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Author: Stephen Weller
759 words, 4 minutes read time

Which Son Are You Like?

Scripture: Matthew 21:28-32; Mark 12:1

In the previous lesson we watched Jesus avoid answering the question related to the source of his authority and in the process exposes the ignorance of the sinful religious leaders standing before him. With this lesson we begin another short section in which Jesus responds using the parable of two sons.

^{Mk 12:1} [Then Jesus] began to speak to them in parables. ^{Mt 21:28} “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?”

It is still Tuesday and Jesus has just listened to the religious leaders tell him that they did not know if the source of John’s ministry was from heaven or from men. Jesus responds to them with a parable of two sons. The purpose of this parable is to point out to these religious leaders their failure to respond rightly to the prophetic ministry of John the Baptist. Like the man in the parable, God has instructed these religious leaders to do some work for him, but their fruit indicates that their response to God does not match their talk.

Jesus begins this parable with another question for them to answer: “What do you think?” In previous studies, Jesus also asked this question. For example, in Matthew 17:25 (ESV), he said, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?”; and in Matthew 18:12 (ESV), he said, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” This is a simple method to involve one in the point you want to make.

Jesus wants these religious leaders to think about a simple illustration involving two sons and give a simple response. In the illustration, or parable, a man has two sons and a vineyard that need some work done. The man approaches the first son and request that he go and work in the vineyard. The son says that he will not go, but then afterward he changed his mind and went and did the work.

Since the first son initially refused, the man goes to find the second son and the son says that he will but then changes his mind (maybe because he saw the first son doing the work) and does not go to do the required work. Have you ever said that you would do something and then changed your mind and you did not do what you had promised?

Going back to the original question of “What do you think?”, Jesus asks them another question, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” The answer is obvious, and they reply, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”

Jesus then makes it clear to them that sinners have a better chance of making it into the kingdom of God than they do. John, who was sent by God, came in the way of righteousness and you would not believe him, but tax collectors and prostitutes did, and even when you witnessed their belief, you were not like the first son and afterward changed your minds and believed him.

Conclusion

It is easy to read a parable like this and see it simply as part of the narrative and not think about a possible application to our life. Remember, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV). Like these religious leaders, God has asked us to do some work for him. How well are you doing in carrying out the assignment?