They Missed Their Chance
Matthew 21:28-32 NASB
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 But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went. 30 And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet 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 have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.
Jesus is sharing one of His parables. And as with many of His parables, this one was pointed at a certain group of religious leaders.
In the preceding verses, these leaders would not admit that the baptism of John was ordained from heaven. They knew Jesus would call them on why they didn’t believe John. But then these leaders were afraid to say that John’s baptism was from men because the people would revolt and hurt them. The people knew John was a prophet. Jesus wouldn’t tell them by what authority He was operating under, but He did share the parable in our verses for today.
The gist of the parable was the father asking his two sons to go and work in the family vineyard. The first son refused but later regretted his decision and went and worked. The second son had a great response to his father. I will, sir. But he never did. Jesus pinned down the leaders with the question of which one did the will of his father. And the leaders answered correctly. The obvious answer was the first son. But now Jesus had them.
The next statement of Jesus was blunt and had to have hit hard with the leaders. Jesus declared that the tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before these leaders. I don’t know if Jesus could have mentioned two groups of people more offensive to the religious leaders of Israel. If any two groups were far away from God, it was tax collectors and prostitutes. But these were the ones, like that first son, who originally said no to God but heard the preaching of John the Baptist and believed and repented. They did the will of God.
The religious leaders were like the second son. They had the chance to believe John and repent, but did not. Even when they saw the tax collectors and prostitutes responding to John, they did not repent themselves. They may have said yes to God, but they never followed through and did the will of God. They did not believe they needed repentance.
James would later write to be a doer of the word of God and not a hearer only, deceiving yourself. The Pharisees and religious leaders deceived themselves and missed their chance.
Application
Thank God, wherever we are, we don’t have to miss our chance to do the will of God. It’s more than just hearing and giving lip service to the things of God; it’s doing what He says that counts.
Prayer
Lord, I say yes to You and Your will for me. And with more than words, my actions show that I believe and do what You ask of me. I will not miss my chance.