-6. What does ‘the eleventh hour’ correspond to today? What might be going on in the minds of these people before they got hired? Why do you think the land owner hired more workers at the eleventh hour? How was this time different from the previous ones?

6.            Trace the hours when the landowner went out to find workers. Discuss the landowner’s intention, need, understanding of the workers, and purpose for hiring.

7.            Read Matthew 20:8-9. What was the landowner’s specific instructions for disbursing the wages at the end of the day? Why did he give such orders and why did he distribute the same amount of money to everyone?

8.            Read Matthew 20:10-12. Who changed their expectations? Why? Why were these men grumbling [Matthew 20:12]? In what sense was the land owner unfair to the first ones he hired? Why do you think that those who were hired at the third, sixth, or ninth hour did not grumble? Discuss the difference in the first workers’ mindset and that of the rest of the workers, regarding what they received as their wages for the day?

9.            Read Matthew 20:13-15. Why did the owner think that he was not being unfair to the first workers he hired? What was the land owner’s prerogative in hiring all of these workers [Matthew 20:15]? How did he use his prerogative [Matthew 20:15]? What can we understand about the landowner through this? In this story, who was the first but became the last? What does it mean that they became last [last in what]? Who was the last but became first? Why do you think the land owner took the last workers to be just as valuable as the first [first in what]?

10.         Read Matthew 20:16. Discuss the differences in mindsets between the first hired workers and the rest, as well as the difference between that of those who were hired at the third, sixth, and ninth hours and those who were hired at the eleventh hour. How did each of these three kinds of people think differently about the land owner’s prerogative and discretion? Who might the first and last ones hired symbolize?