Verses 1-16
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All people come into the kingdom at different times in their lives, having more or less sin, but we all receive the same gift of salvation and of the Holy Spirit—the same “wage”. God doesn't pick favorites.
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So, don't despise God's goodness for saving or favoring someone that you might see as less deserving than you. No one is deserving.
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To despise a person for God's grace on their life is to despise God Himself.
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Verses 6-7. Notice here that no worker has any excuse to be idle. There is always work to be done for the kingdom, and there is always the opportunity to do something valuable for Christ.
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As a believer, don't be idle!
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Verses 17-19
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This is the third time that Jesus warned His disciples of His impending death.
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However, the disciples didn't understand what Jesus said (Luke 18:34).
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See teaching on Luke 18 for details.
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Verses 20-28
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Being known as great in the kingdom comes at a cost.
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First, one must sacrifice any ambition to be known as great by people.
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World leaders try to become great through authority and fame, and dominate those under them.
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For a believer to be great in God's kingdom, we must choose to be humble servants. Even Jesus, the greatest of all, came to serve, not to be served.
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Serving is in how you think and in how you act.
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Serving is living for God's name and His kingdom to be exalted, not your own name (Philippians 2:7).
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Serving is living to help others succeed and become great in their faith and joy, rather than living to achieve these things for yourself (Luke 22:27, Philippians 1:24-25).
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Don't expect people to serve you; be a servant to them. Help to serve the kingdom by meeting needs (John 13:12-15) and helping others to successfully follow Christ. This is greatness in God's eyes.
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But don't serve with the ulterior motive to be known as great (either in this life or the life to come), and don't expect any reward in return (this wouldn't be serving at all).
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Verses 29-34
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People of faith will not let their boldness be silenced by the disapproval of others.
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Always be bold about your faith in Christ!
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