Matthew 8:11-12
8:11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
in the kingdom of heaven,
8:12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 19:30
19:30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Matthew 20:16
20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Matthew 21:31
21:31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth,
tax collectors
and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God!
Luke 7:29-30
7:29 (Now
all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors,
acknowledged
God’s justice, because they had been baptized
with John’s baptism.
7:30 However, the Pharisees
and the experts in religious law
rejected God’s purpose
for themselves, because they had not been baptized
by John.
)
Luke 7:40-47
7:40 So
Jesus answered him,
“Simon, I have something to say to you.” He replied,
“Say it, Teacher.”
7:41 “A certain creditor
had two debtors; one owed him
five hundred silver coins,
and the other fifty.
7:42 When they could not pay, he canceled
the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
7:43 Simon answered,
“I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
Jesus
said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
7:44 Then,
turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet,
but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
7:45 You gave me no kiss of greeting,
but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet.
7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet
with perfumed oil.
7:47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much;
but the one who is forgiven little loves little.”
Luke 13:30
13:30 But
indeed,
some are last
who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Luke 18:11-14
18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this:
‘God, I thank
you that I am not like other people:
extortionists,
unrighteous people,
adulterers – or even like this tax collector.
18:12 I fast twice
a week; I give a tenth
of everything I get.’
18:13 The tax collector, however, stood
far off and would not even look up
to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful
to me, sinner that I am!’
18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified
rather than the Pharisee.
For everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Acts 13:46-48
13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously,
“It was necessary to speak the word of God
to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy
of eternal life, we
are turning to the Gentiles.
13:47 For this
is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘
I have appointed you to be a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice
and praise
the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life
believed.
Romans 9:30-33
Israel’s Rejection Culpable
9:30 What shall we say then? – that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith,
9:31 but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it.
9:32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
9:33 just as it is written,
“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble
and a rock that will make them fall,
yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”