[28] But what think you? A certain man had two sons; and coming to the first, he said: Son, go work today in my vineyard. [29] And he answering, said: I will not. But afterwards, being moved with repentance, he went. [30] And coming to the other, he said in like manner. And he answering, said: I go, Sir; and he went not.
[31] Which of the two did the father's will? They say to him: The first. Jesus saith to them: Amen I say to you, that the publicans and the harlots shall go into the kingdom of God before you.
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Now and forever. Amen.
We have a short parable today. Just before we start, I want to give the context for this parable. Jesus has completed His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, and the people saying "Hosanna in the son of David: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest." Then Jesus went to the Temple, and kicked out all the money changers, and then all the sick and lame came to Him to be healed, and the people continued to cry out, "Hosanna to the son of David."
The chief priests and scribes, hearing all this, became indignant and confronted Jesus. After a brief exchange, Jesus left the city for the night, then returned in the morning. On His way into Jerusalem, He cursed the barren fig tree. He went into Jerusalem, continuing to teach the people, and again He is confronted by the chief priests and scribes. They question His authority, but, refusing to answer Jesus' own question to them about John the Baptist's authority, Jesus refuses to reveal His own authority. Then He gives the above parable.
Okay.
Jesus again uses the vineyard motif to represent the world, and the work that needs to be done in the vineyard is the work of salvation in the world. This sets the parable, then, in the context of the Kingdom--which Jesus expressly confirms at the end in explaining the meaning of it. The father of the two sons, therefore, is God, Himself, and the two sons represent we, the people of God, who respond to God in two different ways.
We will start with the second son, who said to his father that he would go to work in the vineyard, but did not. The chief accusation that Jesus makes against the Pharisees, chief priests, and the scribes, throughout the Gospels, is their hypocrisy. Therefore, the second son is the hypocrite. He is the one who professes the Faith, saying "I believe", but then fails to enact the meaning of that profession: he fails to do the work of salvation in the vineyard--the world. He is the barren fig tree, which represents a fruitless Israel, who the Lord curses with perpetual barrenness, granting the true desire of his heart to live for himself, and not for the Lord and the work that He calls us to.
The first son, therefore, is perhaps who we might want to emulate more closely. Not precisely, because we don't want to reject God from the start. But we should recognize that every time we sin, it really is us saying "no" to God. Not, one might be tempted to draw a false conclusion about this parable.
Jesus says, "Amen I say to you, that the publicans and the harlots shall go into the kingdom of God before you." Well that's a hard saying if you happen to be like the second son, who says "I go, Sir". You might be afraid that you are indeed like the second son, and are not living up to the calling of your Faith. But it's a challenge to you, and that's not a bad thing, as long as you try to rise up to meet it.
The false conclusion one might make is that God is freely bringing the "publicans and harlots" into the Kingdom without making any demands on them, or perhaps that one doesn't even need to make any kind of profession of Faith as long as one simply does the good work of the vineyard (i.e., leads a "good" life).
Jesus clearly says this of the first son, "But afterwards, being moved with repentance, he went." This is the most important part of the parable. Repentance isn't merely an interior regret. Repentance implies a declaration of regret and a determination to change one's choices from evil to good--to live according to the Will of God. The publicans and harlots will go ahead of the chief priests and scribes if they repent of their sins, turn back to God and go to work in His vineyard. And they were! We see that throughout the Gospels. Jesus calling sinners to repentance, and they responding.
And that is our hope--that God is calling us to work in His vineyard, and even though we are sinners, and have said no to Him on many, many occasions, perhaps daily even, He has told us that as long as we repent, turn back to Him, and say yes to His invitation, and go work in His vineyard, then we can be content in knowing that we are doing the Will of the Father.
Repent. Say yes to Him. Do not be a hypocrite.
God bless, and thank you for reading.
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