The Two Sons

Once when Jesus was teaching at the temple, a habit he had picked up when he was twelve, when the chief priests and elders come up to him and asked: "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" In response, Jesus told them the parable of the two sons.

Picturization

This leads to a question that Jesus asks his audience. "Which of the two did the will of his father?" The chief priests and the elders give the obvious answer. "The first," they say. Jesus then shocks them by comparing them to the second son, saying that tax-collectors and prostitutes would beat them to the gates of heaven because they were more obedient than they were.

Interpretation

Now let's look at the two sons more closely. The first son comes across as disobedient, rebellious and insolent, as he tells his father, rather rudely, that he had no intention of obeying him. However, he later reverses his decision and goes to work in the vineyard as his father asked him to. This depicts a change of heart, undoubtedly brought about by the realization of the error of his ways. It was the same with the prostitutes and other "sinners" of the time. Generally indulging themselves in whatever they wanted to do, the words of John the Baptist and Jesus made them turn to God in repentance.

The second son, on the other hand, while appearing courteous, respectful and submissive, was a fraud. He promised his father he would obey him, even though he had no particular desire to. He just wanted to be seen as holy, very much like the Pharisees and the scribes that Jesus was talking to. They tried to trap Jesus by their questioning, but Jesus turned the tables on them, making them convict themselves instead.

It was something Jesus did often, much to their chagrin. He despised their hypocrisy, their lack of humility and their unwillingness to repent. They were so full of a sense of their own righteousness, they couldn't recognize their own sinfulness, or even the presence of the long-awaited Messiah in their midst. By painting a picture of the despised tax collectors and prostitutes entering the kingdom of God before them, Jesus hoped that he would shock them to their senses, although it is doubtful it had any effect other than annoy them further.

It is important to note that he was not excluding them from the Kingdom; he was merely pushing them to the very end of the line, although wilful disobedience would have them denied entry altogether. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus is quoted as saying: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

Application

Scripture urges us to "be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like" (James 1:22-24).

The Pharisees stood at street corners and prayed out loud for everyone to hear. They always had the seats of honour in the synagogues. They gave tithes for all to see. They appeared very holy to others. But, on the inside, they were full of hypocrisy and sin. They lived a lie. Their hearts were far from God. God, unlike people, sees all. "For the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

We tend to look down upon the Pharisees, but are we any better? Many of us go to mass, make novenas, attend retreats, participate prayer meetings and generally engage in a lot of spiritual activities looking for all purposes like holy people, but what are we like when nobody is looking. A wise man once said that Christianity is what you do once the sermon is over. What are we like when the sermon is over? We may present an outward show of holiness, but are we really spiritual in the eyes of God?

Being spiritual doesn't mean being without sin, but it does mean stopping the sin in our lives once we know it is there. I am reminded of the story of a little boy who had jelly smeared all over his face, courtesy the donut he was eating. When his father saw him, he told the lad to quit eating the donuts and go wash his face. But the lad was enjoying his snack so much that he doesn't really care his face is dirty and goes on eating, making no effort to clean himself.

All of us sin, some with alarming regularity We are aware of our weaknesses. We know where we keep falling. For example, we know it is a sin to gossip but we have fun indulging in it. We actually enjoy sinning just like the little boy enjoyed his jelly donut. And just like the jelly messed up his face, our sin stains our souls. The question is: are we making any effort to change? Are we sorry for our behaviour? If we are genuinely sorry, why do we not change our ways?

Why do we struggle with obedience? Why do we fail to obey God? One of the greatest examples of obedience in the Bible is Abraham. In the Old Testament, God commanded Abraham in his old age to leave his home and go to a strange land far away. Did Abraham ask any questions? No. The very next day, he left with his family and all his belongings.

God then promised him a son, which Abraham got after a long period of waiting—twenty-five years. But soon after, God asked Abraham to sacrifice this son. Did Abraham hesitate? He took his son straight to the altar to slay him and stopped only at the intervention of the angel the Lord sent. Abraham loved God enough not to let anything come in the way of obeying him, not even the life of his only son.

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Many of us claim to love Jesus, but don't do what he says. This indicates the shallowness of our love. If we genuinely love God, we will obey Him. Each of us has to think this way. This is entirely between my saviour Jesus Christ and me. He knows my every thought. Scary, isn't it? He sees my heart. Nothing is hidden from him. He knows me better than I know myself. I may be able to fool the entire world but I cannot hide from Him. Despite all of my failings, Jesus loves me. Passionately. So much so that He died the most unimaginably agonizing and brutal and terrible death ever for my sake.

As Christians, we are constantly told that God loves us. The question today, however, is not how much God loves us because that has been proved for all eternity in Jesus Christ. The question for us today is how much do we love God? Do we love him enough to obey Him? Let not Jesus Christ have to say to us: "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46)

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