The Corrupt and Despised in Heaven

Background to passage: after the confrontation about Jesus’s authority and John the Baptist, Jesus tells a series of three parables. They have a common thread, the failure, indictment, and judgement of the Jewish leaders. This is the first - The Two Sons.

Matthew 21:28–32 ESV

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?” They said, “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.

Opening illustration: When Bernie Moreno, a Republican businessman, ran for a Senate seat in Ohio in 2022, he described his views as “absolute pro-life, no exceptions.”

“Life begins at conception” and “abortion is the murder of an innocent baby,” he said on social media. 

He has since softened his position. In March, he said he supported a 15-week national abortion ban. But his spokeswoman also says abortion “should be primarily decided at the state level,”that he backs “reasonable exceptions” and that he has maintained those positions throughout the 2024 election cycle.

In 2022, David McCormick, a Republican businessman running for Senate in Pennsylvania, touted his staunch commitment to opposing abortion. Asked at a Republican primary debate that April if he would support exceptions to abortion bans if Roe v. Wade was overturned, he said he believed in exceptions in the “very rare instances” when a woman’s life was at risk.

Now, as he makes his second bid for the Senate, he has urged Americans to “find common ground.” Language saying “life begins at conception” has disappeared from his website, which now notes that abortion is legal in the state until 24 weeks — the federal standard under Roe. And a campaign spokesman told CNN in April that Mr. McCormick “inadvertently left out” exceptions for rape and incest from his debate answer two years earlier.

Five years ago, when state Sen. Richard Briggs co-sponsored legislation that would codify some of the country's most austere abortion restrictions in Tennessee – it seemed to him like little more than political theater.

"The truth was I thought it would never come to be," he says.

But three years later it did come to be. The Tennessee state law was triggered after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal right to abortion. The state law established strict abortion bans and potential criminal penalties for doctors who violate them.

Now Briggs is fighting an uphill battle to undo some of the legislation he helped to put into place. It's a battle that some experts say could be instructive for the rest of the country.

Main thought: Today we are reminded of the eternal importance of your words matching up with you deeds, especially as it relates to internal realities.

1) Who’s Who (v. 28-30)

Matthew 21:28–30 ESV

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.

1) Who’s Who (v. 28-30)

Explanation: The man: God the Father. First son: tax collectors and prostitutes. Second son: religious elite, those given charge to tend to Israel (the Vineyard).

So, the first son originally said he would not go, just as the immoral and ungodly told God, knowing his moral standards, internally or externally. Later, they heard John the Baptist, recognized him as a prophet, heeded his words, repented and believed.

The second son originally said he would go, just as the moral and religious people had told God, knowing his word, then they didn’t go. Later they heard John preach, didn’t heed his words, didn’t repent and believe. They claimed to be looking and longing for the Messiah, but then chose not to hear to prophet who goes before and pointed him out. Willful unbelief.

Luke 10:13 ESV

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Illustration: Story of John’s wife asking him, “what did you tell that preacher about me?” Story of the visit to the small church and the pastor who had been praying and thinking about what to preach, but just didn’t hear from the Lord...

Application: We must come to corporate worship with the expectation to encounter God in a couple of ways. First, that our hearts will be turned toward him as we make much of him in song. We also pray and address him personally. We hear the word in a couple of parts of the service, but especially during the declaration of the word, we should expect God to speak. We should come open and humble to have him convict us of sin, encourage us in unbelief or distress, welcome us as a Father, and respond accordingly. When we hear the word, do not respond in faith and repentance, we are no better than the religious leaders. Willful unbelief and

rebellion.

2) What’s What (v. 31a)

Matthew 21:31 ESV

31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.”

2) What’s What (v. 31a)

Explanation: What’s the point? Doing the will of the Father. The answer was clear. Which son went out into the vineyard and did what he was asked to do. External evidence is doing the will of God. Internal reality is belief and repentance.

Jesus said, what you say is one thing, what you do is another. Behavior reveals reality. Sometimes it can be fake or masked, but internally the motivation, the affection is where the rubber meets the road. Jesus said check out the fruit.

Matthew 7:21 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 12:50 ESV

50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

James 2:18 ESV

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Illustration: What Jesus Demands from the World

The Gospel according to Matthew 1. The Parable of the Two Sons, 21:28–32

The conventionally religious who cause no scandal and go through the outward motions of religious observances can fail to respond to the demand for wholehearted repentance and complete dedication to the service of God that Jesus demanded

Application: Jesus said check the fruit. Who is doing the will of the Father? Those are the believers. How do we know what the will of the Father is? The NT commands and morals and character and four will of God clear commands.

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Peter 2:15 ESV

15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

3) Why It’s Important (v. 31b-32)

Matthew 21:31–32 ESV

31 ...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.

3) Why It’s Important (v. 31b-32)

Explanation: This is important to us in the same way it was important to the religious leaders, tax collectors and prostitutes: it is quite possible on an external level do things that appear to be the will of God. It was evident that Jesus was saying that the people who were the most outwardly religious and disciplined were not the people who were pleasing God. The word “before” would have communicated “instead.”

Internal realities are the truly indicative trait for genuine believers. That is not something that you can see. That’s why Jesus was constantly challenging people to love God, not rules. Love things that God loves, not things you love.

1 Corinthians 16:22 ESV

22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!

Illustration: My first spiritual mentor and father in the Lord was Ronnie Owens. He had a daughter named Rhonda. She was one of the godliest young people I knew. We served on the staff at Camp Jubilee, where Erika and I met, for years. She was the one that we would find walking down from the tabernacle in the early morning light when we were just getting up. The depth of her faith in conversation was so evident, or so we all thought. A couple of years after all of us moved on, I heard that Rhonda had gotten saved.

Application: I cannot look into the core of your being and see if your motivation for your faith practice is love for Jesus or love for self, nor can you for me. I can’t know if you are doing things out of obligation or out of love. I can’t know what your desires are or you motivations for being here. I can’t tell if the behavior you exhibit is welling up from a changed heart. But God can. And there is a danger that we are involved in a lot of religious behavior, but not a lot of love for Jesus.

We are told to examine ourselves in 2 Cor 13:5. We are told to make our calling and election sure in 2 Peter 1:10. There are five “if” warnings in Hebrews about continuing in the faith. 2 Cor 7 describes a godly sorrow that leads to life and a worldly sorrow that leads to death. Jesus describes those “who never knew” him. None of these teach that you can lose salvation, but that it can be inauthentic. Maybe fake, maybe well-intentioned, maybe misled, maybe deceived, or maybe willful unbelief and rebellion.

Closing illustration: I know about a man who was very religious, but committed murder. Not to long after that, he made a profession of faith, rejoicing that he was a new man, forgiven in Christ. However, a lot of people weren’t convinced. They wanted to wait and see if his “supposed” profession of faith would hold out.

His faith seemed to hold out on the outside. He was serving Christ as much as he could. He got involved with the church. He even got into the ministry, eventually becoming an elder. However, he wrote in a book about his secret struggles with remaining sinful habits and behavior. Here is what he said:

Romans 7:15–25 ESV

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

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