Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Php 1:2). Amen.
“What do you think?” That is the kind of a question that causes you to stop for a moment and mull over an answer.
Sometimes it comes down to a choice between two opposites. It could be …
Yes or no. “What do you think? Does this tie make me look skinny?” (You can’t see it so you can’t comment.)
This one or that one. “What do you think? Which tie looks better with this shirt?” (Anything matches white, correct?)
That was the situation on the Tuesday of Holy Week—two days after Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that requisitioned donkey and 5 days before he would head out of a borrowed tomb. It was a busy day for Jesus. He spent the day answering his enemies when they attacked and teaching his listeners when they gathered (Mt 21:23-27).
Jesus wanted them to make a consideration and then come to a conclusion. So he begins, “What do you think?” (Mt 21:28). And he proceeds with a parable—another one of his illustrations to instruct. He would like us to contemplate too. Jesus makes us think about being a good son.
And so it is that a dad has two boys. Note that he approaches them, not the other way around. That is the same way with God to us. He draws near to us. “He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’” (Mt 21:28). None of us would take exception with that. He had some vines to be pruned or some grapes to be picked that day as well as an able-bodied family member. It is not out of the realm of possibility that a father requests that his son mow the lawn in summer or rake the leaves in fall or shovel snow in the winter. (I guess that means that he can take spring off.)
But that was not going to happen. “I will not” (Mt 21:29). There was no hesitation and it was harsh, full of disrespect and defiance: “I don’t want to.” There was no missing his point. It was short, but not sweet. It was a flat out “No.”
But then came the regret with a touch of remorse. “But later he changed his mind and went” (Mt 21:29). He grabbed a shears from the shed or a basket from the barn and got busy. That is son #1. A good son?
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing” (Mt 21:30). There was no difference in the appeal. “I will, sir” (Mt 21:30). That’s more like it. He was so respectful. “At your service, my Lord.” But yet, he was not responsible. “He did not go” (Mt 21:30). His emphatic enthusiasm did not match his pathetic actions. Politeness didn’t translate into productivity. Apparently his mother never taught him the adage: “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” In a sense, there was no filling up the riding mower with gas or finding a rake or shovel in the garage. The lazy-boy is too cozy or the bed is too comfortable. That is son #2. A good son?
Then comes the one question test. If it were multiple choice, it would be a or b: “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” (Mt 21:31). That is obvious to them (Mt 21:31). “The first” (Mt 21:31). They passed because they chose correctly, but really condemned themselves. Jesus desired that they diagnose their hearts. But their pride in themselves blinded them to what Jesus wanted them to grasp.
Jesus stresses a reality as he leads off with his formula of affirming something certain. “I tell you the truth” (Mt 21:31). And what is that? “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Mt 21:31).
“Tax collectors and the prostitutes” (Mt 21:31). You didn’t get any lower than that in society—taking money and turning tricks. The one ruined IRAs and the other wrecked marriages. They were to be looked down on like an embezzler or a drug dealer, not looked up to.
And yet Jesus holds them out as an example of a good son. Why? “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” (Mt 21:32). It came down to faith in John’s message. He pointed out to the tax collectors and prostitutes that they were not right with God. They recognized that when he preached: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Mt 3:2). But as John pointed out their sin, he pointed them to their Savior: “Look, the Lamb of God who takes assay the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). He picks them up and he carries them off. They were son #1. To do the work of the Father is to believe in his Son, the One he has sent (Jn 6:29). Those two groups did.
I don’t know if you enjoy looking in the mirror. Perhaps not first thing in the morning before you shower or shave—with your bedhead or rough stubble. But Jesus holds one up to our heart. Am I son #1? (That doesn’t exclude women. Jesus uses two boys.) Yes. You too. But there is an admission that goes with that acknowledgment. Do I spot my sin like a section of hair standing straight up or a whisker sticking out? Possibly we are like those children of Israel. They wanted to blame someone else when they cited that saying: “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Eze 18:2). In other words, “My daddy sucked on a lemon and my lips pucker up. I am being punished for his problem.”
But that is not true. Each one of us is accountable to our God. The Lord can’t state it any more simply: “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Eze 18:4). But that is not what God wishes. Instead, as he pleaded through the prophet: “Repent! Turn away from all your offenses. … Repent and live!” (Eze 18:30,32). That is what God wants for all (2 Pe 3:9). And so we pray with the psalmist David who had firsthand experience with a sin or 2047 of them: “Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways” (Ps 25:7). We could certainly add the sins of my middle age and old age. “Remember not the times I said “I will not” or the times I said “I will, sir,” and then failed to do what I promised—holding on to a grudge or giving in to hate.
But like David we continue: “According to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD” (Ps 25:7). So good that he sent his Son, true God becoming true man, who always said “yes” to his Father in order to serve us—all the way to a wooden instrument of torture. “[He] became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Php 2:8). He is the One before whom we bend our knees in praise as our Lord and Savior (Php 2:11). And now faith in him is “a living, busy, active, mighty thing” (Martin Luther).
Am I son #2? Yes. You too. He stands for the Pharisees and others like them who wanted nothing to do with John’s proclamation—like the chief priests and leaders of the people. They came to God with their goodness or greatness. “Look at me and what I do.” But on another occasion, Jesus contended: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 7:21). Notice Jesus’ observation: “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Mt 21:31). He is holding the door open for them. They can go in too with repentance—turning from sin and turning to God. And so it is that we are not just to go through the motions. But we understand our unworthiness before him and appreciate our worthiness from him. He is faithful and he forgives (1 Jn 1:9).
Instead of the first “no/yes” son or the second “yes/no” son, we are “yes/yes” son. Jesus makes us think of being a good son. And we are—through him, the best Son. I confess my sin against God and God comforts my soul with Jesus. We repent and we believe (Mt 21:32). What do you think (with or without a tie on)? “Go in peace. You are forgiven. You are family.”
We read from Matthew 21:28-32:
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.
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.”
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen (Php 4:23).
October 15, 2017
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