Matthew 21:28-32 - On Second Thought... - October 11, 2020

Second thoughts. We’ve all had them. And we know that there are good ones and bad ones. Having second thoughts about the spouse, the house, the career you’ve chosen generally isn’t good. But there are good second thoughts. “On second thought, I will exercise instead of watch TV.” “On second thought, I’m going to read my Bible instead of endlessly scrolling through Amazon looking for hot deals.” “On second thought, I will do my homework instead of play video games.” In our text Jesus tells a parable about two sons who had second thoughts to warn and rebuke anyone who would fail to think twice about him.

The obvious question is: “who do the two sons represent?” The majority of the church fathers thought the boys represented the Israelites and the Gentiles. The Israelites I will go, sir but didn’t do what their father asked. They appeared to be obedient. They were the Old Testament church. They had the Scriptures, the Temple, the priesthood, the ceremonies – but in spite of it all they didn’t do the will of the Father – as the OT prophets testify. The Gentile nations, on the other hand, had openly rejected the God of Israel and worshipped false gods – but later, when the Gospel spread to all nations, they repented; they eventually did the will of the Father.

Others stick to the immediate context and say that the “yes-man” represents the chief priests and the elders of the people to whom Jesus is speaking and the “no-man” represents the tax collectors and the prostitutes. That would seem to fit, too, wouldn’t it? Outwardly the chief priests and elders appeared more than willing to work in God’s kingdom. Outwardly they weren’t in open rebellion against him. But while they said “yes,” they lived a secret life of “no” – that is, of unbelief in the Savior God had sent. And then there were the sinners, the prostitutes and tax collectors who lived open lives of saying “no” to God’s will. Think of the woman Jesus met at the well in Samaria had been divorced four times and was currently living in sin (John 4). Or think of men like Matthew himself and Zacchaeus (Matthew 9:9-13; Luke 10:1-10). Both were tax collectors – well known fraudsters. But they had second thoughts, they changed their minds, they repented – and their lives of “no” became “yes.”

And, while either of these interpretations is valid, we’re going to go in a different direction today. Why? Because that leaves you and me out of the picture. That lets us off the hook. We could sit here all day listening to preaching about the sins of others and leave here untouched and unaffected and unrepentant. Unless we see ourselves in these two sons, we’re just wasting our time. In a sense, every Christian is the first son, the “no-man.” We were all born into this world hostile to God (Romans 8:7), saying “no” right to his face. It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit came to us through the Gospel and led us to have the second thought of repentance that we were able to begin working in the Father’s kingdom.

The real danger is that those who have been called to repentance and faith can later become “yes-men.” “Yes-men” are still prevalent in the church today. “We could really use some help with ushering or cleaning or lawn-mowing or teaching or evangelizing, would you be able to help?” And they say “yes,” but don’t do it. “I’ve noticed that you haven’t been coming to church lately, can I count on seeing you there Sunday?” “Yes, yes, I’ll be there on Sunday” but you don’t see them. “You know how important it is for your children to be in Sunday school faithfully, to lay a foundation of faith that will carry them through life, will you bring them and stay for Bible class yourself?” “Of course,” and then they don’t show up. I could go on and on. Why would anyone say “yes” when they have no intention of following through? Because “no,” is considered a bad word in Christian circles. So when it comes to God’s will, it’s generally all “yeses.” “Yes, I’ll do that. Yes, I believe that. Yes, yes, yes.” Many seem to believe that it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you have the right intentions. But Jesus makes it abundantly clear that it’s not only about what you say, but what you do; that your words and actions speak louder than your words alone. How do we combine the best of both sons – the “yes” of the second and the follow-through of the first? Here’s a hint: it’s through the third son. (More on him in a bit.)

This is a short parable. It’s easy to think we understand after hearing it only once. But you have to think twice when you really consider who the sons represent and when you consider the will of the Father. Which of the two did the will of his father? Jesus asks. But it’s a trap, isn’t it? Neither boy really did what his father wanted, did they? Which leads to our next question: what is the Father’s will? Clearly, in the parable, the father’s will was that both of his sons agree to go to work in his vineyard. By how does that relate to us?

We tend to have a rather limited, and, frankly, self-centered view of God’s will. We generally think of it in terms of our own behavior and decisions. In other words, we think of God’s will in terms of the Law: what he wants us to do or not do. But God’s will is much bigger than that – it not only encompasses our lives but the lives of all people of all time. Specifically, the Father’s will is that no sinner would perish (Ezekiel 33:11) but that all would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). And to accomplish that, God put his will into action: when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons (Galatians 4:4). God wanted his Son to come to earth to save sinners. That’s his will – a will that we cannot accomplish.

