Matthew 21:23-32

Pentecost 18A | October 1, 2023 | Matthew 21:23-32 | Judson F Merrell |

²³ And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, „By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?“

 ²⁴ Jesus answered them, „I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.

 ²⁵ The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?“ And they discussed it among themselves, saying, „If we say, ‚From heaven,‘ he will say to us, ‚Why then did you not believe him?‘

 ²⁶ But if we say, ‚From man,‘ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.“

 ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, „We do not know.“ And he said to them, „Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

 ²⁸ „What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‚Son, go and work in the vineyard today.‘

 ²⁹ And he answered, ‚I will not,‘ but afterward he changed his mind and went.

 ³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‚I go, sir,‘ but 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, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go 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 the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

 (Mat 21:23-32 ESV)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Last week our pericope was about the Laborers in the vineyard, and it finished with Jesus saying that the last will be first and the first will be last.  As we get into our lesson today, we see a similar theme.  Jesus tells a parable of two sons who are told to go into their father’s vineyard and work.  Our Gospel today is a nice continuation of what we heard last week.  However, in the timeline of Matthew’s account, many things have happened between these two texts.  Important things that cannot go unnoticed and will perhaps give us a slightly different insight on this text we have today.

The first item of note is that after Jesus told the disciples that the last will be first and the first last, he foretold his death and resurrection for a third time.  He did this as he is traveling to Jerusalem.  After foretelling his death and resurrection the mother of James and John comes to Jesus with a request.  She wants her sons to sit at Jesus’ left and right, in places of honor.  That lesson ends with Jesus telling the disciples that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.  Next up Jesus and disciples leave Jericho, still heading for Jerusalem.  They come upon two blind men sitting on the side of the road.  When the blind men hear that Jesus is passing they shout “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”  Jesus shows compassion on them and then heals them.  With that text, we finish Matthew 20 and begin Matthew 21 with Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.  Matthew 21 begins our “Holy Week” as we always hear that lesson on Palm Sunday.  It is followed by Jesus cleansing the temple and then leaving Jerusalem to stay in Bethany for the night.  They next day he returns to Jerusalem hungry. Seeing a fig tree with no fruit on it Jesus curses it.  That text finishes with Jesus telling the disciples that whatever they ask for in prayer with faith they will receive.

Now that we have been through all that, we get to the text we have today.  It’s almost as if last week’s text and this week’s text bookend this small section of ministry.  In reality they bookend the last week of Jesus’ earthly life.  If you knew this was your last week on earth, what would you do?  What would you say?  Our Lord used that week to teach, and this parable of the two sons is the first of many lessons.  Like our lesson from last week, Jesus once again lifts up the last, those that are considered outsiders.  In this parable, the last are the prostitutes and the tax collectors.  The first are the chief priests and the elders who question the authority of Jesus.  They represent the self-righteousness and that arrogance that is pervasive in Israel.  They are the ones that get so lost in what is important to them they forget all the people that they are supposed to be serving.  They claim to be on God’s side, but the truth is that they are only on the side of themselves.  They are the elite, the upper class, and they want everyone to know it.

The prostitutes and the tax collectors represent the outsiders, those with nothing to lose.  They are the sinners.  They aren’t worthy to be talked to.  They are to be ridiculed and shamed because they are the lower class.  But they also are the ones that seemed to put the most trust in their faith.  They believed what John had said to them.  Jesus ate with tax collectors and did ministry among them and the sinners.  It is this group of people that included blind men sitting on the side of the road.  It includes the large crowd that spread their cloaks on the road and waved palm branches.  It includes the children who cried out in the temple “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matt 21:15).

In terms of this parable, it is the chief priests and scribes who are represented by the second son.  They have failed to do the Father’s will.  And although the first son is not completely innocent, it is that first son who followed the Father’s will.  It is those tax collectors and prostitutes and sinners, that although are not innocent by any means, are doing the Father’s will.  They have believed the words of John, have repented, and therefore, according to Jesus, will enter the kingdom of heaven first.  The first will be last, and the last will be first.

Between now and the end of November we will continue to explore Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem.  As we listen to those parables we keep in mind the context, while also remembering that Advent is approaching.  Advent is the time we focus on the Parousia, or the Coming of Christ.  And with that we know that there is more ministry we can do, more vineyards that we can attend to, and more lessons for us to hear and learn from.  In all that is the work of the Holy Spirit among us, helping our faith in Jesus’ authority to grow.  We know who Jesus is and we have heard the words of John.  May God continue to help us live out that faith everyday so that our ministry follows the Father’s will and builds up the kingdom.  In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

—

Rev. Dr Judson F Merrell, STS