Matthew 21 tells the story of Jesus' final week before he was crucified. One of the most interesting things about Jesus is that right up until the point of his death he was teaching, healing and continuing to preach about the kingdom of God. Right up to the end, he continued to show people what it meant to live in this kingdom. The story that we’re reading on Sunday is in this final week.
There is a long list of different parables throughout the scriptures that speak to different aspects of the kingdom of God. This one speaks to the heart of what it means to be people who are truly kingdom oriented. People are known by their actions and not only their words.
People can very easily talk about all the things that they’re going to do and then never follow through with it. Maybe they have good intentions. Maybe they’ve had a difficult week or maybe there’s been all kinds of things happening. Perhaps you’re in that situation now? Christians are supposed to be people who when they say that they’re going to do something follow through. But……Let’s be honest sometimes this is hard. Jesus is always full of grace but it is clear in scripture that he was calling his disciples, and everyone in the crowd to a higher standard.
One of the things Jesus was addressing in this specific parable was that actions speak louder than words. However, he was also addressing the Pharisees. The Pharisees at the time, were known to be keeping every aspect of the Jewish law. They were the “gatekeepers.
They did everything correctly as far as the Jewish law said so.
But when Jesus was talking to them about these two sons (which we’re going to talk about Sunday) he was addressing them and saying “You’re missing a bigger picture”, “You’re not seeing what’s right in front of you.
The Pharisees, though rigorous in their legalistic obedience to the Jewish law were blinded to the truths of Jesus' kingdom! Something was wrong.
Jesus was addressing an issue of the heart.
As we consider Jesus addressing the Pharisees, we need to take a look and ask ourselves, “Am I a person who is responding to the call of God every day.” Or maybe another way, “How can I be obedient to God today?”
Maybe we are known for being people who have everything together, but the truth is when we’re asked to do something by God, maybe we’re a little slow to respond. Maybe we’re more worried about what other people think, maybe we’re more worried about what will happen if we do something in accordance with what God has asked us to do. Maybe we’re worried about the way obeying God will affect our family. Maybe we’re worried about the way this obedience will affect our friends.
Jesus understood the risk. Jesus understood what it meant to act out what he believed in.
As you study, read the entire chapter of Matthew 21. Get a little bit of context to what was going on in Jesus' mind leading up to the cross. As we dive deeper into this passage this week, get a feel for who Jesus was speaking to. Take in the way that he was addressing the crowd. Try to imagine yourself sitting and listening to this teaching of Jesus not knowing that this would be his final week on earth.
