“Which of the two did the will of his father?”

Matthew 21:23-46 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

²³ When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” ²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him…

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. ⁴⁴ And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.

“Which of the two did the will of his father?” This is the question Jesus asks about the sons in the parable of the two sons. The first son responded to the father in a negative way but then did what he was told. The second son responded affirmatively, but then did not do what he was told. The end of the parable says:  “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Many people today wrongly take this type of teaching to promote their idea that Jesus preferred sinners over religious people, that He accepted them the way they were, condoning their lives of sin. The key is that Jesus says:  “the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.”  In Matthew 3:1-3 we see what John’s message was, what it was that they believed.      Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’”       John’s message was a message, like Jesus message, of repentance, of turning from sin. John pointed toward Christ as the true savior, he said:  “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

So to be clear Jesus did not condone sin. He was not saying that these people were getting to the kingdom of God in their sin, but rather in their repentance and in their trusting of the coming savior. It is true  that this parable could be applied to many people today who claim to be Christians, even many who were in churches yesterday. In many ways they can be like the son who responded saying,  ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.   In Matthew 15:8-9 Jesus quoted God’s word through the prophet Isaiah, about religious people. He says:   ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ⁹ ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”       It is not enough to say the right things. It is not enough to honor God with our lips, or even our church attendance and our offering, if our hearts are far from Him. Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.(John 14:15) He doesn’t say we should keep some of His commandments, picking and choosing the ones which best fit our own doctrines. It is not enough even to do great works in Jesus name. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says:     “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”       It though is also much more than simply loving and serving others, that too is not enough if our hearts are far from God, if we practice lawlessness.

In today’s text Jesus says:      “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?             ⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. ⁴⁴ And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”    Jesus Is the stone which the builders rejected and while it is true that it was the religious people of Jesus day, who were the builders who rejected Him and Jesus says the kingdom of God will be given to others, to those producing fruit of the kingdom. Again it is not fruit of good works, but fruit of the kingdom, like those who believed John and heard the call of repentance and turning to Christ.

In Matthew 9:35-38 it says: Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. ³⁶ Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”                              The kingdom is given to those who produce fruit for  the harvest, God’s harvest of repentant, redeemed and restored people for the kingdom.

Jesus does not prefer religious people over sinners. Nor does He prefer those living in sin, practicing lawlessness, over religious people.     God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  We love, because He first loved us.(1 John 4:19) Jesus says: :  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  

God’s love is given to all who believe. All who believe love because God first loved. All who believe and love will keep His commandments. “Which of the two did the will of his father?”

Will you?

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior; Holy Spirit thank You that my inheritance of the kingdom is not based on who I am or what I’ve done, but rather on who You are and what You have done. I believe that You died for me Jesus. I love You with all my heart, soul and mind, but only because You first loved me. Holy Spirit I ask You to guide me, to fully take charge of my life, that I might keep all of Jesus commandments and be one who produces fruit for the kingdom.   In Jesus name, the name above all names, the only name by which men can be saved, I pray.   Amen.