Day by Day with Martin Luther

Read: Leviticus 7:28-12:8 Mark 3:31-5:43 Proverbs 10:5-9

“Our Hope is in Him”

“So the last will be first, and the first last.”
[Matthew 20:16]

So here is the summary of this Gospel: no one is so high, or will get so high, that he does not have to be afraid that he may become the very lowest (1st Corinthians 10:12). On the other hand, no one has fallen so deeply, or can fall so deeply, that he cannot hope to become the highest, because all merit is abolished, and only God’s goodness is praised. It has been determined most surely: “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” When He says this, He takes away all our arrogance and forbids us to exalt ourselves above anyone. But when He says, “the last shall be first”, He prevents all our despair, and then forbids us to cast ourselves below anyone.