Matthew 21:28

Mat_21:28-32

A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day.

Christian sonship and service

I. Christian sonship furnishes the best possible motives for Christian service.

II. It furnishes the best possible facilities for Christian service.

III. It makes Christian service imperative. (A. H. Stoate.)

A bad promise well broken; a good promise sacrificed

I. Those who openly and above board reject the Christian religion, I like a positive man, and not one half and half. If he turns he will be positive in the other direction. Break the infatuation now. Repent and go.

II. Those who have been promising to become Christians, but all the time breaking their promises. When did you first promise? In sickness; in time of religious awakening. (Dr. Talmage.)

Determined sinners have repented

Let it be recorded of you as was recorded of this young man in the text. He said: I will not, but afterward he repented and went. Let me tell you, my brothers, that there have been men just as much set against religion as you are, and yet they surrendered to Christ. Do you know the story of John Bunyan, declaring that he would not go into the kingdom of God with an oath so horrid that even the abandoned people in the street tried to hush him up, and yet, in a little while dreaming a dream of heaven so sweet that the mere recital of it has enchanted all Christendom? Mr. Madden went to scoff at John Wesley while he preached, and the mere announcement of the text: Prepare to meet thy God, converted him. Only a few months ago, in New York City, a man in indignation leaped with both feet upon the Bible, so did he hate it; yet in a few weeks after, he held that very Bible on his lap reading with tearful eyes the glorious promises. Some time ago, when we were worshipping in the Academy of Music, there came in three young men and three young ladies, evidently to make sport of the religious solemnities. In the early part of the services, they wrote notes, and laughed, and jeered. In the midst of the sermon, they bowed their heads. At the close of the services, all six rose up with tearful eyes, begging for the prayers of Gods people. Oh, it is a mighty gospel, charged with the invitations and the condemnations of hell. (Dr. Talmage.)

Address to young men

I. What God looks for in all of us-work.

1. Inward.

2. Outward.

II. The danger of a fallacious promise is greater than the danger of a hasty refusal. The son who said, I go, sir, was the one who went not. (Dean Vaughan.)

The two sons

1. Our Lord does not intend to approve of the conduct of the first son in every respect, I will not. True there was no hypocrisy about him; still he was disobedient with all his frankness. Some seem to imagine they will be forgiven for being sinners because they have never pretended to be saints. Is a man less the enemy of God because he is outspoken?

2. That our Lord does not approve of this sons conduct as a whole, as if it were the only proper way of meeting Gods commune! It was well that he repented; but would have been better if he had not refused. It is best to save the reflection of a wasted past.

3. Our Lord does not design to condemn the making of a promise to God when that is done sincerely and performed earnestly.

I. The nature of the command which God makes on every one to whom the gospel calls. Go work, etc.

1. The test of sincerity is in deeds. Words are valuable only as the expression of an inward spirit. Works are the manifestation of our love to God; not the means of procuring His love for us.

2. The peculiar nature of the work by which our love and life are to be manifested, Go work in my vineyard. Cultivate all the fruits of the Spirit.

3. The promptitude of the obedience which is required-to-day.

4. The tender nature of the appeal which God makes son. Sonship is not incompatible with service. It only transmutes that service into joy.

II. The danger of making an insincere confession of God. To the chief priests and scribes our Lord said, The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom before you. Their difficulties were subjective. The insincere state of soul makes it harder for priests to enter the kingdom of heaven than for harlots to repent of their sins. Besides self-complacency which is produced by insincerity, there is also a hardening influence connected with it. It dims the moral perceptions.

III. In this parable Christ meant to encourage sinners of the vilest description to repent and believe the gospel. The publicans and harlots enter the kingdom. Let the wicked forsake his way, etc. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Swift tongue; slow foot

I. The first characteristic of the swift tongue and slow foot is unbelief. I go, sir. Notions constitute their religion; there is no operative faith. No mere notion will ever affect a character.

II. Another characteristic of the swift tongue and slow foot is indifference. Truth must be interesting to us to be impressive.

III. Another impediment is in the manifoldness of intellectual objects-wit, learning, and imagination may impede the man who says, I go, sir. His attention may be diverted from the main object; he is wise, but not unto salvation.

IV. Every man has one load to carry which retards him in his journey. One besetting sin.

V. Religion will only become the law of life when it too becomes a ruling passion. Oh, how love I Thy law, etc. This will unite our connections to our actions. (E. Paxton Hood.)

Occasional goodness

Some people seem to take out their religion once a week to give it an airing; or, it is like a ticket taken at a station, put into the pocket until the end of the journey. Visit Versailles, near Paris; all its magnificent fountains on the week day are dry and repulsive, grass-grown, weed-covered. Visit them on the Sabbath day (on which day I beg to say I have never seen them) and they are tossing all their glorious waters high in the air; every Neptune, triton, or nymph flashing forth in the splendour of the magnificent water shower-a fair sad picture of Sabbath religion. How different from the flowing river, always pouring its musical, fertile, and irrigating stream! Some faiths are technical, temporary, and occasional; they are like the waterworks, or the fountain on a fete day; then the bolts are turned, and the fountains cease to play. On certain great occasions, or in certain public forms, we are saying, I go, sir, and the largest portion of other times is showing that we go not. We enter not, because of unbelief. (E. Paxton Hood.)

A hasty refusal and a wise retractation

I. The important command issued. The nature of the work to which the gospel calls. It is extensive, important, arduous, delightful, profitable. It may be divided into-

1. That which respects God.

2. That which regards ourselves.

3. That which concerns others.

II. The hasty refusal given. I will not.

1. The natural aversion of the heart.

2. The sinful love of ease.

3. Their occupation in other pursuits.

III. The wise retraction made.

1. The change stated

(1) Its nature, He repented.

(2) Its fruit, And went.

(3) Its period. Afterward.

2. The wisdom it evinces. It is wise to retract: refusal is

(1) Against your best interests.

(2) Betrays the greatest ingratitude to God.

(3) Issues in eternal ruin.

Address-

1. Those who have complied with the command.

2. Those who are refusing.

3. Those who have complied only in profession. (E. Temple)

Truth to rule the life must awaken personal interest

All truth is true, but what if it be uninteresting? it becomes unimpressive and useless. Truth we apprehend to be necessary to our well-being; what a difference if I should strike a man on the shoulder, and say, The three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles; or if I should say to him, Your house is on fire! Your child has just been run over and killed! Truth is truth; but if men are not interested in it, it will not influence the life. What a difference there is between furniture in the lumber-room, or auctioneers shop, and furniture in the household room! It is not enough that we apprehend truth to be good and valuable, if it do not influence the will and the affections. (E. Temple.)

Man organized with a principle of instantaneity

We have received, happily, a constitution which is adapted to the exigencies of human life. Mens minds do not act as printers types do, every letter being selected, and every sentence being spelt out, and, when it is stamped, being stamped complete. Men, on the other hand, are so organized that they have in every part of their nature an element of what may be called instantaneity-the instantaneous effusion of feeling; the immediate perception of what is best or not best; a recognition of what is good or what is bad, what is right or what is wrong, what is safe or what is dangerous-instantaneousness of purpose. This element or principle of instantaneity of course varies. The dull and lethargic are slow; the intermediate are faster than this extreme, and less rapid than the other extreme; and the more finely organized, the higher, natures have it so that it flashes and plays without any perceptible pause between the impulses and the result. But all have it; without it life would be impossible. When men walk the very body has it. If a man should be obliged, as one that is just getting out from an attack of inflammatory rheumatism, or as one who is in the last stages of lumbago (and I speak feelingly), to pick his way as he walks, and think, That brick is set a little sidewise, and to calculate and say, How many inches must I lift my foot, to step over it? how long do you think it would take him to walk from Brooklyn to New York? Going and coming back would consume almost the whole day, and the errands of life would be neglected. But a man in health is not obliged to do this. The foot itself does the calculating. The foot sees without your thinking or seeing. It rises and lowers of its own accord. You instinctively avoid the slough. You leap the little gulfs. You know the best way to accommodate your whole body to the ten thousand varying conditions of matter. The law of gravitation, of light, of heat, of magnetism, of liquidity or solidity, of things sharp or blunt-all these the body, without any care on your part, attends to. No man walks into a mortar-bed. No man stumbles over a sand-heap. Men jump, not on iron fences, but on featherbeds; and having jumped, they never get up and say, Ah! what if we had not thought of that! How lucky it was! Suppose a man were obliged, for all the operations of the body, to have a little monitor in his mind that should be on the look-out for him, and he should say, If I lift my hand so and so, or do so and so with it, I shall have rheumatism in the shoulder, and therefore I wont do it? What if such calculation as that had to be made before every movement of the body? (H. W. Beecher.)

The benefit of momentary illumination

When, after long, long days of sailing during which no reckoning has been taken by the lost mariner, there opens, for half an hour, a rift in the cloud, he gets a view of the sun, and instantly he takes an observation; and then the cloud shuts again. Ah! but he has had an observation. The days are dark, and the storm continues; but he has had an observation, and that is of great advantage. But how much better it would have been if the storm had cleared away and given him a calm sea and an unobscured sky! Yet a momentary observation was better than nothing. (H. W. Beecher.)

