Matthew 19:27 Then Peter responded to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You. So what will there be for us?” 28 Jesus said to them, “I assure you: In the Messianic Age, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first. CSB
It is good to forsake all in order to follow Christ. It is good to present your body as a living sacrifice. It is good to take up your cross daily and follow Him. It is good to do all of these things; however, we must be careful that we never begin to think that our service merits more love from the Savior. We must be careful that we never begin to think that our service puts us one step ahead of our fellow believers. In Christ’s kingdom the first will be last, and the last will be first.
Apparently Christ’s words made a deep impression upon Peter that day. Note what we read from Peter’s first epistle -
1 Peter 5:5 … And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, CSB
To be humble means to think less of self and more of others. God has promised to exalt the humble and to give them more of His grace. In contrast to humility is pride. To be prideful means to try to place self above others. Whereas God will support the humble, He will resist the proud. The original word used here for ‘resist’ is a very powerful word. It means to arrange ourselves in battle against an opponent. God Himself will oppose the proud. Rather than giving them His grace, He will willfully resist them.
Peter and his fellow brethren were paying a big price to be one of Christ’s disciples. They had left everything in order to follow their Lord. Yet they could not let their sacrifice become a reason to cause them to become prideful. In due time, Christ would exalt them; but until that time came, they must continue to clothe themselves with humility.
