Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 21:28-32 "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. {29} He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. {30} And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. {31} Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. {32} For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."
Jesus is once again focusing on one of his most preached topics in this passage. He wants the religious leaders of his time, and ours as well, to know that actions speak louder than words. The religious world of our time had better wake up to this fact or there will be tons of disappointed people on judgment day. We can’t give God lip service and expect him to be happy. Jesus seems to teach this message in every way he possibly can. In Matthew 7:21 He says, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." But no matter how often or how many different ways he gave this message there were many then and now who proudly proclaim to be Christians, children of God, and followers of Christ and go about living like the devil.
It is sad to know there will always be hypocrites, but it is sadder still to see churches and church leaders who condone, approve, or even actively encourage this sinful lifestyle. We all have sinned, but we should be ashamed of those things and work diligently to get that sin out of our lives. Just pretending to be holy on Sunday will never impress Jesus or His Father.
Jesus in asking, “what think ye?”, let’s us know that He wants us to think about what we do and what will please God. We live in a world that emphasizes emotions or feelings to such an extent that how someone feels has become far more important to most people than what they think. Just ask ten religious people if they are right with God, and most if not all will respond with, “I feel. . .” or something similar. But what think ye? It is a wonderful feeling to feel safe and saved, but God won’t be determining who gets into heaven on the basis of feelings. Feelings just are not always right and we know it. It would not be good, for example, for me to decide whether to slow down and stop at an intersection based on whether I felt safe. I might feel safe going right through a red light just before being smashed by an 18-wheeler. No, we can’t live life based on our feelings alone.
Christianity is a religion based on what we can know and reason from God’s word. It is a religion of the mind first and the heart second. We must learn to do what we know is right regardless of how we feel, and then learn to feel good about doing what is good.
That brings us to the two sons in Jesus’ parable. The father gave them both the same command. The first did not feel like obeying, and consequently told the father he wouldn’t. This son’s feelings about the task may or may not have changed, but his attitude (state of mind) did change. He did what he knew was right. The other son knew what was right and told the father what he wanted to hear. He apparently didn’t feel like doing it either, however, and followed those feelings. The people Jesus was talking to thought the first son was the one who did right, but there are many today who would probably argue that if the sons didn’t feel good about doing it then it was okay for them to not do the work. They would probably say that it was okay for the second son to lie to his father so the father’s feelings wouldn’t be hurt. That is certainly what people do.
So, what do you think? Which son did right? The one who followed his feelings? Or, The one who followed his reasoning? What about you? Are there things that you are doing because it feels good or right even though the Bible teaches that it is wrong?
Jesus is once again focusing on one of his most preached topics in this passage. He wants the religious leaders of his time, and ours as well, to know that actions speak louder than words. The religious world of our time had better wake up to this fact or there will be tons of disappointed people on judgment day. We can’t give God lip service and expect him to be happy. Jesus seems to teach this message in every way he possibly can. In Matthew 7:21 He says, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." But no matter how often or how many different ways he gave this message there were many then and now who proudly proclaim to be Christians, children of God, and followers of Christ and go about living like the devil.
It is sad to know there will always be hypocrites, but it is sadder still to see churches and church leaders who condone, approve, or even actively encourage this sinful lifestyle. We all have sinned, but we should be ashamed of those things and work diligently to get that sin out of our lives. Just pretending to be holy on Sunday will never impress Jesus or His Father.
Jesus in asking, “what think ye?”, let’s us know that He wants us to think about what we do and what will please God. We live in a world that emphasizes emotions or feelings to such an extent that how someone feels has become far more important to most people than what they think. Just ask ten religious people if they are right with God, and most if not all will respond with, “I feel. . .” or something similar. But what think ye? It is a wonderful feeling to feel safe and saved, but God won’t be determining who gets into heaven on the basis of feelings. Feelings just are not always right and we know it. It would not be good, for example, for me to decide whether to slow down and stop at an intersection based on whether I felt safe. I might feel safe going right through a red light just before being smashed by an 18-wheeler. No, we can’t live life based on our feelings alone.
Christianity is a religion based on what we can know and reason from God’s word. It is a religion of the mind first and the heart second. We must learn to do what we know is right regardless of how we feel, and then learn to feel good about doing what is good.
That brings us to the two sons in Jesus’ parable. The father gave them both the same command. The first did not feel like obeying, and consequently told the father he wouldn’t. This son’s feelings about the task may or may not have changed, but his attitude (state of mind) did change. He did what he knew was right. The other son knew what was right and told the father what he wanted to hear. He apparently didn’t feel like doing it either, however, and followed those feelings. The people Jesus was talking to thought the first son was the one who did right, but there are many today who would probably argue that if the sons didn’t feel good about doing it then it was okay for them to not do the work. They would probably say that it was okay for the second son to lie to his father so the father’s feelings wouldn’t be hurt. That is certainly what people do.
So, what do you think? Which son did right? The one who followed his feelings? Or, The one who followed his reasoning? What about you? Are there things that you are doing because it feels good or right even though the Bible teaches that it is wrong?
RSS Feed