Culture the faint impulse to a nobler life

Therefore I say to every man in my presence: Do not neglect the impulses to a nobler life. Do not put them away from you. Do not prove dishonest and tricky with any of those movements in yourself which indicate that the germ of Divine life is in you. A child is drowned! a child is drowned! this is the cry that goes through the whole village; and the mother, well-nigh bereft of reason, dashes wildly out as they are bearing the limp, helpless body, with long streaming hair, by her door. The physician is sped for, and the neighbours are there. Shes dead! shes dead! shes dead i cries the mother, shes dead! shes dead! shes dead! My only child! my only child! my only child! They would comfort her, and they say, Oh, do not be so despondent do not be so despondent. Dead! dead! Those eyes will never see me again. Shes dead! shes dead! And still the workers will not give over. But at last they say, Yes, she is dead. Then, with a strange fantasy of opposition, the mother cries again, She is not dead; she cannot be dead; she shall not be dead. And she lays hands upon her, and says, I know she is not dead. And she gazes in anguish, until a little quiver is seen upon the lip, Oh, my God! she is not dead. The eyes do not see, the ears do not hear, the hands do not move, the heart cannot be felt; but there is that little quiver of the lip. Theres life there! theres life there! theres life there! Yes, there is life there; and now they come again, and remedies are applied, and the still form quickens, and the mothers faith is rewarded, and she takes the living child back to her bosom. O thou that hast in thee but the quiver of the lip, but the trembling of the eye, but the faintest pulsation of the heart, God, thine Everlasting Father, beholds it; and He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, till He bring forth judgment unto victory. There is victory for you; there is hope for you; there is salvation for you. Oh, despise not the striving of the Spirit. Begin, accept, hold fast, and thou shalt be saved. (H. W. Beecher.)

Say well and do well

Work of God in world not done ver. His vineyard still needs digging and tending, pruning and cultivating.

I. Every man has a mission from God. Cannot discharge himself of responsibility by openly professing not to obey. Gods claim proportionate to our ability and opportunity.

II. This mission is work. God says, Come, before He says, Go; Love Me, before Work for Me. He seeks not enforced toil of slaves, but cheerful obedience of sons. Gods vineyard is not a playground in which to take our ease.

III. The scene of this work is Gods vineyard. We are to make our own lives, and those of our fellows, as faithful as we can. For what spiritual sphere then does this figure stand?

1. Our own hearts.

2. Our own households.

3. Scenes of daily life.

4. Church and its institutions.

Wherever you can labour for God, that is the part of the vineyard to which He calls you. And whatever you can do for Him, that is the work He bids you do.

IV. The work is pressing and urgent-to be done to-day.

V. How men treat the command.

1. Some profess to obey, but really disobey. Still call themselves Christians. Would shrink from renouncing their profession. Not hypocrites. When they said they would go, they meant it. But imperceptibly religion has dwindled down with them from its grand and beautiful reality to a mere soul-saving apparatus.

2. Others refuse at first, but afterwards obey. No justification here of first refusal. The son who repented and went is approved, not wholly, but by contrast with his brother. Nor could even he do all his father bade. For already the sun had climbed high into the heavens, and part of the precious day was gone. We cannot recall misused past. Waste no longer the golden hours. (J. R. Bailey.)

Work for God

We are all ready to say that work for God is a noble thing. What we need is to see that we ourselves may all do work for God if we try. There are some who complain that they can do nothing. I am wearing away my life in business; I have to toil for my family; my life is frittered away in such trifling every-day tasks. I, at least, shall have nothing to show in the end for my life. Nay, but that very commonplace work of yours is work for God. It must be clone; you have to do it; and, therefore, God Himself, who placed you where you are, gave you that work to do.

I. Offer each days week to God. Ask Him to help you to do it well and diligently, because it is His. Make your daily act of self-dedication.

II. Be on the watch for opportunities. Make it your aim and desire to be gathering with God, rooting up evil where you can, fostering the growth of good where possible; shedding the light around you which may win souls to safety.

III. Be content to do little things well Your work for God may consist wholly in very little things. The poor lone woman whose home was on the cliff in the dangerous coast, knew of bat one good thing she could do. She could keep her little candle burning in her window to warn off those who came near the danger. It was but a little thing; it may have cheered a few, it may even have saved one or two. Who doubts but that her little loving effort was a glorious brightness in the Masters sight? (N. H. Parr, M. A.)

Promptness in work

We should aim at being too active to stagnate, too busy to freeze. We should endeavour to be like Cromwell, who not only struck while the iron was hot, but made it hot by striking-like the missionary who said, If there be happiness on earth, it is in labouring in the service of Christ-like the blessed Redeemer Himself, whose meat and drink it was to do the will of God. The vineyard must be cultivated; and the command is that we enter it and work. (Christian Treasury.)

He repented: change of mind for the better unusual

There are but few who turn and do their duty after having once refused. Men will be as big as their words, though they die for it, lest they should be accounted inconsistent. These are niggardly of their reputation, but prodigal of their souls. (John Trapp.)

The two sons; a contrast

I. The rude but obedient son:

1. What he said, I will not. This very rude, very unfilial. A reasonable request unreasonably rejected.

2. What he did, repented. Thought of his fathers kindness, and his duty. Did not go and tell his father he was sorry for what lie had said, but by his conduct proved his sorrow. This is true repentance.

II. The polite but inobedient son.

1. What he said, I go, sir. This right, pleasing to the father, becoming in a son.

2. What he did, went not. His obedience mere profession and words, not real. Leaves, but not fruit. Learn: Many, like rude, son, have said they would not serve God, but afterwards have repented. You have said the former; have you done the latter? Many, like the polite son, have shown the promise of goodness that you have never kept. Will you keep it now, by working to-day in the vineyard? (The Hive.)

Profession and practice.

I. Dissect the characters here contrasted. The second well-meaning, good-intentioned, emotional, shallow, flippant, great in promising. The first, rude, dissolute, hardened, profligate.

II. Review their conduct. The second saying, not doing; the fathers disappointment; men by action seem to say, I go, but remain where they are. The first became thoughtful, wondered that such a son as he should be asked by the father to do anything: repented and went.

III. Enforce the inquiry. Obeying God lies in doing His will, not in mere empty promises of amendment. (Anon.)

The parable of the two sons

I. As holding forth the command of God to his creatures. His command is distinguished by three characters.

1. It is affectionate, My son.

2. It is practical, Work.

3. It is urgent, To-day.

II. the manner in which it is regarded.

1. One proves better than he promises.

2. One promises better than he proves. Are you saying, I will not ? What nonsense, what madness! Are you saying, I go, sir. Beware of insincerity. (W. Jay.)

I. The manner of the address.

1. It denotes authority.

2. It is the voice of affection.

II. The general requisition which is made-Go work.

1. There are difficulties which must be conquered.

2. There are duties which must be performed.

3. The great design of heaven cannot be accomplished without labour.

III. The scene allotted for labour.

1. You are to be regulated in all your labours by your Fathers revealed will.

2. Cultivation is suggested by the text.

IV. The promptitude of attention is required.

1. GO work today.

2. To-morrow may be too late.

3. The responsibility which is attached to the use of present advantages.

4. There is a great danger of losing religious impressions.

5. What effect has the command in the text produced upon you?

6. Encouragement to labour.

7. You will not be left to yourselves. (R. Winter, D. D.)

The two sons

I. Who promised not, and went not. Did not promise, but rudely refused. This wrong. He repented. How many refuse who never repent! To be inconsistent with rash vows and wicked resolutions is the highest consistency-what many call consistency is often only stubbornness and hardness of heart. What induced this repentance? The great goodness of his father; his own ingratitude; the importance of the work. Have we ever thought of these things? Without repenting.

II. Who promised, and went not. Very ready with words-right words too. Spoken to obtain present rest-to put the father off, a c. How many patronize religion, and speak fair! How many intend to be religious! How long and how often have we promised thus! Do we ever intend to keep our word? When?

III. Who obeyed. The first. To one of the two classes represented by these sons we very likely belong. We have all been called to work. We have met the call either by a bold refusal, or by a fair promise. How have we ended? May God give us grace to do His will. (J. C. Gray.)

Our work

I. The vineyard.

1. This vineyard is the property of God.

2. The cultivation of this vineyard is committed to the Church.

3. The Church has neglected her duty in reference to this vineyard.

II. The work.

III. The workmen. Their qualifications:

1. Ardent piety.

2. Fixed religious principles.

3. Accurate information.

4. A liberal spirit.

5. Prayer. (T. Raffles, D. D.)

The two sons

1. The argument of the appeal lay upon the sonship.

2. A call to grace is a call to work.

3. There is the instantaneousness of the obedience, To-day.

The reception, I will not. Why that son will not work in his fathers vineyard.

1. He did not really know or love his father.

2. He liked the imaginary independence which he felt in being his own master outside.

3. Doubtless the labour inside contrasted unfavourably in his mind with the gaiety outside.

4. The urgency of the demand little suited his desultory and procrastinating mind.

5. Perhaps some foolish windings of entangled thought had got into his mind, I cant command my will. But he changed and went. His Fathers will was still echoing in his heart. The vineyard appeared in happier aspect. His sentiments towards His Father changed.

When he went he probably proved himself a better worker than if he went at first. This parable teaches-

1. That there is a free will in you for which you are responsible.

2. Gods patience is perfectly marvellous.

3. The garden of the Lord, His Church, is ready for you.

4. God and angels are working there.

5. Many are now working there in liberty and gladness who once said, I will not. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The moral nature injured by the stimulation of unfulfilled, impulse

Then what was the matter with them? Why did they act so? It was because they were under the influence of an exterior pressure. While there was a mind interpreting there the truth to them, they accepted it; but, the moment that influence ceased to be exerted upon them, they fell back into themselves. There was no root of that thing in them. At the first opportunity, all their under-nature worked again, just as it had worked before. That is the reason why so many persons listen, resolve, feebly try, and fail miserably. So that I sometimes think going to church hurts people. I know that going to church hurts some people. There are persons who go into church, and are stimulated and lifted up, and then they go out again, and fall back into their own old nature, and act just as if they had not been stimulated; and they go in again, and are stimulated and lifted up again, and then they go out, and fall back again. Their nature accommodates itself to the different circumstances, and they get used to them. Being lifted up and lowered, lifted up and lowered, the operative capacity of their sensibilities is lost out, and they get into sort of medium condition, in which they remain all the rest of their lives, no longer competent to carry out any generous impulse which they may have. A moral enamel comes over them; so that, though they feel somewhat, there is a disconnection between feeling and willing-between feeling as a moral emotion, and willing organized as a power of action-between transient feeling and the embodiment of feeling into character, which is the great end and drift of education in human life. This power of turning a momentary emotion to a permanent benefit they have lost; and when they have lost that, they have lost all nerve. (H. W. Beecher.)

