First and last

“Indeed, there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” Luke 13:30
Examining the words ‘first’ and ‘last’ here, we find that ‘first’ refers to being first in time, place, order, or importance and ‘last’ means last in place or time. Pretty much all the commentators I read on this verse agree that it is referring to the salvation of Jews vs Gentiles, given the context (see Luke 13:29). The Jews are God’s chosen people because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet some of them will not enter heaven, because they rejected Jesus Christ and salvation is only found in Him. These Jews, who thought they were first in line to get into heaven and that Gentiles as scum of the earth would be last, actually won’t make it at all.
This is also a lesson for us, because we can develop the same attitude towards people. We can look at one person and say, ‘Oh, they’d be the first person I’d expect to see in heaven’ or ‘They’re the last person I’d expect to see there’. Be careful. Only God knows a person’s heart and where they stand with Him. Instead, we should pray for these people, the good and the not-so-good, knowing that it is God’s will that all should be saved (1 Tim. 2:3-4).