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The Two Sons

Matthew 21:23-32

It was the last week of Yeshua’s life. Passover was approaching. Messiah was in Jerusalem. The leaders of the nation had rejected Him and were looking for a way to kill Him.

While He was teaching in the temple courts, the chief priests and the elders of the people challenged His authority to do the things He was doing – the things being things like teaching in the temple courts, doing miracles, cleansing the temple).

“By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

Yeshua replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism – where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ – we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

So they answered Yeshua, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

That’s the background for Yeshua’s parable about the two sons.

What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.” “I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.

In response to his father’s order to work in the vineyard, the first son initially refused. Later he changed his mind and did what his father asked him to do. He disobeyed His father for a time. But after that time, he obeyed his father. He started with disobedience and ended with obedience.

The second son initially said yes but then didn’t do what his father ordered him to do. He said the right words but his actions didn’t match his words. He appeared to fulfill his responsibilities but never actually fulfilled his responsibilities. He started with disobedience and ended with disobedience.

This is easy to understand. Now for the truths which are harder to understand. We don’t have to guess what they are because Messiah told us. Yeshua said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. John was a true prophet. God sent him to get the Jewish people ready for the arrival of Immanuel, God With Us, the Son of God, the Seed of the Woman, the one and only Savior of the world. John called the nation to repentance and spiritual readiness. Then, when the Son of God arrived, John identified Him. He told us that Yeshua was the Messiah and that we must follow Him.

This was the way of righteousness. This was what was right. This is what God ordered the Jewish people, through John, to do: to repent, turn from our sins, turn to God and be ready for the arrival of the Son of God, and know that Yeshua is the Son of God, and follow Him.

Many of the regular people believed John, repented, and were baptized. And when John identified Yeshua as the Messiah and the Son of God, they followed Yeshua. And tax collectors and prostitutes did too.

Tax collectors and prostitutes were the first son. In first century Israel, the Romans forced the Jewish people to pay them taxes. Jewish tax collectors did that work for the Romans. They were rewarded by the Romans by being allowed to keep some of the tax money for themselves. Tax collectors were considered to be traitorous collaborators of the despised Roman invaders, corrupt men who got rich off the impoverishment of the Jewish people. They were not known for being God-fearing men. They sold their loyalty to their people for money. Prostitutes were their female counterpart. They sold their bodies for money.

The tax collectors and prostitutes were sinners. They were disobedient to God. They first said no to obeying God. But when John arrived and called the nation to repentance and to be ready to follow the Messiah, who would appear soon, they believed John. And when John told them Yeshua was the Messiah, many followed Yeshua. By doing so, they entered the kingdom of God.

In contrast to those tax collectors and prostitutes, most of the leaders didn’t believe John and didn’t believe Yeshua. And their minds weren’t changed by seeing changed lives: tax collectors and prostitutes believing John, repenting and following Yeshua. Those leaders were the second son. They appeared to be deeply religious individuals. Their words communicated that they would obey God, but when God ordered them through John to believe in and follow Yeshua, and when Yeshua told them to believe in Him, they refused to obey.

It’s so, so, so much better to be the first son – a sinner who really repents and turns to God and becomes obedient from the heart, than a sinner who appears to be religious but has never really repented, and refuses to do what God really wants.

Now, what about us? What has the Father ordered us to do? What is the way of righteousness for us today? It’s the same as it was 2,000 years ago.

Know that Yeshua is the Messiah, risen from the dead, and the Son of God. Follow Him. Be loyal to Him. Be devoted to Him and His teachings. Be a servant of Yeshua.

Seek first the kingdom of God. Advance God’s kingdom ahead of advancing your own kingdom. Advance God’s interests ahead of advancing your own interests.

How do we do that? By being filled with the Spirit. Then we will continue Messiah’s mission of world evangelism. Then we will proclaim the Gospel, tell others about Yeshua, share the Good News with as many people as you can.

And we will love Messiah’s Community. We will want to build Messiah’s Community. We will do things on a regular basis to serve our brothers and sisters. We will give Messiah’s Community more of our time and talents and treasures.

I’m concerned that some of us may be second sons. We’re religious people. We say we know God, we are believers – but in our hearts we are not really obedient. We say “Lord Lord” but don’t obey the Lord. Our interest in serving God is minimal. Our interest in proclaiming the gospel is minimal. Our desire to build Messiah’s Community is minimal.