Aids to weak impulses

Where persons have good impulses, but are feeble in carrying them out, we see the wisdom of the Divine ordination of business, of society, of the family, and of the Church; for there are persons who are like pea-vines that need to be staked, in order that they may stand up. They have not strength enough to support themselves. If they had not something to lean upon they would be beaten to the ground by every rain. Many and many feeble nature has power to stand in alliance with a stronger nature, and to climb on a stronger nature, and so to be saved instead of being lost. Even the household does that for the individual which he could not do for himself. So it comes to pass that persons are not only virtuous, but high-minded when at home, who, when public duty takes them to Washington or Albany, sink into the mire. About nine men in every ten cannot afford to leave home. Their coarseness, their temper, their passions, which at home are restrained by duty, by love, by various influences, spring forth when they are abroad. The restraints from vice and the inspiration of excellence being taken away, having no root in themselves, they fall. (H. W. Beecher.)

Impulsive goodness may conceal craft

When a farmer wants to catch wild turkeys, building his pen in the woods, and digging his trench, he strews corn along. He must be a miser who would grudge enough corn to catch a dozen turkeys; and crafty men must be mean and selfish indeed if they cannot spare enough disinterestedness to catch you with. And so they bait themselves with good nature, with jollity, and with wit; and people say of them, oftentimes, Now that man has a great deal that is good about him. Yes, it is about him. There are men of whom it is said, Oh, well, a man had better look out for him in the end, but still he has ver? good qualities. He is a pleasant fellow; but under all his pleasantness there is craft. I have seen mosquitoes. They are very delicately organized creatures. They have beautiful wings, looked at through the microscope; they sing a very sweet tenor; and if you notice how they sit down on you nothing is more graceful. Lighting, they hush their song; and it is not until they have found the right place that they commence sucking your blood. And there are men in the world that are just like them. Blood is what they want. That is the reason of their gauzy flight and their singing about you. Since it is blood they want they take the way to get it. (H. W. Beecher.)

A resurrection of dead resolutions

If men are afraid to go by graveyards, for fear that here and there some sheeted ghost will peer over the wall and chatter at them, what would they think if, out of every sepulchre, there should come up a peering, gibbering ghost, and the yard should be full of pallid spectres? Who would go past it under such circumstances? And if God Almighty should give resurrection to all the times in which you have most solemnly entertained and enfranchised noble resolutions, and then buried them ignominiously; if He should call up to your memory all the virtues, all the soul-fruits, which have been drawn out of you by the Sun of Righteousness, and which you have trampled under foot, who of you could stand in your own presence, or in the presence of any congregation. (H. W. Beecher.)

The two sons

I. The case which is here presented.

1. An important command.

(1) What is required-work.

(2) The sphere of labour.

(3) The period specified.

2. The manner in which it was treated.

(1) A rude refusal, followed by an agreeable change.

(2) A ready and respectful assent, but the promise so promptly made was shamefully broken.

II. The application which is here made.

1. The question proposed, Whether of them twain, etc. Far preferable to be a late penitent than a confirmed formalist.

2. The startling truth declared, Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you. How fearless and faithful his address.

3. The solemn charge substantiated, For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, etc. (Expository Outlines.)

The parable of the two sons

I. Show you whence it is that some persons do make present promises touching future faith and holiness. They make these present promises from these common convictions and illuminations of the Word and Spirit of God.

1. These may be convinced by the law of God that sin is a great evil.

2. They may see that if they die in this condition they are undone for ever.

3. They may make these promises from the nature of an accusing conscience.

4. They may be the effect of sin, affliction, or judgment.

II. Why do these promises seldom end in real performances?

1. It is from the grand agent that stirs them up to make these promises, which is the devil. Satan cares not what promises sinners make to become good, if he can hinder them from closing in with Christ at present.

2. Present promises and resolutions touching future faith seldom end in real performance.

(1) Because it is they design to be wicked at the present.

(2) Because they have but a partial work upon their hearts, their hearts are divided, though their judgments be enlightened their wills are not bowed.

(3) Because they are made in opposition to the Divine command, To-day. God will not assist a man to perform such promises that are made in contempt of His authority.

(4) Because such promises are made only in the strength of the creatures. (B. Keach.)

Immediate obedience wise

Because moral indisposition to close with Christ may be more increased to-morrow than it is to-day; sin is of a hardening nature; if a man, as soon as taken sick, looks out for, or sends for a physician, there may be more hopes he may be cured, than if he should neglect any means until this distemper hath got greater power, and his natural strength is wasted. It is easier to break a colt and bring him to the saddle, than it is an old horse that runs wild in the wilderness; a young plant is sooner plucked up than an old tree. To speak after the manner of men, all know that these things are so, though it is true God can as soon subject the rebellious will of an old sinner as one that is young; yet since this is the Lords time, viz., even to-day, from what I have said, you may learn wisdom. (B. Keach.)

Christian diligence

An eminent divine was suffering under chronic disease, and consulted three physicians. They declared, on being questioned by the sick man, that his disease would be followed by death in a shorter or longer time, according to the manner in which he lived; but they unanimously advised him to give up his office, because, in his situation, mental agitation would be fatal to him. If, inquired the divine, I give myself up to repose, how long, gentlemen, will you guarantee my life? Probably six years, answered the doctors. And if I continue in office? Three years at most. Your servant, gentlemen, he replied, I should prefer living two or three years in doing some good, to living six years in idleness.

Work for Jesus

I. The character under which it calls us.

II. The service to which the Lord calls us, Go work.

III. The time, To-day.

IV. The place where the Lord calls us to work, In my vineyard. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Lost opportunities

A dying soldier, who had enlisted as a Christian, but had for three years, though a man of uprightness and integrity, done nothing to make known the name of Christ, said, I die as a Christian; and I die contented; but oh, if I could have died as Christian worker! … I am peaceful and assured in view of death, he said again, but I am not joyful and glad; those three lost years keep coming back upon me. Then, lying a moment quiet with closed eyes, he added, Chaplain, do you suppose we shall be able to forget anything after death? If so, I should like to forget those three years!

Opportunities neglected

A prisoner is under sentence of death. The fatal hour of execution is concealed from him, but he is told that if before it strikes he petitions the governor, his life will be spared. He says, Ill send to-morrow, and when to-morrow comes he says again, Oh, theres time enough yet; Ill wait a little longer. Suddenly his dungeon doors open, and behold the sheriff and the executioners! Oh, wait, and Ill sign the petition. No, they say, the clock has struck; its too late-you must die. The opportunity has been lost. You are almost through this world, said a chaplain to a soldier, once a Sabbath scholar, who was in the last stages of disease. Am I? said he. Yes, and I hope you are ready for the next. No, I am not-not ready, not ready. Well, my dear friend, Jesus is all ready, and waiting right here. Come, now. Shall I pray? … Oh, no, no; it is too late, too late! I ought to have come long ago. And then he told the chaplain, as calmly as he could, of the time when he was almost a Christian, and decided to let it pass till another winter. That was the time, I might have come then, why didnt I? why didnt I? and, pulling the blanket over his face, he sobbed aloud. It was in vain that the visitor sought to reason him out of his horrid despair, he only motioned him away, crying, Dont talk to me any more-its too late, I cant bear it.

General drift of the parable

As a whole, this parable shows us how God is served by men, and shows us especially that though there are greater and less degrees of disobedience and impenitence, there is no such thing as consistent uniform obedience. The best that God gets from earth is the obedience of repentance. Men must still, each for himself, try their own way, and only when this is found to be quite foolish and hurtful and hopeless, do they try Gods way. No one can take Gods word for it that such and such are the things to be done; such and such others to be avoided. We must for ourselves know good and evil, we must be as gods making choice between the good that sin brings and its evil, and if then Gods judgment about sin tallies with our own we accept it. Such a thing as simple, perpetual acceptance of Gods commands from first to last is not to be found; and repentance, though certainly to be rejoiced over, is, after all, only the second-best thing. Apology, however sincere, is at all times a very poor substitute for conduct that needs none. And yet you will often see that a man considers that a graceful apology, whether to God or men, more than repairs the wrong he has done. It is, no doubt, right to be convinced we have been wrong; it is right to turn in to Gods vineyard, even though it be after refusing to do so; but that complacency should mingle with our repentance is surely a triumph of duplicity. To make our very confession of total unprofitableness matter of self-gratulation is surely the extreme of even religious self-deception. (Marcus Dods. D.D.)

The necessity of work

The vineyard yields us spontaneous fruit. Man must work, and he must work in the line of Gods laws-observing the demands of the plant, supplying the conditions of atmosphere and soil-or else no rich vintage will gladden the hills or reward his toil. And so in the culture of the soul. It is not through rest, but through action-not in seclusion, but by brave labour ant in the open field, under the noontide and under the dew-that its powers are to be developed and its highest possibilities attained. You must not suppose, however, that in insisting upon the great truth that the proper issue and the proof of a real Christianity are in action and work, in the doing by each one of us of his Fathers business in the world, I would put dishonour upon the subjective side of the religious life. This, too, with its seasons of retirement, of quiet meditation, of self-recollection, of communion with God who is the Fountain of all power, is necessary. Nay, more than this: it is the condition precedent and absolutely essential to the highest life and best action of the soul. It is here in the life of the soul as in the life of the material universe. Nature has her seasons of apparent rest when she gathers her energies in secret chambers and in silent ways. But these gathered energies only reveal their value and reach their proper end when they pass out into action and clothe the world with bloom and fruit and beauty for the use and service of men. And this great truth, like every other great moral and spiritual truth, finds illustration in the life of Christ. He retires again and again from the multitude to the secret oratories of the desert and the mountain-top. ]But the full meaning and purpose of His retirement are made manifest when He comes forth again, with all His spiritual energies refreshed, to labour and suffer more devotedly for men, and so to do His Fathers work in the world. The danger against which I would warn you is the belief that Christianity is simply a doctrine or a sentiment. It is these; but above all it is, as the fruition of these, a life and a work. What the world needs to-day, but what, alas! our saintliness not seldom fails to give, is this living, loving, labouring piety. What in this hour our religion lacks especially is red blood. It wants, in place of its too often sickly complexion-the paleness, as it were, of the cloisters-the rich tan of a vigorous health, which comes only from brave and devoted labour under all the changing skies. And so the command comes to you and to me, Son, daughter, go out and work. It bids us leave our shaded hermit-caves in the valley, come down from our high peaks of mere religious sentiment or rhapsody, and go, each one of us, to his own proper field along the hot and stony hillsides of our life, toiling there with energy and patience and devotion until the whole landscape shall hang thick with the burdened vines. (W. Rudder, D. D.)

