This chapter is based on Matthew 21:28-32.
Matthew 21:28 “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.’
Matthew 21:29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went.
Matthew 21:30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.
Matthew 21:31 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.
Matthew 21:32 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 relent and believe him.
Deeds count, not words. Profession without practice, is hypocrisy.
In the sermon on the mount Christ said, “Not every one that says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21.
The test of sincerity is not in words, but in deeds. Christ does not say to any man, What says you more than others? but, “What do you more than others?” Matthew 5:47.
Full of meaning are His words, “If ye know these things, happy are you if ye do them.” John 13:17. Words are of no value unless they are accompanied with appropriate deeds. This is the lesson taught in the parable of the two sons.
This parable was spoken at Christ’s last visit to Jerusalem before His death. He had driven out the buyers and sellers from the temple. His voice had spoken to their hearts with the power of God. Amazed and terrified, they had obeyed His command without excuse or resistance.
When their terror was abated, decreased, the priests and elders, returning to the temple, had found Christ healing the sick and the dying. They had heard the voice of rejoicing and the song of praise.
In the temple itself the children who had been restored to health were waving palm branches and singing hosannas to the Son of David. Baby voices were lisping the praises of the mighty Healer. Yet with the priests and elders all this was not enough to overcome their prejudice and jealousy.
The next day, as Christ was teaching in the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to Him and said, “By what authority do You these things? and who gave you this authority?”
The priests and elders had had unmistakable evidence of Christ’s power. In His cleansing of the temple, they had seen Heaven’s authority flashing from His face. They could not resist the power by which He spoke.
Again in His wonderful deeds of healing He had answered their question. He had given evidence of His authority which could not be controverted. But it was not evidence that was wanted.
The priests and elders were anxious for Jesus to proclaim Himself the Messiah that they might misapply His words and stir up the people against Him. They wished to destroy His influence and to put Him to death.
Jesus knew that if they could not recognize God in Him or see in His works the evidence of His divine character, they would not believe His own testimony that He was the Christ. In His answer He evades the issue they hope to bring about and turns the condemnation upon themselves.
Matthew 21:24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
Mattghew 21:25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
Can you see their embarrassment? These murderers were much perplexed. If they would only accept the words of Jesus and be saved!
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
Matthew 21:26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.”
Matthew 21:27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
“We do not know.”
“This answer was a falsehood. But the priests saw the position they were in, and lied in order to screen themselves.
John the Baptist had come bearing witness of the One whose authority they were now questioning. He had pointed Him out, saying,
“Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29.
He had baptized Him, and after the baptism, as Christ was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God like a dove rested upon Him, while a voice from heaven was heard saying,
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17.
Remembering how John had repeated the prophecies concerning the Messiah, remembering the scene at the baptism of Jesus, the priests and rulers dared not say that John’s baptism was from heaven.
If they acknowledged John to be a prophet, as they believed him to be, how could they deny his testimony that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God?
And they could not say that John’s baptism was of men, because of the people, who believed John to be a prophet. So they said, “We do not know.”
Then Christ gave the parable of the father and the two sons.
Matthew 21:28 “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.’
Matthew 21:29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went.
Matthew 21:30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.
Who is represented by the father and who is represented by the vineyard? We do you and I fit into this picture?
In this parable the father represents God, the vineyard the church. By the two sons are represented two classes of people.
The son who refused to obey the command, saying, “I will not,” represented those who were living in open transgression, who made no profession of piety, who openly refused to come under the yoke of restraint and obedience which the law of God imposes.
But many of these afterward repented and obeyed the call of God. When the gospel came to them in the message of John the Baptist, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” they repented, and confessed their sins. (Matthew 3:2.)
In the son who said, “I go, sir,” and went not, the character of the Pharisees was revealed. Like this son, the Jewish leaders were impenitent and self-sufficient.
The religious life of the Jewish nation had become a pretence, a make-believe.
When the law was proclaimed on Mount Sinai by the voice of God, all the people pledged themselves to obey.
They said, “I go, sir,” but they went not. When Christ came in person to set before them the principles of the law, they rejected Him.
Christ had given the Jewish leaders of His day abundant evidence of His authority and divine power, but although they were convinced, they would not accept the evidence.
Christ had shown them that they continued to disbelieve because they had not the spirit which leads to obedience. He had declared to them,
Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER’; and, ‘HE WHO CURSES FATHER OR MOTHER, LET HIM BE PUT TO DEATH.’
Matthew 15:5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—
Matthew 15:6 then he need not honour his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
Matthew 15:7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
Matthew 15:8 ‘THESE PEOPLE DRAW NEAR TO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME.
Matthew 15:9 AND IN VAIN THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.’ ”
Tears were rolling down His face when He said these words to them.
In the company before Christ there were scribes and Pharisees, priests and rulers, and after giving the parable of the two sons, Christ addressed to His hearers the question,
Matthew 21:28 “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.’
Matthew 21:29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went.
Matthew 21:30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.
Matthew 21:31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.”
This they said without realizing that they were pronouncing sentence against themselves. Then there fell from Christ’s lips the denunciation,
Matthew 21:31 Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.
Matthew 21:32 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 relent and believe him.
John the Baptist came preaching truth, and by his preaching sinners were convicted and converted. These would go into the kingdom of heaven before the ones who in self-righteousness resisted the solemn warning.
The publicans and harlots were ignorant, but these learned men knew the way of truth. Yet they refused to walk in the path which leads to the Paradise of God.
The truth that should have been to them a savour of life unto life became a savour of death unto death. Open sinners who loathed themselves had received baptism at the hands of John; but these teachers were hypocrites.
Their own stubborn hearts were the obstacle to their receiving the truth. They resisted the conviction of the Spirit of God. They refused obedience to God’s commandments.
Christ did not say to them, Ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven; but He showed that the obstacle which prevented them from entering was of their own creating.
The door was still open to these Jewish leaders; the invitation was still held out. Christ longed to see them convicted and converted.
The priests and elders of Israel spent their lives in religious ceremonies, which they regarded as too sacred to relate to secular business. Therefore their lives were supposed to be wholly religious.
But they performed their ceremonies to be seen by men that they might be thought by the world to be pious and devoted. While professing to obey they refused to render obedience to God. They were not doers of the truth which they professed to teach.
NEXT TIME
In our next presentation we are going to listen what Jesus said about John the Baptist, His forerunner.
What a privilege to listen to the words of Jesus. May God give us a deeper desire and ability to obey His precious commandments.
Christ declared John the Baptist to be one of the greatest of the prophets, and He showed His hearers that they had had sufficient evidence that John was a messenger from God.
The words of the preacher in the wilderness were with power. He bore his message unflinchingly, rebuking the sins of priests and rulers, and urged upon them the works of the kingdom of heaven.