CULTWATCH Devotional

28 What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.”
29 “I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go.

31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. [The chief priests, the elders, and the Pharisees, verses 23 and 45]
32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”

This short parable is only found in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem, and his provocative action in cleansing the Temple, threatened the religious authority of the “chief priests and elders of the people.” (Verses 23 and 45) When they questioned the authority of Jesus, he answered their question with a question of his own about the authority of John the Baptist. The authority of Jesus was connected to the authority of John his forerunner. John had led a revivalist movement (Matthew 3:5). Yet these religious leaders had refused to repent. Jesus refused to answer their question about his authority, and instead he told them a series of three parables with the theme of rejection, beginning with this one.

Ironically Jesus was doing “what his father wanted” (Verse 31) but the religious leaders were not willing to “to repent and believe.” Although the top leaders in Israel had rejected him and John the Baptist, Jesus continued to reach out to them with hard-hitting parables to expose their unbelief and blindness in an attempt to bring them to repentance.

The vineyard was a well-known symbol of Israel. An OT parable says, “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.” (Isaiah 5:7; Psalm 80: 8-16). The father (Verse 30) represents God who sent prophets like John the Baptist to show Israel how to enter the kingdom. To work in a vineyard is a symbol for the work that God requires to be done.

Like the parable of the loving father (Luke 15), this story centres on two farmer’s sons and their relation to their father. The two sons, who were both asked by their father to work in his vineyard, stand for two types of people in Israel: the self-righteous religious leaders, and the despised prostitutes and tax collectors. This comparison was a very offensive to the top leaders of Israel. The same contrast between the self-righteous and sinners is also found in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18). In this particular story both sons were in the wrong, but one repented of his faults and the other did not. Thus the parable makes no difference between Israel and the Gentiles, but between religious leaders and disreputable people whose sinful life was obvious.

The first son, who initially rebelled, was rude to his father. He did not address him as “Sir”, and did not offer a reasonable excuse. He represented the openly wicked and unbelieving sinners like “the tax collectors and the prostitutes” who had at first said, “I will not repent.” But later at the preaching of John and Jesus, they had “repented and believed.” These social outcasts were sinners and knew it.

The second son, who at first professed obedience and politely said “I will, sir,” but who disobeyed, represented the unrepentant religious establishment. They were members of the Sanhedrin, or the supreme court of Israel (verse 23). Though outwardly religious, their self-righteousness prevented them from repentance.

The scribes and Pharisees pretended to obey God’s law but they replaced righteousness with ritual, opposed the kingdom of God, and plotted to kill the Messiah. They had the correct language, the qualifications, the titles, and the recognition of the people but they paid lip service to God. Israel’s religious leaders did not believe John’s witness; even when public sinners repented and believed his message (verse 32). The second son also stands for the orthodox Jews who also rejected the Messiah.

The leaders of the state religion were forced to correctly answer Christ’s question, “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” Then Jesus deliberately applied this parable to them. He stunned his hearers by warning them, “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Verse 31) Notice the present tense, “are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” This speaks of urgency, not finality. The door of salvation was still open; the opportunity of repentance remained. Jesus forced them to examine their own hearts. Jesus also said, “ahead of you”, not “instead of you” which suggests that some Pharisees, like Saul of Tarsus, would enter the kingdom.

This parable warned the religious authorities that they were losing their privileged spiritual position with God and were being replaced by those they despised. Both the tax collectors and the prostitutes were considered to be outcasts and the dregs of society in Israel. It is hardly surprising that the self-righteous and self-willed Pharisees bitterly resented Christ. At the conclusion of the following parable of the tenants Matthew notes the negative reaction of Israel’s spiritual leaders: “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.” (21:45-46). People who wish to ignore or reject the truth of God can always find an excuse to do so.

These first words spoken by Jesus recorded in Mark are a summary of his message. The message of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ both stressed repentance[1]. The required response to the kingdom of God is two fold: repentance and faith are linked together. The characteristic of believing the gospel or good news is first repentance. It is easy to bypass the painful process of honestly acknowledging our sin, turning from it to God, and asking for his forgiveness. We must be realistic about sin. To “believe” is to commit oneself entirely to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Only in this way can one receive the kingdom of God as a gift. The essential command of repentance should be emphasised just as much as the positive benefits that Christ offers the believer.

The parable does not teach salvation by works. Rather it emphasises the importance of faith (in verse 32) with the command to “believe” and “repent and believe”. The parable clarifies who is acceptable to God on the basis of repentance and faith in Christ. Even prostitutes had more faith in Christ than the religious leaders who were usually considered to be more “righteous.”

No matter how long we have been a believer, or how experienced we are in the exercise of spiritual gifts, or how often we diligently practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, stewardship of money, reading the Bible, we should never forget that that we are sinners saved by grace. Repentance and faith remain the bedrock reality of our Christian experience. Any other attitude leads to religious pride, dryness and spiritual death.

It is possible to hear God’s Word but not take it to heart. James warns against the self-deception of merely listening to the gospel and not obeying it: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (1:22). Genuine faith results in action. This parable also teaches that a person who at first is disobedient to God, but later changes his mind and is obedient, is better than a person who fails to fulfill a promise to obey.

The reality of our Christian experience cannot be judged by what we say, but by what we do, for this alone proves what we are. God is more impressed by our actions than by our promises (See Matthew 7:15–27). We cannot profess one thing and do another. Actions must accompany words. Otherwise, “faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:26). It is easy to allow talk about faith to take the place of living by faith. Religiosity can easily replace genuine discipleship. We harm the cause of Christ when our profession is contradicted by our practice.

“Self-righteousness is thus a greater obstacle to one’s entering the kingdom than sinful self-indulgence, and there is more hope of the conversion of a great sinner than there is of that of a great Pharisee; or, in other words, it is a harder matter to get rid of righteous self than of sinful self.” [2]

·        Regardless of our social background and personal circumstances, repentance and faith in Christ alone qualify us to enter the kingdom of God.
·        How much of what we profess in church on Sunday do we practice the rest of the week?
·        Our obedience to God is a measure of our love and commitment to him.
·        Are we in danger of only obeying God “when we feel like it”?
·        Am I a religiously complacent person like the Pharisees? Or am I aware of my spiritual need as a sinner?
·        Neither son in this parable describes the ideal Christian. It is better to say both “Yes” and to do it.

PRAYER

Lord, we pray that we will never become so familiar with your teaching that it ceases to challenge us. May we hear and obey as you say to us, “Go and work today in my vineyard.” Amen.

[1] The Amplified Bible explains repentance as, “a change of mind which issues in regret for past sins and in change of conduct for the better.” It defines “believe” as, “trust in, rely on and adhere to the good news, the Gospel.”

[2] William Taylor, Parables of Our Saviour, page 134, Kregel, 1981.