Gods vineyard everywhere

Am I wrong in saying that when this command reaches us, the common interpretation of it is that we are thus bidden to enter upon distinctly religious exercises and observances, and that the command goes no further? Church, prayers, sacraments, spiritual exercises-these cover and limit the vineyard of God. And then the assumption is that as this enclosure is Gods vineyard, so, on the other hand, the so-called world and the life in the world are each mans personal property, to do with as seems to him best. When, e.g., you go to-morrow from the services of to-day, or from the devotions of your closets, to your evils or to your pleasures, you leave one territory and enter upon another. But there is no such separation or distinction in the command. God, be assured, does not limit His vineyard by the boundaries of Church or sacrament or prayer. He sends out His voice into the very thick of the crowd to-morrow, and that voice follows you wherever you may be, in the street or the office or the study, in the counting-house or the workshop, on the large and public arena or in any narrowest corner where some poor woman endures and labours patiently for love and Gods dear sake. Here is my vineyard; here work out your salvation; here, amid these seemingly most unfavourable conditions, gather sweetness and beauty, strength and glory into your souls; here prove yourselves true sons and daughters of God, and know that in all your ways, the hardest and darkest, your steps are directed by a Fathers care, and over all is His unsleeping love. How this truth brightens and ennobles all our life-lightening labour and sorrow by love and the consciousness of being loved, and changing the meanest drudgeries to worship and praise! (W. Rudder, D. D.)

To-day

To-day! It is our privilege, our opportunity, our responsibility. To-day! It is the flower of all the past, it contains within itself all the possibilities of the future. And this priceless treasure is in the hands of every one of us, the poorest and the humblest. But, tomorrow! It stands behind the curtain of the midnight, under the seal of all the stars. The richest man in all this rich England, who owns vast landed estates, who owns rich ships coming homeward across all the tossing seas, owns not one second of to-morrow. (W. Rudder, D. D.)

Religious profession

The second son gives his answer in the one word I, as if he meant, Oh! you need have no doubt about me. I am ready. I am at your service. My brother is a shameless fellow, but as for me you have only to command me. This son takes it for granted he is the dutiful son; he puts no pressure on himself to secure obedience; he is conscious of no necessity to guard against temptations to forgetfulness, indolence, selfishness. He takes for granted that no deficiency will be found in him, and his complacency is his ruin. We all know this kind of man: the tradesman to whom you give elaborate instructions, and who assures you he will send an article precisely to your mind, but actually sends you what is quite useless for your purposes; the friend who bids you leave the matter to him, but who has no sooner turned the corner of the street than he meets some one whose conversation puts you and your affairs quite out of his mind. If promising had been all that was wanted no community could have been more godly than Jerusalem. These priests and elders spent their lives in professing to be Gods people. Their day was filled with religious services. They had no secular business at all; they were identified with religion; their whole life was a proclamation that they were Gods servants, and a profession of their willingness to obey. And yet they failed to do the one thing they were there to do-to prepare for and receive the Messiah. Their whole profession collapsed like a burst bubble; they were proved to be shams, to be dealing in mere words with no idea of realities. (Marcus Doris, D. D.)

Ready to promise, but slow to perform

Hypocrites purpose oft, and promise fair to do better, but drive off and fail in the performance; their morning cloud is soon dispersed, their early dew is quickly dried up, their heartless essays come to nothing. The philosopher liked not such as are always about to live better, but never begin. A divine complains that the goodness of many is like the softness of a plum, soon crushed; but their wickedness is like the stone in the plum, hard and inflexible. (John Trapp.)

Doing Gods will

This is plain; for what was the will of the father, but that they should do the work He had set them to do? This the latter did not. The fathers will was not only that the son should give him a cap and a knee and compliment him, but that he should go to work in the vineyard. It is the least part of Gods will that men should give Him good words, be a little complimental and ceremonious toward Him; but that they should repent and believe and obey His Gospel. This some publicans and harlots did; the generality of the Pharisees refused. It is a hard thing to convince a moral, righteous, civil man, that he lacks anything to salvation; and hence it is that profane persons many times repent, believe, and are saved, when others perish in their impentitency and unbelief because they think they have no need of repentance, or any further righteousness than they are possessed of. (Matthew Pool.)

Go, work to-day

Work and give, for the night cometh:-A missionary in the West Indies having called on the people for a little help in spreading the gospel, a negro came forward, and putting his hand in one pocket pulled out some silver, saying, That for me, massa; and another parcel from another pocket, Thats for my wife, massa; and another still, making in all upwards of twelve dollars, Thats for my child, masse. When asked if he was not giving too much, he said, Gods work must be done, masse, and I may be dead. Let us do and let us give what we can. Gods work must be done, and we may be dead!

Well-wishing not well-doing

The second son appears the more amiable at first than the other, though he was worse. The first son seems to have been one of those men who are rough externally, with a good heart inwardly, who speak rudely, but make it up in activity afterwards. Their tongue is hard, hasty, perverse; but their heart rebukes the hardness of the tongue, and rises up to repair by kindness the rude utterance. The second son was one of those compliant creatures who promise everything and perform nothing. They are subjects of universal impressibility. They feel the slightest influence, and yield to it a certain way, but only in a certain degree, and that this side of any profit. They never convert impressions to ideas. They never ripen impulses to purposes. They never change emotions to principles, nor principles to fixed habits. They cry easily, they love easily, they give up easily, they fall back easily, but like an aspen leaf that is moving the whole day, they are at the same place at night as in the morning. They quiver but do not change, and for ever moving, and for ever stationary. A large class of men, in every community, are drawn to the church who are of this kind, and may be called well-wishers to religion, but not well-doers in religion. (H. Ward Beecher.)

Wishing and willing

To wish and to will are very different things. There are a thousand men who wish where there is one who wills. Wishing is but a faint state of desire. Willing is a state of the reason, and of the affections, and of the will, in activity, to secure what one desires. A man may wish and yet reject all the steps and instruments by which that wish can be carried into effect. No man wills until he has made up his mind not only to have the end, but to have all the steps intermediately by which that end is to be secured. Doing requires concentration of purpose. Doing has both hands and feet, and uses them. Wishing has neither, or else, having them, puts neither of them to use. (H. Ward Beecher.)

A mist of well- wishing

As a cloud of silvery mist drops down over a ship and shuts it in, so that it cannot go any further, but casts anchor and waits, so conscience, when it begins to be troublous, is shut down in the midst of this silvery mist of well-wishing. So that a well-wisher is one of those persons who bid fair to wear out the influence of appeals of the gospel in the sanctuary. His temperament is one that lasts better and longer than any other. (H. Ward Beecher.)

Self-conceit in morals

The corruptions of the passions are more likely to be healed than is spiritual conceit. The passage teaches, not the safety of passional corruption, but the danger of self-righteousness. A man in the almost hopeless state of passional corruption may recover; but for the recovery of a man that is in the hopeless state of spiritual corruption and conceit, there is scarcely a chance. The value and excellence of the photographers plate which is hidden within the camera does not consist in what it is, but upon its susceptibility when the object-glass of the camera is open to that light which streams upon it. If it is unprepared, and is like the common glass, all beauty might sit before it, and no change would be produced by the streaming of light. The glass might be as good in the first case as in the second, with the exception that, when it is prepared, the photographers glass reveals the impression of beauty made upon it by the light. The criterion of hopefulness in a man, then, is not that he has gone so high in moral excellence. A mans hopefulness consists in the fact that eternal life is the gift of God. It consists in the mixing, as it were, the Divine nature with ours, and the breathing into us of the spirit of Gods love. The criterion of hopefulness is the openness of a mans soul to the Divine influence, and its susceptibility under the Divine shining. (H. Ward Beecher.)

Basilar and coronal corruption

Corruptions through the passions, or through the moral sentiments. At the recent great flood at Albany, where those warehouses were undermined and thrown down, one man was in the base and the other in the attic. The man at the base, being right where the danger was, saw the pressure and the wearing, and heard the grinding. He saw brick after brick, and stone after stone ground out by the sawing ice. And seeing and knowing these things, as the danger came on he could flee; but the man in his office in the attic neither saw the danger nor believed that there was any danger, and went on summing up his profits, and laying out his plans. Which of these men had the best chance of escape, the man at the bottom who saw the danger, or the man at the top who saw nothing and heard nothing? (H. Ward Beecher.)

Our most real danger

Do not think that your danger lies in outbreaking sin. In some cases the danger lies there; but in some cases the danger lies in an intense spiritual conceit; in an arrogant morality, in an overweening estimate of your own goodness and safety. You do not feel that you need a physician, and therefore you will die in your sins. You do not feel that you need a Deliverer, and therefore Christ is nothing to you. You are not conscious that you need bread, and therefore the bread of life is not brought to you. You say, I am not blind-I see; I am not naked-I am clothed; I am not hungry-I am fed; and yet you are blind, and naked, and hungry; and so you will perish, though there is salvation proffered to such as you are. (H. Ward Beecher.)

