 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first. For the kingdom of heaven is like...” (Matthew 19:29-20:1a) It has become common knowledge that God will bless people 100 times over (or with “100% interest”) for what they sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom. However, because this parable has been lifted from the context of Jesus' larger teaching (since Jesus is the most misquoted person in history), people have used it to support their worldly inspired visions of a material heaven.  Click here t Jesus does instruct us that our sacrifices will be rewarded to the words “well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21), and we know from Jesus' hyperbolic language of “a hundredfold” that whatever the reward is it will be great and highly valued, but Jesus NEVER states what that reward is. Jesus point is that “one can never outgive God” (Howell, 261). Furthermore, since Jesus immediately linked this parable with the parable of the vineyard where every worker was paid the same amount for their sacrifices it is clear that we also don't know how that reward will relate to others in this life or the next. For “God will distribute his rewards not based on human notions of fairness, but according to his sovereign, and abundantly gracious determination” (Howell, 262). In fact, it is likely that the reward is not material or tangible at all, but is the very salvation that is promised through Christ, which compared to riches is priceless!
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 AuthorBrett Yardley: Categories
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January 2019
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