Are you a first son or a second son? Do you say yes to God, but you don’t do what God wants you to do? Pray, pray, pray that God reveals to you if you are the first son or the second son!

Invitation To A Wedding Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

This parable was another warning to the leaders, that because of their rejection of Yeshua, they were going to be judged and removed from their positions of spiritual authority. While a warning of judgment can seem to be ungracious, it’s actually the opposite: it’s gracious. A warning like this is meant to help the one being warned change – before the consequences take place, so that the consequences don’t take place. And if the consequences do take place, because the warning was ignored, the warning reveals the truth to those who were warned, and to others, so they can learn. It is care, concern, grace that produces a warning like this.

Yeshua spoke to them again in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven (the way God rules, the principles by which He operates) is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

 

Then he sent some more servants and said, “Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”

But they paid no attention and went off – one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Then he said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, “How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?” The man was speechless.

Then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are invited, but few are chosen.

This is easy to understand. Here are the truths which are harder to understand:

The king is God the Father, the High King of Heaven. He is a real king of a real kingdom. It is the greatest and most glorious of all governments, all administrations, all kingdoms. It is a perfect kingdom. It is an eternal kingdom.

The son of the king is King Yeshua. King Yeshua rules the Kingdom of God with His Father. The High King sits on the main throne. King Messiah sits on another throne at the right hand of the High King. The High King gives the orders and King Yeshua carries out His Father’s orders. King Messiah is the executor of the High King.

The wedding banquet had the best food: oxen and fattened cattle. Think of the best, tastiest meats and the best steaks. The wedding banquet is eternal life in the New Jerusalem. Life in the new Jerusalem will be an unending delight.

The servants of the king were the prophets and John the Baptist. God loved the Jewish people and wanted the best for us, so when we went in a bad direction, He sent us great men, and occasionally great women, to call us back to Himself.

When a son of a king is married, he invites people of status to the wedding. He invites royalty. He invites the rich and the powerful. He invites his friends, family and allies. He does not invite ordinary people. So, the first group of guests who were invited were the leaders of the Chosen People. They should have known God the best and served Him the most. However, very often they didn’t. They acted wickedly and rejected and mistreated and sometimes killed the prophets.

The leaders should have been the first ones to know Messiah and welcome Yeshua. They should have used their leadership skills and positions of authority to bring the rest of the Jewish people to Yeshua. However, they rejected, mistreated and killed the Messiah, who is the greatest of the prophets. That was the greatest wickedness, the greatest sin of all.

The guests who were invited and who refused to come to the banquet because they were more interested in their fields and businesses were those leaders of the Chosen People who were more interested in serving themselves and their interests than serving God and His interests. Most of the Jewish leaders of Yeshua’s day were more of the same.

The guests who mistreated and killed the king’s servants were those leaders who mistreated and killed the prophets. Most of the Jewish leaders of Yeshua’s day were more of the same.

The execution of those who mistreated and killed the servants of the king and the destruction of their city was the various judgments that God executed on the Jewish people for our wickedness and our rejection of the prophets. The destruction of Jerusalem and other subsequent judgments on the Jewish people who rejected Yeshua were more of the same.

The destruction of Jerusalem and the Yeshua-rejecting Jewish leaders revealed God’s rejection of them as legitimate spiritual authorities. It revealed their loss of salvation and their future in Hell.

The second group who were invited to the wedding banquet that the king gave for his son were those who had not been leaders of the Chosen People. They were ordinary people who became Yeshua-followers. They will experience unending delights in the New Jerusalem.

The man at the banquet who didn’t wear wedding clothes represents false believers, the tares, not the wheat; the so called Christians, the so-called and Messianic Jews who say “Lord Lord” but don’t obey God. He was tied up and thrown outside where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. That represents the anger and remorse that the phoney, fake believers will experience on the day of Judgment.

Many are invited, but few are chosen. Many hear the Good News, and respond to some degree, but not whole-heartedly, not way they should. They are not saved.

Make sure that’s not you. Make sure you are clothed with the garments of salvation. Prove by your life and your deeds that your faith is genuine, your salvation is real. Remember Messiah’s warning: many are invited – but few are chosen.