Obedience forced and natural

Compel yourself to all duties now, and soon you will like the duties that are now distasteful. The man that is drawn out of the water hall-drowned can only be restored by artificial respiration, but if this is persevered in the natural breathing at last begins, and the functions of healthy unforced respiration super-cedes the artificial means. And thus God educates us to ease and naturalness in all duty. Under cover of the outward conduct the new spirit grows and grows to such strength, that at last it maintains the outward conduct as its natural fruit. (Marcus Dods.)

Small value of promises

Says Socrates to his friends, in the Phaedo, If you take care of yourselves everything will go well with you, whether you make me any promises about the matter or not: but if hereafter you shall neglect, and be unwilling to govern yourselves by the rules I have laid down, though you make me ever so many promises, you will be never the better for them.

Doing is obedience

The question is, What have you done The passer-by, who saw the one son stripped and hard at work under the sun among the vines, while the other lounged whimperingly on the road, telling people what an admirable man his father was, and what a pleasure it was to work for him, and how much he hoped the vintage would be abundant-I say, the passer-by would not have the slightest difficulty in forming a judgment of the two sons. Do not believe in)our purpose to serve God better until you do serve Him better. Give no credit to yourself for anything which is not actually accomplished. (Marcus Dods.)

Two sons

It is important to observe the historical connections of our Lords teachings, because all His words had immediate applications, and through, and by means of the first references, the deeper and the more general are found. This parable was spoken during the last visit to Jerusalem, when Scribes and Pharisees were seeking to find accusation against Him. He baffled them, and even humiliated them by putting searching questions to them. Here the son who refused and repented represents the Publican class; and the son who promised and neglected represents the Pharisee class. Whatever mens professions may be, the test of what they will do presently comes to them. Profession alone is without moral value; profession may indeed lout a man at disadvantage in entering Gods kingdom. The openly ungodly man may be more readily humbled than the man who is fenced about with self-righteousness. The general truth suggested may be thus stated:

I. This is a world of change. That seems to be a sad thing. It really is a most hopeful, a most merciful thing. The unchangeable will never do for us while we are sinners.

II. We may change for the worse, as one of these sons did. Illustrate from David, Judas, Demas, etc.

III. We may change for the better, as the other son did. Very sad is young manhood stained with vice; but there may be a change. Very sad is manhood disgraced with self-indulgence; but there may be a change. The most wilful may repent and obey. There is no security in mere profession. There is no hopelessness in present refusal. We can turn, repent, and live. This, for us, Almighty Grace can do. (R. Tuck.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 21:28-32. But what think ye — As if he had said, You have evaded a direct answer to my question concerning the baptism of John, and have acknowledged your ignorance whence it was; but what think you of your own conduct in these circumstances? and of all the high professions you make of an extraordinary reverence for God, and zeal in his service? I will plainly tell you my judgment of it, which is very naturally connected with the present subject. This our Lord does in two parables, in the former of which, by a question which he puts to them, he makes them condemn themselves. A certain man had two sons — Signifying two sorts of persons: some that prove better than they promise, represented by the former of these sons; others that promise better than they prove, represented by the latter. And he came to the first — Exhibiting the disobedient, profligate, and wicked Jews, and open sinners of all descriptions, who, though they neither professed nor promised to do the will of God, nor gave any reason to hope well concerning them, yet afterward being convinced of sin, and brought to repentance by the preaching of John the Baptist and Christ, turned from their sins, and sincerely embraced the gospel. The spirit and conduct of the second son was an exact picture of the temper and behaviour of the Pharisees; for in their prayers and praises they gave God the most honourable titles, and professed the greatest readiness and zeal in his service: but it was a bare profession, contradicted by all their actions. They said, I go, sir, to work in thy vineyard, but went not. Jesus having finished his parable, asked, Whether of them twain did the will of his Father? — Without hesitation, they replied, The first — Not perceiving that by this answer they condemned themselves, till Jesus, making a direct application of the parable, gave them that sharp but just rebuke; Verily I say unto you — Even the most abandoned sinners of the age, such as the publicans and harlots, go into the kingdom of God before you — Are much more open to conviction, and more readily obey the gospel than you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness — Walking in it as well as teaching it, and gave evident proofs of his mission from God; and ye believed him not — Gave no credit to the testimony which he bare to me, nor received his doctrine, and consequently would not enter the vineyard: but the publicans and harlots — The most notorious sinners; believed him — Were reformed, and obeyed the gospel, though at first they said, I will not. And ye, when ye had seen it — And could not deny that an amazing change had been wrought in them, and that persons of the most abandoned characters had been reformed by his sermons, which doubtless was a strong proof of his mission from God; yet repented not afterward — Of your opposition to that holy man, nor of your disobedience to his instructions; That ye might believe him — And therefore I solemnly warn you, (for so his words imply,) that your condition will hereafter be worse than theirs; and that you shall see those whom you now despise and abhor, entering into the glory from which you shall be excluded.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 114. — PARABLE OF TWO SONS, Mat_21:28-32.

It was by the conscience of the common people (who were so deeply by them despised as a mass of sinners) that the hierarchy were held in check; and our Lord now in this parable shows his questioners how much superior that unsophisticated common people is in comparison with themselves. The people, having no mock piety to sustain as a substitute for the true, are far more ready to feel their sins and repent than their leaders.

28. What think ye? — Inasmuch as ye cannot tell what ye think of my last question, what think ye of the following case? Two sons — The former representing common people, the latter representing the hierarchy.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE TWO SONS

Mat 21:28-32. “But what seems to you? A man had two sons; and coming to the first, he said, Child, go today, labor in my vineyard. And responding, he said, I do not wish; and afterward, repenting, went. And coming to the second, he said likewise. And he, responding, said, I, Lord; and went not. Which one of the two did the will of the father? They say to him, The first. Jesus says to them, Truly I say unto you, that the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but the publicans believed him. But you, seeing, did not afterward repent, in order to believe him.” The Lord called the whole Gentile world two thousand years before He called the Jews. Hence you see that the Gentiles are the elder son, who remained rebellious and alien from God four thousand years; meanwhile the Jews, in due time, received and responded to the call, saying, “O yes, Lord, we are Your people, and You are our God.” But finally becoming proud, vain, arrogant, and self-righteous, they even reject and slay their own Christ, for whom they had waited through the ages, and consequently the terrible castigations of destruction and dispersion overtake them, sending them, aliens and vagabonds, upon the face of the whole earth, till all the Gentiles come into the kingdom. Here we see, from the unmistakable utterances of the Infallible, that it is actually easier to save publicans and harlots, the worst of sinners, than proud, self-righteous Pharisaical professors of Christianity. Hence you see from this clear and unequivocal teaching that, of all the people in the world, the hardest to save and the surest of perdition are these bigoted, dead, formal Church members, and even preachers, who have the form without the power. Mat 3:7, tells us about these Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the ministry of John, and taking offense at his plain, straight, and awful appeals to them, calling them “generations of vipers,” and warning them to flee the wrath to come, his prophetic eye then contemplating their awful and speedy perdition. That was their good time to repent. They did not; but took umbrage, going away mad because the preacher called them rattle snakes, and demanded of them to repent in dust and ashes and get religion before he would baptize them. While they went away in a rage and abused the preacher for insulting them, the poor publicans and harlots got awfully convicted; saw hell open and the devil after them; wallowed on the ground, irrigating the dust with copious penitential tears, — they sweeping with shouts into the kingdom, while these big preachers and proud Church officers go down to hell. Our Savior here beautifully reveals the order of repentance and faith, the latter invariably preceded by the former, which constitutes our indispensable qualification for the exercise of justifying faith, repentance breaking the yoke of Satan, and faith receiving that of Christ. N. B. — It is still Wednesday, and yet in the morning, and Jesus is preaching in the temple, having cleansed it Tuesday afternoon. This is a wonderful day, in which He does an immense amount of preaching. His time is getting short, as to-morrow night His enemies will lay violent hands on Him, thus winding up the most wonderful evangelism the world ever saw.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21:28–22:14 Three parables expose the guilt of those who had rejected the Messiah and forfeited their privilege as God’s chosen people. The new people of God are only those who embrace the Messiah.

21:28-32 This parable continues the point about John’s significance.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 21:28.[930] Τέκνα δύο, two sons) A specimen of two classes.[931]—ΠΡΟΣΕΛΘῺΝ, having come to) sc. kindly.—τῷ πρώτῳ, the first) who went before the other; see Mat 21:31 [“Go into the kingdom of God before you].

[930] τί δὲ ὑμῖν δοκεῖ, But what think ye?) After that the Jews had declined to commit themselves, by expressing an opinion concerning the baptism of John, the Saviour defends Himself along with John, thereby reproving the unbelief of the chief priests.—Harm., p. 460.

[931] In the dialogue which Athanasius is said to have had at Nicæa with Arius, the First Son is referred to the Jews, the Second, to the Gentiles.—See App. Crit., ed. ii., p. 131.—E. B.

In Mat 21:31, Lachm. reads ὁ ὕστερος with B. Ὁ ἔσχατος is read by Dabd, MSS. Amiat. (the oldest existing), and Fuld. and Forojuliensis of the Vulg. However Jerome, though editing, as appears from his commentary, ‘novissimus,’ yet states that good copies have ‘primus’ (ὁ πρῶτος): c also, and some less ancient copies of the Vulg., agree with Rec. Text, ὁ πρῶτος. But Hil. 717 has ‘junior.’ The ὁ ὕστερος or ἔσχατος, as being the more difficult reading, would be more likely to be changed by a corrector into ὁ πρῶτος, than vice versa. Jerome vii. 168e explains the former reading, ‘novissimus,’ thus:—“The Jews understood the truth, but shrunk back, and would not say what they thought; just as, though knowing the baptism of John to be from heaven, they would not acknowledge in words that it was so.” They did not like, I think, to repeat again the same reply as before in Mat 21:27, οὐκ οἴδαμεν, therefore they doggedly, in spite of convictions, replied, ὁ ὕστερος. However, the words, Λέγουσιν ὁ ὕστερος: λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰνσοῦς, seem to be an interpolation: for Origen, who seldom passes over difficult passages, takes no notice of these words; and besides, ὕστερος as an adjective, is found nowhere in the New Testament except in 1Ti 4:1.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_21:28-32. Peculiar to Matthew, and doubtless taken from the collection of the sayings of the Lord.

