RPG Adults
THE PARABLE OF TWO SONS: NOT TOO LATE TO REPENT
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29
Matthew 21:23-32
Memory verse: Matthew 21:32
“…when ye had seen it,
repented not afterward,
that ye might believe him.”
THE PARABLE OF TWO SONS: NOT TOO LATE TO REPENT
Despite the failure of the chief priests and the elders in refusing to answer the question asked by Jesus, Jesus still wanted to help them find the truth. The Parable of the Two Sons began with the owner of a vineyard who had two sons. He asked the first son to “…go work…” (Matt 21:28) in his vineyard. The first son said that he would not, but afterwards, he repented of his rejection and went. The owner went to his second son and asked him to work in his vineyard. He told his father that he would go. But he did not go. Then Jesus asked the high priests and the elders which of the two sons had done the father’s will.
They answered, “The first” (Matt 21:31). The first son represents the sinners who know they need salvation. The second son represents the high priests and the elders. They think they do not need salvation because they are already servants of God and therefore already saved. The owner is God the Father. The vineyard is the world.
Jesus said that the publicans (tax collectors) and the harlots would go into the Kingdom of Heaven before the high priests and the elders. The reason was that they had believed in the preaching of John the Baptist, but the high priests and the elders did not believe even after seeing the transformed lives of these sinners who were regarded as the “scum” of society. The high priests and the elders refused to admit that they were wrong and needed to be saved, for to do that, they had to believe John’s ministry, that he was a prophet sent by God.
The parable of the two sons was meant to rebuke the high priests and the elders. As long as they were alive, they could still repent. They preached so much of God’s Word, but they did not live according to God’s Word. Affirmation with the lips without obedience is worse than denial with the lips at first but repentance and obedience afterward. Preachers and teachers of God’s Word, including all professing Christians, must take heed of this parable and make sure of their own salvation by a life of obedience to God’s Word.
THOUGHT: Do I talk Christianity only or do I also live the life of a Christian?
PRAYER: Father, help me to be a hearer and a doer of Thy Word.