From the Pulpit...

The Lord’s three-plus year ministry is compressed into a fairly small amount of text, and Matthew has to keep moving efficiently from one event to the next. After teaching on marriage, divorce, those who are gifted to be single, and blessing some little children, the Lord is approached by a wealthy young man with a question about his soul. There is a lot we can criticize about this fellow, but give him this: he had some concerns about his own soul. That is more than we can say for some people. The statement of verse 30 about the first being last and the last first, introduces the parable of the workers in chapter 20. We will have to wait until we can study that in depth to get the full effect.