Matthew 21:28-32

Matthew 21:28-32

28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

We tend to categorize sin according to different levels of seriousness.  We use terms like little white lie and innocent mistake to describe what we consider to be tolerable sins.  Then we have really bad sins like killing, stealing and sexual sins.  Finally, we have those unavoidable sins like pride, gossip and sins in our thought life.  We see some sins as being more acceptable than others.  God knows no such distinction.  To Him, all sin is hideous, and it all falls under His eternal condemnation and wrath.  It does not matter what race we are, our social status, or the level of our intelligence.  The only way to escape this wrath is to repent of our sin and place our faith in the death of Christ as God’s gracious payment for our sin.  We cannot earn it.  We do not deserve it.  We can only receive it as a gracious gift from Him.  This is the message Jesus so desperately wants to communicate to the religious leaders as they constantly look for ways to discredit Him and protect their own reputations.

GOD ACCEPTS REPENTANT SINNERS: The first son initially refused his father’s invitation to go work in the vineyard.  However, he repented of this attitude and went and did as he was told.  Jesus compares this son to tax collectors as prostitutes.  They have clearly made some very bad choices in their lives.  These choices have led them to be outcasts of society and the condemnation of both God and man.  Prostitutes were immoral and tax collectors were dishonest.  Their lives brought pain and guilt to all who associated with them.  They helped to destroy families by impoverishment or infidelity.  As terrible as these sins are before both God and man, they are not beyond God’s ability to forgive.  All sin is hideous in His sight.  All that is required is repentance and faith in Christ.  Forgiveness is always by God’s grace and can never be deserved or earned.  When these people heard the preaching of John the Baptist and repented, they were forgiven and began to follow Jesus.  He welcomed them into this fellowship with Him.  He ate with them, drank with them and visited their homes.  All who repent and trust Christ will spend eternity in perfect fellowship with the Father, Son and Spirit, no matter how sinful they have been in the past.

GOD REJECTS RESPECTABLE SINNERS: The second son initially accepts the father’s invitation to go to work in the vineyard.  However, he later decided that he didn’t want to go and disobeyed the father’s wishes.  Jesus compares this person to the religious leaders who appear to be doing everything right on the outside, but in their hearts they are full of pride and self-righteousness.  This is what I called “respectable sinners.”  I use that title, not because there is any sin that is “respectable” in God’s eyes, but because in man’s eyes there are certain types of sin that men consider to be respectable.  Pride and selfish motives fall into that category of sin that do not raise our eyebrows but certainly furrow God’s.  Because these religious leaders cared so much about man’s opinion that they did not care about God’s, they were like this second son who appeared to be compliant on the outside, but in reality, was far worse than the fist son.  What Jesus is making crystal clear is that it is better to be a repentant prostitute than an unrepentant prideful Pharisee.  When John preached the prostitutes repented but the Pharisees refused to recognize their need of repentance.  Self-righteousness is the most dangerous of all sins.

APPLICATION: Make sure that repentance is quick to sprout in our hearts as soon as we are convicted of sin.  Never look on any sin as being respectable or of small importance to God.  Always check our hearts for pride and self-righteousness because these most dangerous of all sins sprout up naturally and constantly in our hearts.