The First Shall Be Last

After the encounter with the rich young man to whom the Lord invited to “sell that thou hast, and give to the poor,” Peter asked this question: “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?”  The Lord them promised that those who had forsaken possessions and family for Him would “receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”  The Lord then made this well-known statement: “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first (Matt. 19:21, 27, 29-30).  What exactly does the Lord mean by this?  

                The same statement is used in a few other places in scriptures, specifically in the New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants.  After the Lord gave the parable of the laborers in the vineyard in which all workers got paid the same reward no matter what time they started, the summary was this: “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (Matt. 20:16).  When the twelve disputed among themselves about who would be the greatest among them, Jesus responded, “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).  In Nephi’s vision of the last days the angel told him, “And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles; and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, and the last shall be first, and the first shall be last” (1 Nephi 13:42). In his account of the Jaredites, Moroni wrote about the last days and the building up of the New Jerusalem and the “Jerusalem of old,” saying that there would be many who would be “gathered in from the four quarters of the earth.”  He then said, “And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first” (Ether 13:11-12).  Finally, in the Doctrine and Covenants we have this statement from the Lord after He discussed the Millennium and punishment of the devil and his angels: “As the words have gone forth out of my mouth even so shall they be fulfilled, that the first shall be last, and that the last shall be first in all things whatsoever I have created by the word of my power” (D&C 29:30).

                So what does the phrase mean?  From these references it seems that there is more than one way to interpret the phrase. On a historical level, the reference from Nephi suggests that the phrase teaches us about the order of receiving the gospel among the Gentiles and the Jews: In Christ’s day the gospel went to the Jews (or House of Israel) first and then to the Gentiles after Peter’s revelation.  In our day the order is reversed: it has gone to the Gentiles first and will come to the Jews last.  So they who were first in the meridian of time (the Jews) will be last in our time, and those who were last originally (the Gentiles) receive the gospel first in our day.  The reference in Ether seems to be along the same lines: the New Jerusalem in the land of the Gentiles will be built up first with a righteous people, and then the Jerusalem of old will be established in righteousness among the Jews.  On a personal level, the phrase seems to relate to what we give up in this life and what we receive in the next life.  The references in Matthew 19 and Mark 9 both seem to suggest a meaning in which those who are “last” in this life because they have sacrificed much for the gospel will be first in the next life by the way they are rewarded by God.  This is reminiscent of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: the rich man was “first” among men in this life in possessions and power, but he became “last” in the life hereafter since he received no reward there.  Lazarus was “last” in this life in terms of worldly possessions since he had nothing, but in the next life he was “first” as he was “carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22).  I think the reference in D&C 29 is the same message: the wicked in the next life will be cast out and the righteous will be “gathered on [His] right hand unto eternal life” (D&C 29:27).      

                I’m sure there are other ways to interpret this phrase.  I think this last application at least can be a principle to guide us as we seek to understand the apparent inequities and unfairness of life, especially when we compare the humble followers of Christ to the wicked who seem to always come out on top by worldly standards.  When we are tempted to feel that “they that work wickedness are set up” with the riches of the world, we can remember that in this life they might “receive good things,” but it is those who forsake all for the gospel in this life who will be “first” in the ultimate blessings of the Father in the world to come (Malachi 3:15, Luke 16:25).