It’s funny how time causes your thoughts to fade. Maybe not funny; maybe tragic, unfortunate, unintended?
My last blog on the parable of the two sons was written several days before it actually posted, perhaps last Tuesday. At that time I had much more to say about it. Now it’s Monday, six days later, and I can’t really remember what it was I still felt compelled to say. How maddening is that?
Looking at my teaching notes, I see the parable ended with Jesus’ clear denunciation of the Jewish leadership at the time, maybe of the Jewish nation. When Jesus put the question to those who had confronted him [chief priests, elders, teachers of the law], they answered correctly: The son who said he wouldn’t go work in the vineyard but who actually did was the one who did what his father wanted.
Jesus then said, “…tax collectors and sinners are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” And, he referred back to John the Baptist, about whom the Jewish leaders had just refused to answer a question, because any answer to the question would have exposed their hypocrisy.
In our Life Group lesson, after discussing what this parable meant to the original hearers, we considered what this parable means for us today. As Gentiles, none of us were part of God’s chosen people. But, as believers in Jesus, we are grafted into the vine of Israel, and so have become part of God’s chosen people. So it’s important for us to dig into it and extract a lesson for us.
Why had the Jewish leaders rejected the preaching of John the Baptist?
- They were comfortable in their positions
- “We have ours; tough about the rest of you”
- They weren’t evangelical, were not trying to spread what they believed was their superior religion
- Their practices left no room for repentance and turning to God
- They functioned without love
All of these are traps that the evangelical church can be snared it.
That’s the lesson for us today. We have to look at this parable as if we were in the position of the Jewish leaders, and Jesus says we aren’t part of the kingdom of God. I try to constantly do that, to watch for hypocrisy in my own life, and take care to make my doctrine, my speech, and my walk all align perfectly with the teachings of Jesus.
It’s not easy to do, but it’s something I must keep trying to do.