A Man Had Two Sons...

Matthew 21:28 " But what think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day in the vineyard. 29) And he answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented himself, and went. 30) And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31) Which of the two did the will of his father? They say, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."

This parable touches me deeply for some reason.  Is it because I have sons?  Is it because I have learned so much from each of them.  Lessons learned --often-- the hard way, by all of us.  I believe it is something deeper.

Motives.  What motivates people?  Some folks do things to gain things from other people.  Maybe their motives aren't pure and simple.  As in --if I do this for them, they will do this for me...or I'll get this in return. 


Some people are motived by money, some by love/feelings, or perhaps by honor and doing what is right.

"How did that make you feel?" the doctor asks me.
Funny you should ask...
How do certain things make you feel?  And how do you react?

Have you ever believed you were right?  Absolutely right?  I remember being young, and in being young I had a lot of answers.  There is the truth: "When I was young I had all the answers, now I'm older, I realize I don't even know all of the questions."


We aren't told the motives of either of the sons only the heart of the reason.
 
 Jesus has just rebuffed the chief priests and elders who demand "by whose authority do you do this?"  Telling them that if they didn't believe John was sent by God, they wouldn't believe Jesus either.  Then he uses this parable to show them the difference between pride and humility: the difference between love and duty.

They understand that the first son did the will of the father, and that the one who said, but did not do-- did not do the will of the father.  They got the gist of that, but not the application. So, in verse thirty-one and two Jesus gives them the meaning, and goes on to tell them another parable:

Matthew 21:33  "Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country..."

Matthew 21:40  "..When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 

Jesus tells the parable of the unrighteous husbandmen to further illustrate the contrast of the situation.  What is God going to do with those who reject his son?  Those who refuse to see the Saviour as the Saviour, and these chief priests and Pharisees judge rightly when they answer:

Matthew 21:41  "They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons."

 Somewhere they miss the application of what their response should be.  Then Jesus quotes unto them Psalms 118:22  "The stone which the builders rejected Is become the head of the corner..." At this point they finally get the point, and they are not happy.

Matthew 21:45  "And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 46)  And when they sought to lay hold on him, they feared the multitudes, because they took him for a prophet."



What does that mean to you?  Or to me?  It gives us two options, since actions speak louder than words in this parable...
                       Option number one: "I go, sir."  Or Option number two: "I go not." 
 What these chief priests and Pharisees failed to understand was that Jesus is more than just a prophet, he is the Son of God. They were so filled with themselves they didn't heed what he was warning them of, that unless they accepted him they would lose their place that they were so proud of. 
We today can do the same thing.  We can fail to understand that while, yes, we can in this life say, "I go not," some day we will pay the price of all who fail to honor God and His Son in this life. 

While we enjoy the benefits and blessings that God bestows on all inhabitants of this earth as Matthew 5:45 says, "...for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust."  We all enjoy these blessings of good things that come into our life, if when we end this part of the journey still saying to God, 'No thanks, I won't go,' then those blessings will cease.  There will be no more the presence of God, nor of his goodness.  Only the evil will be left. 
Don't let 'I go not," be your final answer.  

Halelujah, what a Saviour!