What does Christ mean when he says, "The first shall be last and the last first?"?

Question

Mathew 19:30

Answer 1

The Jews, who have been the first and most distinguished people of God, will in general reject the Gospel of grace, and be consequently rejected. The Gentiles, who have had no name among the living, shall be brought to the knowledge of the truth, and become the first, the chief, and most exalted people of God until the fullness of the gentiles are fulfilled as spoken of in Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

When the last gentile receives salvation according to Gods pre ordained plan the Jews will be saved then it won't be long before time as we know it begins completion.

Answer 2

It is an extension of the beatitudes. Blessed are the meek, etc. Those that are blessed in this life (and presumably don't appreciate it) will have little in the next while those who suffer now will be blessed in the next life. In context with Matt 19:29 it means if you give up all you have and follow me you will be poor in this life but have riches in the next.

For me, it is just another inconsistency in the scriptures. In some instances tales are told of people blessed who have a plenty of riches in this life because they obey God's laws while in other verses, particularly in the New Testament we get a picture that it is better to be poor and humble (e.g. the widow and the Pharisee and their offerings)

Answer 3

Jesus was referring to the ' anointed' ones or the ones who responded to his KINGDOM MESSAGE.
These ones are the 120 that gathered in the upper rooms where the Holy Spirit came down on them .

(Acts 2:1-4) Now while the day of the [festival of] Pentecost was in progress they were all together at the same place, 2 and suddenly there occurred from heaven a noise just like that of a rushing stiff breeze, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. 3 And tongues as if of fire became visible to them and were distributed about, and one sat upon each one of them, 4 and they all became filled with holy spirit and started to speak with different tongues, just as the spirit was granting them to make utterance.

These are the first of the 144,000 chosen ones who will be resurrected first, enjoying the privilege of acting as Kings and Priests in heaven with Jesus...Revelation 20;4...Rev. 7;4 & 14;1

Even though they came AFTER all the Patriarchs of the Bible, like Abraham , Noah and Moses.

These ones will be FIRST, and the Patriarchs will be LAST.
TO BE RESURRECTED.

The FIRST ones mentioned in the Bible, will be the LAST to be resurrected.

Adam and Eve, who 'sinned against the Spirit' will NOT receive a resurrection.. Just like Judas Escariot.

Answer 4

Translation:
"Which came first? The chicken or the egg? Does thouest know?" 6:12

Also:
"The chicken shall be the last and the egg shall be the first, or the last, or something like that." 9:24

Answer 5

The best answer for this can be found at Luke 16:19-31

Answer 6

In the gospel of Thomas 16-18 -
The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how will our end come?” Jesus said, “Have you found the beginning then that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning; that one will know the end."

By living at the beginning of each moment, you now have the ability to answer one of history's greatest questions: who are you?

Who am I? Absolutely no one here at all.
And that is His ultimate gift to all people, being created in perfect non-duality so that we may come to know our true SELF.

To do this...it would extraordinary effort to on the part of the 'self' to turn into the SELF; only the self-less go to heaven. In our hearts of hearts we know that this true.

First = 'self' or ego or time.
Last = SELF or 'self'-less, whole, time-less

Answer 7

Followers of the Last Prophet and last testament will be the first to enter into Paradise.

Islam says the identical thing.


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Answer 8

I think he said that referring to a pharisee who was quite hot- headed and always took the higher seat and always wanted to be served but would never serve others.
He basically said that those who are humble and put themselves last shall be first in the kingdom of God ( if they are believers)
and those who put themselves first shall be last.

Answer 9

This was inserted by Paul cultists trying to make the claim that Paul was the greatest apostle, even though he was a latecomer.

Answer 10

That if you are trying to get ahead of the line, you won't be first, they humble shall come first, we are not to rush to get ahead, we are to give to others, always think of others before ourselves, whosoever shall lose his life, shall gain it, whosoever shall hang on to this life shall lose it, don't fall into the ways of this world, be patient, Don't try to be above others.