Jesus now assumes the offensive in order to convince His adversaries of their own baseness.

τέκνα and τέκνον suggest the fathers love.

Mat_21:30. ἐγώ] is to be taken elliptically, and that with due regard at the same time to its emphatic character, in virtue of which it forms a contrast to the negative answer of the other son: I, sir, will go and work in the vineyard this very day. The κύριε expresses the hypocritical submission of the man.

The publicans and harlots are represented by the first mentioned son; for previous to the days of John they refused to obey the divine call (in answer to the command to serve Him, which God addressed to them through the law and the prophets, they practically said: οὐ θέλω), but when John appeared they accorded him the faith of their hearts, so that, in conformity with his preaching, they were now amending their ways, and devoting themselves to the service of God. The members of the Sanhedrim are represented by the second son; for, while pretending to yield obedience to the law of God revealed in the Scriptures (by the submissive airs which they assumed, they practically uttered the insincere ἐγὼ, κύριε), they in reality disregarded it, and, unlike the publicans and the harlots, they would not allow themselves to be influenced by the movement that followed the preaching of the Baptist, so that neither the efforts of John nor the example of the publicans and harlots had any effect upon them in the way of producing conversion. To understand by the two sons the Gentiles and the Jews, is entirely against the context.

προάγουσιν ὑμᾶς] as though the future entering into the Messianic kingdom were now taking place. The going before, however, does not necessarily imply that others are following. Comp. Mat_18:14.

ἐν ὁδῷ δικαιοσύνης] in the way of righteousness, i.e. as one whose walk and conversation are characterized by moral integrity, ἐν ἀμέμπτῳ βίῳ (Theophylact), ἵνα καὶ ἀξιόπιστος φανῇ (Euthymius Zigabenus). Comp. 2Pe_2:21; 2Pe_2:2; Pro_8:20; Pro_12:28; Pro_17:23. The preaching of righteousness (de Wette, Bleek, Keim) would have been expressed by some such terms as ὁδὸν δικαιος. διδάσκων (Mat_22:16).

ἰδόντες] the fact, namely, that the publicans and harlots believed Him.

οὐδὲ μετεμελ. ὕστ.] did not even feel penitent afterwards (Mat_21:29), far less did you get the length of actual conversion. The example of those others produced so little impression upon you. The emphasis is not on ὕστερ., but on μετεμ.

τοῦ πιστεῦσαι] Object of μετεμ. ὕστ., so as to believe Him.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 21:28-32 . Parable of the two sons , in Mt. only, introduced by the familiar formula, τί δὲ ὑμῖν δοκεῖ (Mat 17:25 , Mat 18:12 ), and having for its aim to contrast the conduct of the Pharisees towards the Baptist with that of the publicans. And as the publicans are simply used as a foil to bring out more clearly the Pharisaic character, the main subject of remark, it is highly probable that the son who represents the Pharisee was mentioned first, and the son who represents the publican second; the order in which they stand in [116] , and adopted by W. and H [117] The parable, therefore, should read thus: “A certain man had two sons. He said to one, Go work, etc. He replied, Yes, sir, and went not. To the other he said the same. He replied, I will not, and afterwards went.”

[116] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[117] Westcott and Hort.

Mat 21:28 . τῷ ἀμπελῶνι : constant need of work in a vineyard, and of superintendence of workers.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is no new thing to see them to be the worst of all men, which ought to show the way of godliness to others.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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--for true religion is a practical thing, a "bringing forth fruit unto God."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 28. A certain man had two sons] Under the emblem of these two sons, one of whom was a libertine, disobedient, and insolent, but who afterwards thought on his ways, and returned to his duty; and the second, a hypocrite, who promised all, and did nothing; our Lord points out, on the one hand, the tax-gatherers and sinners of all descriptions, who, convicted by the preaching of John and that of Christ, turned away from their iniquities and embraced the Gospel; and, on the other hand, the scribes, Pharisees, and self-righteous people, who, pretending a zeal for the law, would not receive the salvation of the Gospel.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(28) But what think ye?—The question serves to connect the parable with the foregoing incident, and so gives point to its special primary application. In many MSS. the answers of the two sons are inverted, and it is accordingly the “second,” and not the first, who is said, in Mat_21:31, to have done the will of his Father.

Go work to day in my vineyard.—The parable rests on the same imagery as that of the Labourers, with some special variations. Both of those who are called to work are “sons,” and not hired labourers—i.e., there is a recognition of both Pharisees and publicans, the outwardly religious and the conspicuously irreligious, as being alike, in a sense, children of God.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. two sons] representing the sinners who first refused to do God’s will, but repented at the preaching of John; and the Pharisees who, having “the righteousness which is of the law” (Php_3:9), professed to do God’s will but did it not. Both are sons. God still cares for both. The Pharisees may follow the sinners into the kingdom of God (Mat_21:31). Paul was still a Pharisee; Nicodemus the Pharisee was still a secret follower of Christ.

28–32. The Parable of the Two Sons, and the Explanation of it Peculiar to St Matthew

St Luke omits the parable, perhaps as referring especially to Israel. The parable follows in close connection with the question as to the teaching of John.

The parables and discourses that follow deal no longer with the distant future of the Church, but with an immediate present. The subjects illustrated are—(1) The rejection of the Messiah. (2) The rejection of the Jews as a nation. (3) The Judgment, (a) which has already begun; (b) which will be enacted terribly at the siege of Jerusalem; and (c) finally fulfilled at the end of the world.

Observe throughout the separation which is implied in the Judgment—the dividing sword which Christ brings—the Jewish race and the world, each parted into two great divisions—the two sons—the two parties of husbandmen or of guests—the wise and foolish virgins—the sheep and the goats—the talents used and misused.

It is the last act in a divine drama of surpassing interest and full of contrasts. The nation, and especially the Pharisees, who are the leaders of thought, triumphant to external sight, are hurrying to destruction, impelled by a hidden fate in the face of clear warnings; while Christ the King, Who seems to be vanquished and done to death, is really winning an eternal victory.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But what think you?.... See Gill on Mat 18:12.

a certain man had two sons. This is a parable; the design of which is to show the hypocrisy and deceit of the Scribes and Pharisees, in pretending to works of righteousness, and not doing them; and to reprove them for their disbelief and rejection of John's ministry; and to make it appear, that the worst of sinners in the Jewish nation were preferable to them; and that many of them were, and would be, happy, when they would be miserable. By the "certain man", in the parable, God is designed; who, though he is not a man, nor to be represented by any human form; yet, as man is the image of God, he is therefore, in an improper and figurative sense, compared to man, and set forth by him; which may be allowed in a metaphorical and parabolical way: and though the Son of God only assumed human nature, and really became man; yet God, the Father, seems rather to be here intended, who is sometimes compared to a husbandman and a vinedresser; see Joh 15:1 and as appears from the relation of the "two sons" unto him; by whom are meant not Jews and Gentiles; for the latter can never be intended by the first son; for these were not sons in such sense as the Jews were, nor were upon an equal foot of sonship with them, as the parable supposes; much less were they called first, and bid to work in the vineyard: but, on the contrary John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, were first, and only sent to the Jews; and God, as yet, was not come even in the external ministry of the word to the Gentiles; nor were they brought to repentance and obedience: but by them are meant two sorts of people, among the Jews, the Scribes and Pharisees, and publicans and sinners; as the application of the parable, by our Lord himself, most clearly shows: these were both the sons of God; not only by creation, as all men are, all having, in this sense, but one common father, whose offspring they be; but also by national adoption; for to all, who were Israelites, according to the flesh, whether good men, or bad men, alike belonged the general privilege of adoption, Rom 9:4. This publicans and sinners had an equal right to, as well as the Scribes and Pharisees, though they were not all the sons of God by special grace, or spiritual adoption:

and he came to the first; the publicans and sinners among the Jews, by the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ, and his disciples, who first and chiefly preached to such sort of persons,

and said, son, go work today in my vineyard: by the "vineyard", is meant the kingdom of God, or of heaven, the Gospel church state, the then present dispensation of things, which was set up, and which men were called to embrace and enter into; the doors of which the Pharisees, who pretended to have the key of knowledge, did all they could to shut up, and hinder persons going in, as they refused to do themselves: this is called it a "vineyard"; See Gill on Mat 20:1. To work in it signifies to hear the word preached, to believe in the Messiah, embrace his doctrines, and submit to his ordinances, particularly the ordinance of baptism, which was the then principal ordinance of that dispensation. The time of working in it is "today"; directly, immediately, and whilst it is day; for the hour cometh when no man can work, and when all these means and ordinances will be at an end, and attending on them will be over: the argument used to engage hereunto, is taken from the relation the person stood in as a "son", highly favoured by God, with the blessing of national adoption, besides that of natural sonship common to all mankind.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

28 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.

Ver. 28. But what think you?] Christ reporteth himself to their own consciences, while he proveth John Baptist’s ministry to be from heaven, by the happy success he had in converting the vilest sinners. See Jer 23:22; 1Co 9:2. The people’s fruitfulness is the minister’s testimonial, 2Co 3:2. If but one of a city, or two of a family be gained to God, it is a sign that the pastors are according to God’s own heart, Jer 3:14-15.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But what think ye? - A way of speaking designed to direct them particularly to what he was saying, that they might be self-convicted.

