In our Scripture reading today from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the chief priests and religious elders, and us today as well, a parable that from an outward look, many parents can relate to. How many parents have asked their children to do something, they promised they would do it, but instead later you find that they didn’t do it at all. It’s rarer that you will find a child who refuses, and then later turns around and does what you asked, but it does happen. This is the scenario that Jesus puts forth to the religious teachers, and yet there was a deeper meaning to this than just a story about two sons. Let’s take a look at this parable and see what Jesus was referring to, and what we can learn.
Jesus had just recently made His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and now the Jewish religious leaders were doing whatever they could to entrap Him, have Him arrested, and to rid themselves of Him. Right prior to this they had asked Jesus a trick question about John the Baptist’s ministry. If Jesus answered one way He would be condemned by the religious authorities, if He answered another way He would risk His popularity among the people. That’s just what these Pharisees and elders wanted. However, they could not trap the Son of God with their trick questions. Now Jesus told them a short parable to show what they were really like.
In this short parable a man has two sons. He asked the first to go and work in their vineyard. This son said he wouldn’t. There were probably many other things that a young man would rather do than go out in the heat of the day and work! However, later his conscience bothered him, he regretted what he said to his father, and he did go to work in the vineyard. In the meantime the father asked his second son to go work in their vineyard. This son promised he would, but instead didn’t go to work at all.
Jesus turned to the religious leaders and elders who had tried to entrap Him, asking them which of the two sons actually obeyed their father. Was it the son who seemed dutiful by promising he would, but didn’t, or was it the one who was rude and said no, but then changed his mind and went to work? They responded that it was the first son, the one who had said no, but instead did work. Jesus took their answer to show them exactly where they stood.
The Pharisees and other religious leaders loved to seem so pious and self-righteous in the eyes of the public. They loved it when people thought they were so holy and close to God. Yet, when it came down to it, they were not really obeying God. Their heart was far from God, and now they were rejecting the Messiah that He had sent. The people that the Pharisees loved to condemn, people who were living sinful lives, were more like the first son who had initially said no to the father, yet later repented and obeyed. As Jesus said, the tax collectors and harlots, by their sinful lifestyle had said no to God, yet these were the people who repented at the preaching of John the Baptist, and returned to God. The Pharisees had condemned the preaching of John the Baptist, and were now condemning the Son of God.
“Religious” people who are at heart only hypocrites are represented by the second son who said he would work, but didn’t. It is dangerous to pretend to obey God when our hearts are really far from Him, because God knows our true intentions. Our actions must match our words. Doing is more important than saying. These religious hypocrites were infuriated at the idea that repentant sinners, such as tax collectors and prostitutes, would enter the kingdom of heaven before the outwardly religious Pharisees.
The most publicly despised sinners, condemned by the chief priests and religious elders, had found salvation, while the self-righteous leaders had not. Which son are we like? Are we acting like the second son, seeming all good and holy on the outside, and yet in our hearts really disobeying God and His Word? Or are we like the first son, having gone our own way for many years, and then when the Holy Spirit spoke to our heart, we repented and returned to God? Let’s be sure to follow the way of the first son.
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