Mateo 19:30

But many shall be last that are first; and first that are last.

The application of these words to Peter's question is thus: God does not allow any system of seniority to determine ultimate rewards in his kingdom. The seeming implication of Peter's words to the effect that some preferential treatment might be in order for the earliest disciples who had given up so much to follow Christ finds its emphatic answer in this, that it is not how long, but how faithfully, men have served that determines destiny. Again, to quote Barker:

How often do we think that because we are "old timers" in a congregation we have proprietary rights over the program and property! Everyone has met the superchurchman who lets it be known that "I've been coming to this church for years," meaning that he has been promoted to Senior Vice President to God, Inc.![5]

Judas, of course, was one of the first; and, as regards the lives of the apostles, Paul was one of the last. Every generation finds its own fulfillment of the Saviour's words. Shortly afterwards, in fact immediately, Jesus gave a parable illustrating this principle even more clearly.