Two sons - By those two sons our Lord intends to represent the conduct of the Jews, and that of the publicans and sinners.

In my vineyard - See the notes at Mat 21:33. To work in the vineyard here represents the work which God requires man to do.

I will not - This had been the language of the publicans and wicked men. They refused at first, and did not “profess” to be willing to go.

Repented - Changed his mind. Afterward, at the preaching of John and Christ, the publicans - the wicked - repented and obeyed.

The second ...said, I go sir; and went not - This represented the conduct of the scribes and Pharisees - “professing” to obey God, observing the external rites of religion, but opposed really to the kingdom of God, and about to put his Son to death.

Whether of them twain ... - Which of the two. “They say unto him, The first.” This answer was correct; but it is strange that they did not perceive that it condemned themselves.

Go into the kingdom of God - Become Christians, or more readily follow the Saviour. See the notes at Mat 3:2.

Before you - Rather than you. They are more likely to do it than you. You are self-righteous, self-willed, and obstinate.

John came in the way of righteousness - Many of them have believed, but you have not. That is, in the right way, or teaching the way to be righteous; to wit, by repentance. Publicans and harlots heard him and became righteous, but they did not. They saw it, but, as in one thousand other cases, it did not produce the proper effect on them, and they would not repent.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A certain man had two sons, &c. The ancient interpreters, by the first son generally understand the Gentiles, as also publicans and scandalous sinners; and by the second, the Jewish people. The Gentiles, &c. who at the first did not, would not worship and serve God; yet afterwards they, as also publicans, and many sinners, received the faith, and being converted, became faithful servants of God, and saints: the Jews, or the greatest part of them, who pretended to be God’s servants, and his people, rejected the gospel and their Messias; therefore this commination follows, the publicans, &c. shall go before you into the kingdom of God. (Witham) --- By these two sons are to be understood, says St. John Chrysostom, the Gentiles and the Jewish people; the latter our Redeemer wishes to make sensible of their own great ingratitude, and of the ready obedience of the cast-off Gentiles. For they having never heard the law, nor promised obedience have still shewn their submission by their works; whereas the Jews after promising to obey the voice of God, had neglected the performance. (Hom. lxviii.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew alone mentions this parable. The scope of it is taught us Mat 21:31,

The publicans and the harlots go (that is, shall go)

into the kingdom of God before you, that is, you Pharisees. Who these Pharisees and who the publicans were, we showed before, Mat 3:7. The publicans were very odious to the Jews: see Mar 2:16. Harlots are great sinners. By the kingdom of God, here, is meant that of glory. Our Lord’s saying that publicans and harlots should go in before the Pharisees, doth not imply that they should follow. It only signifieth that some who had been publicans (as Matthew and Zacchaeus) and harlots were in a better condition than these Pharisees. He proves it because they had done the will of God, which the Pharisees, notwithstanding all their fair profession, had not, but resisted it, and particularly in the ministry of John the Baptist, who came to them in the way of righteousness, preaching the true doctrine of righteousness, and living a holy and righteous life; upon the hearing of whose doctrine, some of the publicans and other great sinners had believed in Christ; but the Pharisees, though they heard his doctrine, saw his conversation, and saw others repent and own Christ, yet were so far from believing, that they would not repent, that they might believe; they would not be awakened to any sense of their sinful courses, nor amend any thing of their former ways, that they might receive Christ and embrace his righteousness and salvation. For although evangelical repentance is the fruit of faith, yet that repentance which lieth in a previous sense of sin, and a resolution to leave sinful courses, goeth before it. Now to illustrate and press this home upon the consciences of these Pharisees, our Saviour brings this parable, (as Nathan did to David, 2Sa 12:1,11) that they might, being convicted, condemn themselves. Hence the parable is easily understood: The man mentioned is God. The two sons were the Pharisees, a people highly pretending obedience to the law of God, and making a great show of religion. And the publicans and harlots, great sinners, bad and vile people, making no pretence to religion. God saith to the one and the other, Go, work in my vineyard, that is, do my will, do the work I command you to do. The Pharisees, so hypocrites and formalists, by their outward pretence and profession, say, I go, sir; but yet go not; all their religion is a vain show, a mere outside appearance. Others by their lives declare that they will not go; but yet upon second thoughts, having their hearts touched by the finger of God, they do God’s work.

Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. This is plain; for what was the will of the father, but that they should do the work he set them to do? This the latter did not. The father’s will was not only that the son should give him a cap and a knee, and compliment him, but that he should go to work in the vineyard. It is the least part of God’s will that men should give him good words, be a little complemental and ceremonious toward him; but that they should repent and believe, and obey his gospel. This some publicans and harlots did; the generality of the Pharisees refused. It is a hard thing to convince a moral, righteous, civil man, that he lacks any thing to salvation; and hence it is that profane persons many times repent, believe, and are saved, when others perish in their impenitency and unbelief, because they think they have no need of repentance, or any further righteousness than they are possessed of.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 28-32. The parable of the two sons. (Peculiar to St. Matthew)

But what think ye? A formula connecting what follows with what has preceded, and making the hearers themselves the judges. By this and the succeeding parables, Jesus shows his interlocutors their true guilty position and the punishment that awaited them. He himself explains the present parable in reference to his hearers, though, of course, it has, and is meant to have, a much wider application. A certain man (anyrwpov , a man) had two sons. The man represents God; the two sons symbolize two classes of Jews the Pharisees, with their followers and imitators; and the lawless and sinful, who made no pretence of religion. The former are those who profess to keep the Law strictly, to the very letter, though they care nothing for its spirit, and virtually divorce religion from morality The latter are careless and profane persons, whom the Lord calls "publicans and harlots" (ver. 31). The first. Westcott and Hort, relying on no very weighty authority, reverse the order of the sons" answers, altering ver. 31 in agreement with this arrangement. Christ"s reply countenances the received text, setting the repentant before the professing son. It is a matter of small importance (see Tischendorf, in loc.). "The first son "here typifies the evil and immoral among the Jewish people. Go, work today. Two emphatic imperatives. Immediate obedience is required. "Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts". (Psa_95:7, Psa_95:8) God called his sons to serve in his vineyard the Church. He called them by the prophets, and more especially by John the Baptist, to turn from evil ways, and to do works meet for repentance. (Mat_3:8) Christ gives two examples, showing how this call was received.

Vers. 28-32. The two sons.

In this parable our Lord illustrates the great principle which he more than once enunciated that "many shall be last that are first; and first that are last." It has a special reference to the Pharisees and publicans of Christ"s time. But there are publicans and Pharisees in our own day. Let us consider the parable in its bearing on ourselves and the present conduct of people.

I THE SON WHO REFUSED AND REPENTED.

1. His hasty refusal. Doubtless he spoke in impatience. His temper was hot, and the call to work amazed him. Thus he began the day badly, as many people begin life badly. This is altogether deplorable, because no subsequent amendment can obliterate the fact that the beginning was spoilt.

2. His later repentance. We need not be the slaves of our own past. If we started wrong, we are not forced to continue in the path of evil. "It is never too late to mend." There is a pride of consistency which only comes of folly; and there is a noble inconsistency, a sublime inconsequence. The change in the son showed

a. reflectiveness;

b. humility;

c. a willingness to own himself wrong;

d. a desire to do better in future. These are all hopeful qualities.

3. His obedient action. He "went." That was everything. He may not have said another word; but he obeyed his father, though in silence. The one thing God looks for is obedience. The way to make amends for past negligence is not to promise better things for the future, but just to do them.

4. His improving conduct. We see this son in two stages, and the second is better than the first. He was evidently moving in the right direction. The most important question is not To what have we attained hitherto? but Which way are we moving? towards the light or from it?

5. His accepted obedience. This was the obedient son. His insolent words were forgiven when his subsequent conduct was penitent and obedient. God forgives the bad past in his penitent children. If they are now in the right path, he accepts them, although they were once far from it.

II THE SON WHO CONSENTED AND DISOBEYED.

1. His ready assent. This was good in its way. But, being only verbal, or at best an intention not yet executed, it was of slight worth. God does not value religious professions as men prize them.

2. His courtesy. The second son was courteous to his father, addressing him as "sir," while his brother was rude and insolent. Now, it is our duty to be courteous to all men, and to be especially respectful to parents. Yet there is a hypocritical tone about good manners when they are not accompanied by good actions. God prefers rude obedience to polite disobedience.

3. His subsequent disobedience. We need not suppose that this second son had lied to his father, promising in smooth words what he never intended to perform. It is more probable that our Lord would have us think of him as honest in his profession. He really intended to obey. But he did not count the cost, or the good mood of acquiescence passed away, or some other more fascinating attraction led him to forget, or at least to neglect, his promise. There is an enormous step to be taken from good resolutions to good actions. Many a hindrance, many a temptation, comes between.

4. His just condemnation. Jesus appealed to the bystanders for their verdict. He wished to convince their conscience; he desires now to make us see and feel the truth of what he says. Could there be a question as to the verdict? Good promises count for nothing, or rather they count against the man who disobeys in conduct. God judges by conduct alone. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

vineyard

See "vineyard," margin ref., Mat 20:1 (See Scofield "Mat 20:1")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Parable of the Two Sons.

v. 28. But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.

v. 29. He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented and went.

v. 30. And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir; and went not.

v. 31 a. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto Him, The first.

The moral distinction made here by Christ was one which the Pharisees admitted themselves, and therefore the truth must have been all the bitterer for them. Both sons were approached in the same manner, with the same words. The one piously says that he will go and work, but, in spite of his apparent eagerness and politeness, sets aside both the fatherly authority and the filial obedience. The other is rude and unmannerly upon being approached, apparently full of sulky disobedience, and yet, upon second thought, he goes and works for the father. The answer of the scribes could, therefore, not have been different.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The design and scope of this parable is to show, That publicans and harlots, that is, the vilest, the profanes, and worst of sinners, who, upon the hearing of Christ’s doctrine and miracles, did repent and believe, were in a much better condition than the proud Pharisees, who, though they pretended to great measures of knowledge, and high degrees of holiness, yet did obstinately oppose Christ, disobey his doctrine, deny his miracles, and set at nought his person.

