The Religious Rejected, While Repentant Gain Entrance (Matthew 21:23-46)
When the King enters Jerusalem, the religious leaders—the stewards for the King—question His authority. They reveal their true nature when their whole motivation is shown to be power maintenance. Jesus refuses to answer them, but instead reveals their nature in a pair of stories.
The first does more than just expose the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. It reveals the key to the Kingdom of God. Two sons are asked by their father to do some work. One declines, but the other says he will do as asked. The good son in the one who said he would obey, right? No, that is the religious one. He says he wants to obey but is all talk. Instead, the other son—the one who did not want to help—changes his mind. He repents. That is what is required to be a part of the Kingdom. We have all rebelled. Saying we want to follow God—the religious approach—is not enough. We have to turn around—repent—and actually follow.
The second story is a not-at-all veiled indictment of the religious leaders. They were left in control of God’s people, but whenever God sent a servant in the form of a prophet, they rejected them. Some they even killed. God’s Son—Jesus Himself—was going to be killed by them as well. And, even though they see plainly what Jesus is talking about, the do not repent, but conspire to have Him killed.
Don’t be a religious person. Go for the repentant approach!
The first does more than just expose the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. It reveals the key to the Kingdom of God. Two sons are asked by their father to do some work. One declines, but the other says he will do as asked. The good son in the one who said he would obey, right? No, that is the religious one. He says he wants to obey but is all talk. Instead, the other son—the one who did not want to help—changes his mind. He repents. That is what is required to be a part of the Kingdom. We have all rebelled. Saying we want to follow God—the religious approach—is not enough. We have to turn around—repent—and actually follow.
The second story is a not-at-all veiled indictment of the religious leaders. They were left in control of God’s people, but whenever God sent a servant in the form of a prophet, they rejected them. Some they even killed. God’s Son—Jesus Himself—was going to be killed by them as well. And, even though they see plainly what Jesus is talking about, the do not repent, but conspire to have Him killed.
Don’t be a religious person. Go for the repentant approach!
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