Come early to the Friday prayer: the camel, the cow and the egg
Few hadiths describe reward as concretely as this one. Abu Hurayrah (radiyAllahu 'anhu) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنِ اغْتَسَلَ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ غُسْلَ الْجَنَابَةِ ثُمَّ رَاحَ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ بَدَنَةً، وَمَنْ رَاحَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الثَّانِيَةِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ بَقَرَةً، وَمَنْ رَاحَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ كَبْشًا أَقْرَنَ، وَمَنْ رَاحَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الرَّابِعَةِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ دَجَاجَةً، وَمَنْ رَاحَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الْخَامِسَةِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ بَيْضَةً، فَإِذَا خَرَجَ الْإِمَامُ حَضَرَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الذِّكْرَ
"Whoever performs ghusl on Friday like the ghusl after janābah and then goes early is like one who sacrificed a camel. Whoever goes in the second hour is like one who sacrificed a cow. Whoever goes in the third hour is like one who sacrificed a horned ram. Whoever goes in the fourth hour is like one who sacrificed a hen. Whoever goes in the fifth hour is like one who sacrificed an egg. And when the imam comes out, the angels are present, listening to the reminder." - Sahih al-Bukhari 881, Sahih Muslim 850
Notice how steeply the scale falls. The distance between the first and the last is not small: it is the distance between a camel and an egg. And the one who arrives when the khutbah has already begun is not mentioned in the list at all.
A note on the hours: the scholars have differed over what sā'a means here. The well-known view is that it is not a matter of clock hours but of five parts of the time leading up to the khutbah. What everyone agrees on is the direction: the earlier, the greater the reward.
The angels at the door
The same image returns in another hadith, and it explains why the timing matters at all:
إِذَا كَانَ يَوْمُ الْجُمُعَةِ كَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ بَابٍ مِنْ أَبْوَابِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَكْتُبُونَ الْأَوَّلَ فَالْأَوَّلَ، فَإِذَا جَلَسَ الْإِمَامُ طَوَوُا الصُّحُفَ وَجَاءُوا يَسْتَمِعُونَ الذِّكْرَ
"When it is Friday, the angels stand at every door of the mosque and write down those who come, the first one first. When the imam sits down, they roll up their scrolls and come to listen to the reminder." - Sahih al-Bukhari 929, Sahih Muslim 850
The scrolls are rolled up when the imam sits down. Whoever comes after that still prays his jumu'ah, but what was written down at the door is already finished.
And once you are sitting there
Coming early is half of it. The other half is what you do during the khutbah. The Prophet ﷺ stressed silence so strongly that even hushing someone else counts as unnecessary speech. Read more in our piece on adab during the khutbah.
"Whoever performs wudū' well, comes to the Friday prayer, listens and keeps silent, is forgiven for what is between it and the next Friday, and three days more." - Sahih Muslim 857
This is where many people in our congregations meet a real difficulty. You come early, you keep silent, you listen, and still you do not understand what is being said, because the khutbah is held in Arabic. That is not a reason to stay at home, and it is not a reason to change the language of the khutbah either.
That is exactly where Minbar belongs: come early, sit down, stay silent, and follow the meaning in your own language on your phone, without anyone having to break the flow of the sermon.