Learn hence, That the greatest, the vilest, and the worst of sinners, upon their repentance and faith in Christ, shall much sooner find acceptance with God, than proud pharisaical justiciaries, who confidently rely upon their own righteousness: Publicans and harlots, says Christ here to the Pharisees, shall go into the kingdom of God before you. Publicans were the worst sort of men and harlots the worst kind of women; yet did these repent sooner, and believed in Christ before the proud Phariesees. The reason was, because their hearts lay more open to the strokes of conviction, than those that were blinded by vain hopes and presumptuous confidence. Security frustrates all means of recovery.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CVIII. B. Parable of the Two Sons].

CVIII. IN REPLY TO THE QUESTIONS AS TO HIS AUTHORITY, JESUS GIVES THE THIRD GREAT GROUP OF PARABLES. (In the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, A. D. 30.) Subdivision B. PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS. aMATT. XXI. 28-32.

a28 But what think ye? [By these words Jesus put them on notice that he was about to propound something which would require an answer, and therefore demanding the [588] strictest attention.] A man had two sons [the two sons stand for the Jewish rulers and the Jewish common people]; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day in the vineyard. 29 And he answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented himself, and went. [The common people made no special pretension to religious excellence, and the rulers regarded them as very careless about the will or law of their Father, God, and made disparaging contrasts between their own conduct and that of the people ( Joh_7:48, Joh_7:49). But this very same common people repented and did the will of God when they heard the preaching of John the Baptist-- Mat_3:5, Mat_3:6.] 30 And he came to the second [the rulers], and said likewise. And he answered and said, I i go, sir: and went not. [The rulers, though all the while professing to be very zealous for the will of God, utterly refused to enter the kingdom or to work therein as God bade them to by the voice of John the Baptist-- Mat_3:7-9.] 31 Which of the two did the will of his father? They say, The first. [They gave the true answer and did not perceive that in so doing they confirmed a parable which condemned themselves.] Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots [the very worst representatives of the common people] go into the kingdom of God before you. [Rather than you.] 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness [The term "righteousness," as Plumptre observes, seems used in a half-technical sense, as expecting the aspect of righteousness which the Pharisees themselves recognized ( Mat_6:1), and which includes, as its three great elements, the almsgiving, fasting, and prayer that were so conspicuous both in the life and the teaching of the Baptist. Surely they could have presented its demands in a form more acceptable to the Jewish rulers], and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye saw it, did not even repent yourselves afterward, that ye might believe him. [The parable of this subdivision is [589] the outgrowth of the preceding subdivision. These rulers had demanded that Jesus show his authority for his assumption of right as teacher, prophet, etc. The parable is an indirect response to this demand, as if Jesus said, "It is in vain for me to tell you that I act under the authority of the Father, for despite all your great profession to the contrary, you really and actually, in your persistent rejection of another (the Baptist), who also acted under it, repudiate utterly his authority; though in so doing you see yourselves condemned by the conduct of even the publicans and harlots, who have felt the force of the Father's authority, and have repentantly obeyed it." The situation must have given great force to the parable; for the rulers in their private conversation had just admitted to each other that the people recognized and obeyed the divine authority of John, while they, the rulers, rejected it.]

[FFG 588-590]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28–31. A man had two sons. The two sons represent (verse 31) the priests, elders and scribes on the one hand, and the publicans and harlots, “the sinners,” on the other. Both classes were bidden to work in the Lord's vineyard. The publicans and sinners had refused, but repented at the preaching of John. The others professed to obey, but did not. The design of the parable is to show that the publicans and harlots, whom they so much despised, were morally superior to his questioners.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus tells a parable about two sons to rebuke the religious leaders and to illustrate their unbelief. (See: Parables)

But what do you think?

Jesus uses a question to challenge the religious leaders to think deeply about the parable he will tell them. AT: "Tell me what you think about what I am about to tell you." (See: Rhetorical Question)

he changed his mind

This refers to the son reconsidering his thoughts and deciding to act differently from how he had said he would act. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

son

vineyard

mind

lord

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

28–32. THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS, AND THE EXPLANATION OF IT

Peculiar to St Matthew.

St Luke omits the parable, perhaps as referring especially to Israel. The parable follows in close connection with the question as to the teaching of John.

The parables and discourses that follow deal no longer with the distant future of the Church, but with an immediate present. The subjects illustrated are—(1) The rejection of the Messiah. (2) The rejection of the Jews as a nation. (3) The Judgment, (a) which has already begun; (b) which will be enacted terribly at the siege of Jerusalem; and (c) finally fulfilled at the end of the world.

Observe throughout the separation which is implied in the Judgment—the dividing sword which Christ brings—the Jewish race and the world, each parted into two great divisions—the two sons—the two parties of husbandmen or of guests—the wise and foolish virgins—the sheep and the goats—the talents used and misused.

It is the last act in a divine drama of surpassing interest and full of contrasts. The nation, and especially the Pharisees, who are the leaders of thought, triumphant to external sight, are hurrying to destruction, impelled by a hidden fate in the face of clear warnings; while Christ the King, Who seems to be vanquished and done to death, is really winning an eternal victory.

28–31. The textus receptus is here upheld. For a discussion of the var. lect. see Hammond, Text. Crit. 109.

28. τέκνα δύο, representing the sinners who first refused to do God’s will, but repented at the preaching of John; and the Pharisees who, having ‘the righteousness which is of the law’ (Php 3:9), professed to do God’s will but did it not. Both are sons. God still cares for both. The Pharisees may follow the sinners into the kingdom of God (Mat 21:31). Paul was still a Pharisee; Nicodemus the Pharisee was still a secret follower of Christ.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28.] τί δὲ ὑ. δ.: a formula of connexion—but doubtless here intended to help the questioners to the true answer of their difficulty about John’s baptism. The following parable (peculiar to Matthew) refers, under the image of the two sons, to two classes of persons, both summoned by the great Father to “work in His vineyard” (see ch. 20:1); both Jews and of His family. The first answer the summons by a direct and open refusal—these are the open sinners, the publicans and harlots, who disobey God to His face. But afterwards, when better thoughts are suggested, they repent, and go. The second class (no stress is to be laid on the order of calling—the parable merely mentions that the call was made ὡσαύτως—it is the mistaken desire to set the chronology right which has given rise to such confusion in the readings) receive the summons with a respectful assent (not unaccompanied with a self-exaltation and contrast to the other, implied in the emphatic ἐγώ)—having however no intention of obeying (there is no mention of a change of mind in this case): but go not. These are the Scribes and Pharisees, with their shew of legal obedience, who “said, and did not” (ch. 23:3). It will of course admit of wider applications—to Jews and Heathens, or any similar pair of classes who may thus be compared.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28-32. Parable of the Two Sons.

(L) 28. But what think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go to-day work in the vineyard.]—τί δὲ ὑμῖν δοκεῖ] See on 17:25.—προσελθών] See on 4:3.

28-31. א C D L al S1 S2 latt have the obedient son first, the disobedient son second.

B reverses the order.

In v. 31 א C L al c f q S2 have πρῶτος. This seems to be required by the context. The Pharisees could hardly give any other answer, and the Lord’s reply seems to presuppose it. The Pharisees were in part like the first son, i.e. they refused to give heed to John’s preaching. But they were also unlike him, since he came to a better state of mind, whilst they hardened themselves the more.

B has ὕστερος, D latt ἔσχατος, S1 “the last.” In the case of B, which has reversed the order of vv. 29, 30, the Pharisees still approve the conduct of the son who first refused and afterwards went. But D S1 latt make the Pharisees approve the conduct of the son who promised to go and failed to fulfil his promise. Wellhausen believes this to be the original text, and supposes that the Pharisees intentionally gave a perverse answer in order to make pointless the moral which Christ was going to draw from the natural rejoinder. They ought to have answered that the first son did his father’s will, and He would then have contrasted their conduct with that of the son approved by them, and compared them to the son whose conduct they reprehended. But they purposely give the wrong answer, and Christ’s rejoinder, v. 31, is an expression of indignation at their perversity, rather than an explanation of the parable. Merx, too, upholds this reading, and finds in it the original text which has given rise to the other readings. But it seems probable that the order of א C D L al and πρῶτος are the original.

There would be a natural tendency to transpose this order:

(1) It might be argued that if the first son went, there was no occasion to summon the second;

(2) the fulfilment of the command forms an unexpected climax to the story;

(3) it was natural to identify the disobedient son with the Jew, the obedient son with the Gentile. Along this line of interpretation the latter should come last in chronological order;

(4) the ὕστερον of v. 29 may have had some influence in causing this verse to be placed after v. 30;

(5) further, v. 32 may have suggested the change of order. “John came, and you did not believe” = οὐκ ἀπῆλθε; “the toll-gatherers and harlots believed” = μεταμεληθεὶς ἀπῆλθε.

On these grounds the order of B might be explained as due to emendation for literary and exegetical reasons, and the substitution of “the last” for “the first” might be supposed to be later than the transposition of order.

But the MS. evidence suggests that the substitution is earlier than the transposition of order, and is the probable cause of it.

The earliest emendation seems to have been the substitution of “the last” (D latt S1) for “the first.” This may be due to antipharisaic motives. The Lord had said of them that “they say and do not.” They must, therefore, be represented as approving of one who said “I go,” and went not. The variations ὕστερος, ἔσχατος are against the originality of this reading.

The transposition of order seems to have originated in a text in which “the last” had already been adopted, and to have been made by some one who misunderstood the motive which had led to the substitution of “the last” for “the first,” in order to make the Pharisees return the obvious answer.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.