Prologue | Table of Contents | Chapter 5
The grade-school teacher calmly watched as the children fought their way to the front of the lunch-line. When the physically strong children had finished bullying their way to the front and the elbowing and pushing ceased down the line, he said, "Now I want everyone to turn around!" Those who were at the rear of the line were now in front and were served first. This brief story perfectly depicts the order of the kingdom. The Lord of the vineyard rewards His laborers "beginning from the last unto the first" (Matthew 20:8). The last shall be first and the first shall be last. The way up is down and the way down is up. The top of the heap is the bottom of the pile. Those who are considered foremost, who lead in a hierarchal model of authority at the front of the line here on earth, may be considered least in heaven. "I say unto you, you have had your reward."
In his epic work, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edersheim wrote,
"In the world kingship lay in supremacy and lordship, and the title of Benefactor accompanied the sway of power. But in the Church the 'greater' would not exercise lordship, but become as the less and the younger [the latter referring to the circumstance, that age next to learning was regarded among the Jews as a claim to distinction and the chief seats]; while, instead of him that had authority being called Benefactor, the relationship would be reversed, and he that served would be chief. Self-forgetful humility instead of worldly glory, service instead of rule: such was to be the title to greatness and to authority in the Church."
Prologue | Table of Contents | Chapter 5
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