28 “But what do you think? A man had
two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in
my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’
but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to
the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’
but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will
of his father?”
They said to Him, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and
harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John
came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but
tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you
did not afterward [a]relent and
believe him.
The
meaning
In this
parable; (an earthly story with a heavenly meaning) Jesus tells of a father who
asks his two sons to work in the family business. The father in this parable
represents God and the two sons represent too kinds of responses to the gospel
of Jesus Christ. The first son represents outright sinful people who come to
realize; after hearing the gospel; that they need to repent towards Jesus Christ
and do so; leading to salvation as evidenced by their transformed obedient
lives. The second son represents self righteous religious people who think they
are right with God (justified) based on their lip service apart from obedience
to the gospel of Jesus Christ when they are in fact far from salvation because
of their unbelief.
The call of the Father (verse 28)
John the
Baptists entire ministry (great as it was: Luke
7:28) was merely to be a forerunner or herald for the arrival of someone infinitely
superior than He was. Religious leaders in John’s day wanted to know if John
thought of himself as the promised Messiah. John flat out denied He was the
Messiah but admitted to being a forerunner to the Messiah. (John 1:20, 23) John the Baptist later revealed to the Jews of His
day that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) Not only is Jesus Christ
the Messiah of the Jews but according to John the Baptist; Jesus Christ is the
saviour of the whole world. Mathew
3:8 tells us to bear fruits worthy of repentance. Since the fall on man; God
has been teaching mankind repentance. (Psalm
25:8) In these last days; God crystallized his revelation on what is meant
to repent. Mainly; that we needed to turn from our sins and believe the full
message about His Son; The Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 1:1-2) A life submitted to Jesus Christ will result in a
fruitful life. Jesus promised all his disciples that they would do greater
works than His own works. (John 14:12) The
father therefore is still asking today as He always has:
“Son, go,
work today in my vineyard.”
The natural response (verse 29)
Human beings
are by nature sinful (Ephesians 2:3) and
have a disposition that leads them away from the things of God. Therefore; His
first response to disobey the Father’s command to “work in my vineyard” is quite
natural. Some examples of this if you are not convinced are: children
disobeying parents, adults being unthankful, and employees acting indifferent
and lazy at the workplace to name a few. What happens when a morally accountable
human being hears the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgement and decides
to believe God’s testimony about his Son?
When people hear the word of God; they discover that God is holy and
expects us to be holy too. (1 Peter
1:16) People also hear that God will judge their sins either upon Christ’s
cross or in the horrors of hell. (1 John
2:2, Mathew 18:8) After hearing these truths; it is also natural for
sinners to see the error of their ways and change their minds altogether about
doing the Father’s will. And what is the Father’s will you ask:
John 6:40
40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone
who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will
raise him up at the last day.”
The self deceived response (verse 30)
Why do
people think they can sidestep the Biblical Jesus Christ and the implication on
their lives? God calls everybody who wasn’t pardoned through the blood of His
Son Jesus Christ dead in their sins (Ephesians
2:1) but some people respond to God’s offer of salvation with deaf ears and
blind eyes. (Mark 4:12) In the parable
above; many religious leaders amongst the Jews of Jesus’ day did not believe He
was the Messiah but thought of themselves as “right with God” because of their
strict adherence to the Mosaic Law and their ties with the Patriarch of faith
Himself: Abraham. (Romans 9:32, John
8:39) In reality though; this false sense of confidence in their own
righteousness is what prevented these people from entering the kingdom. They
had an outward form of religion by name only as shown in parable above. The
second son said:
“I go, sir”
However;
this son had no intention of doing what God had commanded. That is; He was not
willing to repent from dead works and turn to the Father through faith in His
one and only Son. (2 Peter 3:9) Instead;
He kept the façade of being religious without ever receiving new life in
Christ. (Ephesians 2:1)
Jesus asked a question with an
obvious answer: (verse 31)
“Which of the two did the will of his father?”
The answer was given:
“The first.”
The point made here is simple but critically important for the hearers: Doing
God’s will is required and not just saying we are doing’s God’s will.
The context of this parable and Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Mathew
21:5, Mathew 21:37) demands that people accept God’s testimony about His
Son that He is in fact the promised Messiah, the saviour of the world, and the
Lord of all!
The
conclusion of the matter (verse 32)
Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and
harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John
came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but
tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you
did not afterward [a]relent and
believe him.
People are
not admitted into the kingdom by manmade standards of righteousness but by
repentance of sin and faith towards Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:26) Tax collectors and harlots (extorsioners and the
sexually immoral) are just one step away from salvation where as proud
religious people are unable to enter the kingdom. A claim to religion will not
open the door of salvation for us; neither will gross sin keep us out of the
kingdom if we repent and put our faith in Jesus Christ. (Acts 2:38-39) John the Baptist’s message and character were
genuine and common people responded to His powerful preaching by accepting his
baptism of repentance and being prepared to receive the greater baptism which
was to come through Jesus Christ. (Mathew
3:11) In addition to the truthfulness of John’s message and character; the
transformed tax collectors and harlots gave undeniable evidence that God had
sent John to testify about the Messiah Jesus Christ.
Application
Dear friend;
I appeal to you as one who has tasted the heavenly gift and testify to you
today that Jesus Christ is the all sufficient, abiding saviour of the world. In
Jesus’ name; recognize that your religious title or claims will not grant you
salvation anymore than a membership to the finest religious university will
make you a doctorate in matters of religion. God has no grandchildren and you
are no exception. The Bible says we must be born again to enter the kingdom of
God (John 3:3) In Jesus’ name; lay
aside your false sense of religious security and grab hold of the living Word;
Jesus Christ. Only by faith in the personhood of Jesus Christ and his atoning
work on Calvary will you find eternal life. (1 Corinthians 15:1-5)
Closing Prayer
Father in
Heaven; make us humble to realize our great need to be rescued from our sin and
not trust in our own religious title or claim. Oh Heavenly Father; grant us;
like the first son in the parable; to regret our disobedience and to so despise
our sin that we are willing to forsake it completely and wholeheartedly cling
to Jesus Christ; who suffered and died for us to redeem us from our sins and
grant us eternal life.
Forever and
ever… Amen
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