The Two Sons

A father asks his two sons for help. One says no, and then goes. The other says yes, and then doesn't. So which one actually did what his father wanted?

It's the last week before the cross, and Jesus is teaching in the temple courts in Jerusalem. The chief priests and the elders come up to him. “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?” Jesus answers with a question. “John's baptism. Where did it come from? From heaven, or from people?” They huddle together. If they say from heaven, he'll ask why they didn't believe John. If they say from people, the crowd will turn on them, because everyone holds John to be a prophet. So they answer, “We don't know.” Then Jesus says, “What do you think?” And he tells a story.

“A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’” The answer comes straight back. “I will not.” In that world, refusing your father to his face was a serious insult. The boy turns away. The father is left standing there. But later, the son changes his mind. He thinks it over, he's sorry, and he picks up his tools, walks out into the vineyard, and gets to work.

Then the father goes to the second son and asks him the same thing. This son is all politeness. “I will, sir.” The perfect answer. Respectful. Agreeable. Exactly what a father wants to hear. But he never goes. The morning passes. The vineyard waits. The vines stay untended. His yes was only words.

“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” Jesus asks. The leaders answer, “The first.” And they've walked right into it. Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And even when you saw that, you did not change your minds and believe him.”

It's a hard story to hear for people who have always said yes to God with their lips. These leaders had said all the right things for years. The tax collectors and the others had said no to God with their lives. But when John came preaching, they listened. They were sorry. They changed. Their no had turned into a yes. And the door to the kingdom is still open, even to the leaders, if they will change their minds. That's the yes God is looking for. Not just words. A life that goes out into the vineyard.

Why were tax collectors so despised? In Jesus' day, the right to collect taxes and tolls was often handed to local men, who then collected from their own neighbours for rulers backed by Rome. Many charged more than they should and kept the difference. To most people they were cheats and traitors. Yet Luke's Gospel tells us that tax collectors came to John the Baptist to be baptised, and asked him how they should live. His answer was simple. Collect no more than you're supposed to.

The Two Sons. You'll find it in Matthew chapter 21, verses 28 to 32. One son said no, then went. One said yes, then stayed home. Jesus wasn't praising rudeness. He was showing that God cares about what we actually do, and that it's never too late to change your mind and obey. So here's the question to carry with you. Is there something God has asked you to do that you've said yes to, but haven't done yet?