I was always the last one in the queue. It did not matter- when I was a child, I had an older sister who would defend me if the boys teased me because I could not walk as well as they could and could not run without falling over. When everyone raced across the field, she would scoop me up in her arms and press on until she put me down in the middle of the group. I was never left behind. It was different later, though, when Rebekah had her own children and I married Rachel.
With Rachel, I was the protector. She was not strong like my sister, but she had courage. When people doubted the wisdom of her marriage to me, she responded with passion and loyalty. She told me that she would never doubt me and never fear that I would fail to provide for her and our children.
I doubted myself though. When work became scarce, and I had to hire myself out to the landowners I knew they would not choose to employ me when there was a stronger man on hand. Once I stood in the marketplace from daybreak, watching the masters calling other men and negotiating their pay for the day. I saw men hired in the third hour and in the sixth and the ninth hour. When the eleventh hour came it seemed to me that my wage would be so poor by then that I would be ashamed to return to my wife.
The Little Children
When I came home that evening Rachel lay in bed with Samuel happily feeding at her breast. If she was hungry, she did not complain. She lay peaceful and smiling as I knelt beside her.
‘Listen, ‘she said, ‘I went with the women to find the Teacher today: Jesus! He is so good Jonathan. He spoke about the union of man and wife and the kindness the husband owes her – about goodness like yours. There was a crush, but Dinah and Judith and I made our way through, with the babies and the children. You would have told me to stay back but I just had to get through to him and put Samuel in his arms. His disciples were trying to keep us all in order and the children were climbing onto his lap. I did it – I lay Samuel in his arms and, oh Jonathan, our son is so blessed!’
Even in the darkness I could see Rachel’s eyes shining.
‘I followed him, Jonathan. I heard his teaching and when his disciples questioned him, I heard his explanations. He spoke of himself as the ‘Son of Man’ and he said that ‘many who are first will be last, and the last will be first,’ and then he told his followers this story…’
The Last Will Be First
Then she related the story of my long day, just as Jesus told it, just as it happened. It was as though he had seen the men waiting at dawn to be hired and agreeing the good wage, and he had seen the workers taken on in the heat of noon and those who waited, not ‘idle’ but desperate as the day passed.
Then came the twist in the tale. In the kingdom of heaven, she reported, those who are brought in last have as great a share of the blessings as those who were there from the dawn of time. The Lord offers more, much more than a day’s wages, to those who will accept His gift, no matter how late they come. Samuel slept now and I lay down in peace to pray beside my wife and child.
