Scripture Daily

Context No. 2368 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 21:28-32: in context

28But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ 29He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went. 30He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

Jesus sets a short parable before the religious leaders. A father asks two sons to work in the vineyard. The first says no, then thinks better of it and goes. The second says yes, sir, and never goes. Which one did the father's will? The leaders answer correctly: the first. Then Jesus turns it on them, saying tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God's kingdom ahead of those who said the right words and did nothing.

The parable weighs the doing against the saying and lets the doing win. The polite yes counts for nothing when no feet follow it into the field. The blunt no, repented of, becomes obedience. It is uncomfortable, because the second son is more respectable in the moment; his answer sounds like faith. But the father's will is done in the vineyard, not in the reply at the door. What we say we will do for God is measured against what we actually get up and do.

Where have I told God yes and never gone, and is there a refusal I need to turn around by simply going?

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