The Messiah and Rewards (Matthew 10:40-42)

Jesus’ discussion with His twelve messengers – the apostles – is about to end but not before switching to a final high note.  He hadn’t pulled any punches as He shared the reality of ministry.  He told them how they would be frequently persecuted and often rejected and that their message would cause a great deal of division even among families but now He tells them about some positive things—rewards – mainly for those who take care of His messengers.  So we’ll look at those verses as well as some other passages.  The Bible has a great deal more to say about the subject of rewards and it will help provide a bit of perspective.

So what is the difference between a gift and a reward?  A reward is earned and a gift is unearned.

Hebrews 11:6 says:

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (ESV).

Do you believe in rewards from God?  If you don’t, it’s impossible to please Him – just as impossible to please Him without having faith in Him!

So now let’s start in Matthew 10:40-42.

"Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward" (ESV).

So, Jesus is saying to His messengers that those who receive them (and their message) and take care of them are not just receiving an apostle.  They are receiving Jesus.  They may think they are receiving a prophet of God or simply a righteous person but they will receive the same kind of reward that God’s representative might receive for being faithful to share the good news.  So rewards will be given to both the messenger as well as those who receive them and their message! Even providing a drink of water because God’s representative is thirsty, will be rewarded.  By the way, you can’t outgive God—even helping the “little ones” or “least” among the disciples – a term referring to lack of power and influence.  Helping those who have no power to help you in return is subject to a reward from God.  They may look like ordinary people but they are carrying an extraordinary message about the kingdom of God being within reach and the God who they represent will back them 100%.

Jesus has already mentioned rewards several times in His ‘Sermon on the Mount.’  Those who pray and give and fast as a spiritual exercise – not as a means of impressing people – will be rewarded by their Heavenly Father “Who sees in secret but rewards openly.”    So this will involve a public commendation. 

Some people feel like all this talk about rewards in heaven is just Jesus’ way of talking about going to heaven to be with Him—something that everyone who trusts in Him will receive.  As God told Abraham, “I am your reward.”  But Scripture teaches that there will be differences between what we will receive in heaven.  Remember the parable of the talents from Matthew 28 and Luke 19?  The king went on a journey and entrusted three servants with some money to invest while he was gone.  One of them did extremely well.  Another experienced a little less success.  And the third didn’t even try.  He buried it in the ground to keep it safe.  The king returned and was pleased and commended the first two but the third guy had his buried money taken from him and gave it to the guy who had the most success.  There is some debate over whether the third guy is intended to illustrate a believer at all but notice the first two were both commended by the king yet one of them received a larger reward.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 3.  There was a raging debate going on in this church over which Christian leader they ought to follow.  (Of course all of the leaders they named would have been appalled to hear this).  Paul pointed out that these leaders had played different roles in the life of this church. 

⁵ What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸ He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹ For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. (ESV)

Notice that each of these workers receive “wages” according to his labor although God was the One Who gave the growth.  This isn’t talking about a pay scale for apostles!  Read on.

¹⁰ According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. (ESV)

Paul had begun the work there at Corinth and others were now continuing the work and they need to be careful how they do that work.

¹¹ For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  (ESV)

The foundation of Christ has been laid.  These are believers’ lives that are being shaped by their continued actions AFTER they have received the foundation—Christ.

¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— ¹³ each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (ESV)

A Day is coming when these efforts will be judged by “fire.”  The “fire” will test “what sort of work” has been built on the foundation.  Various building materials will be tested.  The results will be very obvious.

¹⁴ If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (ESV)

If the work survives the ‘flammability test’ it will survive and there will be a reward.  This reward is NOT entrance into heaven because it goes on to say, even if everything is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved.

This is not the last judgment where all those whose names are not found in the Book of Life are paraded before the great white throne and their evil works will condemn them for eternal punishment (Revelation 20).  This is not the same thing at all.  This test takes place after the resurrection of the righteous – sometimes called the first resurrection—at what has been called the “Judgment seat of Christ.”  The word “judgment seat” (bema in Greek) is not referring to a court room but to the platform where sat the officials for the Isthmian Games—a sort of predecessor to the Olympics held at the Isthmus of Corinth.  The athletic contests there were judged and winners awarded a laurel wreath.  This wreath was very highly prized and you can see this wreath depicted on the heads of the Caesars on their coins and statues as if they were champion athletes. 

Look at 2 Corinthians 5:9-11:

⁹ So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat [bema] of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.¹¹ Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. . . (ESV)

Yes, believers have sinned and done evil and Jesus did pay for all our sins on the cross but sin has consequences both now and in heaven.  I am not talking about condemnation or punishment.  Romans 8:1 tells us that there is “no condemnation” for the believer.  But even if Jesus has forgiven you for breaking the law and there is no condemnation, there are still consequences due to opportunities lost and resources wasted.  And in heaven, this is a “work” that did not glorify God and so it is flammable and will be burned up.  You will have lost that opportunity to receive a reward for your response to that temptation.  Here is a short list of some consequences for sin in a believer:

1)      Loss of fellowship (with God and others) perhaps resulting in broken relationships

2)      Sometimes God’s discipline—to cause us to straighten up—not judgment—sometimes including a loss of health

3)      Quenches our source of power (the Holy Spirit)

4)      Loss of opportunity—being insensitive to the Holy Spirit

5)      Loss of motivation and desire for service

6)      Loss of health (breaking God’s laws is frequently unhealthy!)

7)      Loss of rewards at the Bema. (This has eternal consequences)

By the way, we all want to have those kinds of works burned up.  We definitely don’t want to be reminded of them in heaven.  So burning them is a wonderful thing.  But just think of the wasted effort that went into that bonfire!  So that’s loss.


Now what are these rewards?  We won’t have need for “gold” in heaven.  Up there that is just pavement!  We don’t have time to look at all the Scripture behind this brief summary but here are four quick categories of rewards according to Dr. Ken Boa: “Greater responsibilities, reflecting God’s character, eternal relationships with people in heaven, and greater capacity to know and experience God.”


In several places these rewards are pictured as crowns.  Crowns symbolize victory, authority and responsibility.  In Revelation, we see the 24 elders casting their crowns at the feet of Jesus Who made them all possible.


Other places like Matthew and Luke refer to these rewards as treasure in heaven.  This helps us to see them as having eternal value and security.

Finally, notice that what we all want to hear is: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”


The Judgment Seat of Christ (or perhaps the Awards Presentation of Christ might be better) while it is a joyous occasion will also be a moment of some reflection on wasted efforts as we see some of our works burned up.  But like the Isthmian Games, the losers are not whipped!  They had competed in the premier games of their day.  The bobsled team from Fiji may not have the opportunities like the team from Switzerland but what an honor to actually compete!


Think of the eternal value of rewards that we can all enjoy on top of our entrance into the presence of God.  Paul called it the eternal weight of glory.  2 Corinthians 4:17 “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (ESV).  It is interesting that weight is appropriately connected to money, power, and wealth.  We still call a wise saying “heavy.”  In Great Britain, the pound is still the unit of currency.  In the Bible the words for shekel and talent were originally a specific weight of gold or silver.  Here we have “glory” mentioned as the currency of heaven.  “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (ESV). Notice the comparison between affliction and glory as light and heavy weights. “Glory” is a reference to that which reveals the nature and character of God.


Rewards are something to incentivize us in our commission as servants of the Most High God. This was true for the Twelve as they went throughout Israel, for those who received them, and it applies to us as well.


© 2018 Eric Thimell