Matthew 21:28-32 28“And what is the thought for you? A man had two children. And going to the first he said, ‘Child, go today and work in the vineyard.’ 29And answering he said, ‘I will not,’ but later after changing his mind he went. 30And after going to the other son he said the same. And answering he said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. But even though you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds in order to believe him.
Matthew is the only one who records this parable of two sons. The parable follows directly after Jesus was confronted by chief priests and elders, and so it most naturally speaks to their rejection of John the Baptist in the past and Jesus at that moment. Moreover, the parable has a powerful message of how crucial it is to accept the message of Jesus when we hear it. A lack of action from those who should know better because they have seen and heard the message.
Jesus invites the listeners to think carefully about what he is about to say. The message may not at first be self-evident. This is a situational type story and provides a window into the agricultural life of Israel at that time. A father sends his two children (tekna, but the pronouns are male so it is assumed these are sons but it could be daughters also) into the field to do some work, which seems typical of all fathers! Farming is a family business and requires everyone to help out. There is no indication of the age of these two children.
The father gets two different responses. The first child gives a quick and terse refusal: I will not. He flat out rejects the father’s command, no negotiation or consideration. He had better things to do with his time. Even though the ancient people obviously did not have video games or phones to plan on, they still found things to play with and void work. This first son later comes to represent the tax collectors and prostitutes whom the Jewish leaders rejected and condemned as sinners. The leaders judged these people as outsiders who had nothing to do with God’s righteous kingdom.
The second child agreed to work and even gives the polite reply sir (kyrie, “lord,” or “master”). This child at first seems quite obedient and compliant, but he only is giving lip service. He lacks sincerity, integrity, and is too pre-occupied with this own agenda. He thinks he can fool his father into thinking that he actually wants to work, but he never gets out to the field. The obvious application of this son is the Jewish leaders who say they were obedient to God but never followed through when confronted with the call to repent.
After some time, the first child felt conviction and guilt and so went out to do was he was told, but the second child lied and never went out. Jesus invites a response from those who were to be thinking about this scenario. They give the right answer that obedience is what ultimately matters. The first child actually did the father’s will while the second never followed through.
The specific application is that the religious leaders had heard John’s call to follow the way of righteousness but refused to change their mind. Their lack of obedience showed their lack of faith. Repentance (a change of mind) and obedience are the proofs of faith. It is not enough to say one is a believer in Jesus; one must also have a sense of regret that drives one to repentance and a genuine change of obedience to God’s will.
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