We may (and we do) chafe under God’s will for us. We don’t like being told what to believe and do. But just remember this: God has never asked you to do what he told his Son to do. C.S. Lewis described this in Mere Christianity: “The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.” [1] Would you trade places with your pet hamster? And yet Jesus, as Psalm 22 tells us, willingly agreed to become a worm and not a man (Psalm 22:6) as he hung, bleeding and dying, on the cross to pay for the sins of the world.

Jesus is the third son we desperately need because we all exhibit the worst behavior of both sons. We regularly say “no” right to God’s face – and even if we later change our minds, it’s still rebellion worthy of hell. And we also regularly leave here saying “yes” to God’s face only to fail to do his will in our lives. So thank God that there is a 3rd Son who never once said no to God and never failed to follow through. Thank God that Jesus said “yes” to living a life of perfect obedience under the law – and did it; and thank God that Jesus said “yes” to suffering for the sins of the world on the cross – and finished it (John 19:30). Thank God that it was the LORD’s will to crush him and to allow him to suffer (Isaiah 53:10) instead of you. Remember this the next time you’re tempted to doubt or question or chafe against God’s will for you: it was God’s will to make Jesus suffer instead of you; it was his will to punish Jesus so that you could become his child.

In light of that, what is the Father’s will for us now? What “work” does he want us to do in his vineyard, his kingdom? Jesus answers that in John 6. This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent (John 6:29). The Father’s greatest will for your life here and now is not that you say “yes” to every single task in his kingdom; his goal is not that you would spend every second of your life feverishly laboring in his kingdom. He wanted the Jewish leaders and the tax collectors and prostitutes and, of course, you, above all, to believe in Jesus. To believe that he suffered the punishment you deserved by his death on the cross. To believe as many times as you’ve behaved like the first two sons, the third Son, Jesus has redeemed you and reconciled you to the Father. That is the real “work” of the Father.

That’s the way it goes with second thoughts, isn’t it? You have to adjust your thinking based on changing facts. There is one more question we have to answer: what is the way of righteousness in which John came? Well, we know that John came preaching against the sins of tax collectors, prostitutes, church leaders – he came preaching repentance and a change of life. But that wasn’t the way of righteousness. Remember what Paul told the Galatians? If there had been a law given that could give life, certainly righteousness would have been derived from the law (Galatians 3:21). If we think that the way of righteousness is the way of the Law, based on what we do, we’re only going to find ourselves exposed; exposed as either being hypocrites who say “yes,” but don’t do it or as having never wanted to do it in the first place.

The way of righteousness John preached wasn’t based on the righteousness of obedience, the righteousness of the Law – but on the righteousness of the third Son. We see this clearly way back at Jesus’ baptism: Jesus came from Galilee to be baptized by John at the Jordan. But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, because it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:13-15). The way of righteousness that John taught, that he came to give through baptism to tax collectors and prostitutes, to chief priests and elders was the righteousness of Jesus. Jesus didn’t condemn the Jewish leaders because they failed to obey but because they failed to believe (Matthew 21:32).

This is the second thought God wants you to have about the way of righteousness. He wants you to think twice about his will as laid out in the 10 Commandments. He wants you to realize that he hasn’t given them to you so you can save yourself. Instead, he wants you to see how these commandments expose you as a lost sinner. In other words, he doesn’t want you to be either son. He doesn’t want you to say, “Yes, I will work in your vineyard” – when you and he know that you can’t do it. He doesn’t want to hear, “No, I won’t” only to have you change your mind later. What he wants to hear is: “No, I can’t, but Jesus did in my place.” He doesn’t want you to approach him in the way of your own righteousness – which is really nothing more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) – but rather clothed in the robe of Jesus’ blood and righteousness. The real way of righteousness is one of daily, sincere repentance and faith.

Second thoughts can be good or bad. Jesus teaches us to have good second thoughts in this parable. He wants us to realize that because we exhibit the worst traits of both boys we desperately need a third son – God’s Son – who both said “yes,” and did his Father’s will; he wants us to recognize that the will of God is not that we work to earn a place in his kingdom – but to believe that Jesus’ completed work has earned our place there; and, he wants us to know that the only way of righteousness is the way of faith in Jesus. These are good second thoughts; second thoughts that lead us to say “yes,” to our Father and joyfully go to work in his vineyard. Amen.  

[1] https://www.dacc.edu/assets/pdfs/PCM/merechristianitylewis.pdf