On Sunday I shared some thoughts from Matthew 21:23-32. This scripture has several parts, the first deals the authority of Jesus then then Jesus teaches through a parable.
Every day we make many choices and how those things choices affect us. I showed the three different walking tools; a wooden staff, a collapsible cane and a cane made of bulls horns. Each one is very useful. Under my own authority I choose which one to use. Jesus entered the Temple under his own physical power. Then he started teaching. It is kind of like someone showing up to teach a class at UF. Someone will come along and ask, “Are you part of our teaching staff? By what authority are you acting on? The question was not answered but Jesus went on to share a story. Jesus loved to teach with stories. It was about two sons who gave conflicting stories to their father. He asked them to work in the vineyard. One didn’t want to work but he went to the vineyards to work anyway. The second son responded that he would go work but in the end he did not go. Jesus asked, “Which son did what the father wanted?” The crowd responded that the first one did. Then the whammy add-on came as if a smack down as Jesus said, to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” – NIV
Wow, Jesus caught them even though they were sure they had answered correctly. Jesus basically said, “Look folks, there is another dimension to the story. You think you nailed the action of the brothers but you failed to believe what John taught. How do I know you will believe me when John came teaching these this things already? That is quite a response. We must embrace truth and understand God’s plan of salvation. Are we doing our best job as a congregation to bring others to Christ? Let us think and pray and act about this.
– Pastor Carl