Which of the two did the will of his father?”
“The first,” they answered.
“The first,” they answered.
- Matthew 21:31
With this parable, Jesus instructs them of their error by pointing out that those who don't follow the Father at first but then later repent are doing the right thing over those who say they will follow but do not.
But there's a sweeter, deeper dynamic than the issue of the parable at hand. This is probably the only extended dialog with the religious elite noted in the Bible. Jesus is taking the time to reason with them through parables. They won't answer His question in the previous section: was John's baptism ordained by God or just another human idea? To put a fine point on it, they won't take a stand. They are taking as politically correct a position as they could.
They start out by asking Him a direct, confrontational question. But Jesus refuses to "knock that chip off their shoulders" until He gets them to take a stand of their own. Because it seems they are honestly more comfortable in their scrutiny and judgment of Him than they are in choosing whether He's the "real deal" or not. So He addresses them indirectly with a parable and then, after they answer His question about that parable, He gets back around to John endorsing him as one who needed to be heeded.
(Regarding their original question about the source of His authority, the documentation of this answer to them in that area is found elsewhere in the gospels. See Matthew 5:36, 37 and Matthew 10:25 are just a couple incidences.)
But the deeper dynamic is this: Jesus meets with us even in the thick of our contention with Him. Don't be surprised when He confronts us in our struggles with Him. But neither be surprised that He will likely not answer us in the manner that we expect. He doesn't play by our rules.
But there's a sweeter, deeper dynamic than the issue of the parable at hand. This is probably the only extended dialog with the religious elite noted in the Bible. Jesus is taking the time to reason with them through parables. They won't answer His question in the previous section: was John's baptism ordained by God or just another human idea? To put a fine point on it, they won't take a stand. They are taking as politically correct a position as they could.
They start out by asking Him a direct, confrontational question. But Jesus refuses to "knock that chip off their shoulders" until He gets them to take a stand of their own. Because it seems they are honestly more comfortable in their scrutiny and judgment of Him than they are in choosing whether He's the "real deal" or not. So He addresses them indirectly with a parable and then, after they answer His question about that parable, He gets back around to John endorsing him as one who needed to be heeded.
(Regarding their original question about the source of His authority, the documentation of this answer to them in that area is found elsewhere in the gospels. See Matthew 5:36, 37 and Matthew 10:25 are just a couple incidences.)
But the deeper dynamic is this: Jesus meets with us even in the thick of our contention with Him. Don't be surprised when He confronts us in our struggles with Him. But neither be surprised that He will likely not answer us in the manner that we expect. He doesn't play by our rules.
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