Major Ouch!

Matthew 21:28-32 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes 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 tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. These religious leaders had come to Jesus to question His authority to teach and to heal, presuming that they had the right to govern what God did in His own house. They themselves repeatedly refused to response to Christ's call to repentance and faith, while watching the rejected ones in their society do so. One lesson after another here he turns into a self-incriminating accusation against these leaders. They are the son who said he would obey, but did not. They had refused John the Baptist, the forerunner, and now they were refusing the Christ. What a belittling, yet true statement: the dregs of society would precede them into the Kingdom, and there was reason to doubt they would enter at all. May our faith be much more than trying to look good and feel good about ourselves in comparison to others.