Good Son vs Bad Son
Ez 18:25-28; Phil 2:1-11; Mt 21:28-32
Fr. Nelson Lobo OFM Cap
This Sunday the master teacher changes his method of teaching. It’s no longer an exciting street lined with many people. Today it is a kind of classroom teaching. Not a classroom with desks and chalkboards. But a classroom with a teacher and students. Jesus the master teacher talking to his disciples, religious leaders, and crowds. Today’s lesson plan contains a story of two sons.
The first son when requested to go to the vineyard says “no,” dishonouring his father in public, even though he changes his mind later. The second son politely says, “yes,” but then doesn’t do what he says. Even though the Pharisees say the son who eventually goes to the vineyard is the better of the two, in my opinion neither of them deserve any awards. The one son dishonours his father, the other son is disobedient.
So, to whom does this parable refer to? Who were they who wound up doing the father’s will? They were the so-called bad guys. They were the ones who had spent their whole lives previously saying NO to God. They wound up getting it right! The First Son represents the tax collectors and harlots who believed John the Baptist and repented. They had spent their entire lives saying NO to God. At John’s preaching, they repented/changed their minds/regretted their actions and believed.
The Second Son represents the Chief Priests and elders. Made their livelihood out of convincing everyone that they had done a marvelous job of saying YES to God. Had failed to really understand what God was calling them to thus failed to really obey. If ever a nation was called to do the work of God in the world, it was Israel, and they spent a lot of time performing ceremonies in which they said YES to God. Yet, by the time Christ came, the judgment of God upon them was this: “This people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” They said YES with their mouths, but their feet walked in the direction of NO.
Like most of Jesus’ parables, this story isn’t really about the two boys. It’s about you and me. It’s about two kinds of people in this world. The one kind professes faith in God, but doesn’t live a faithful life. The other does the will of God while saying “no” to belief in God.
The bottom line, in Jesus’ explanation to the chief priests and elders — and probably to anyone else who will listen — is that we can no longer make excuses because of birth or background or culture. All that matters is who we are and whose we are. Christianity is about saying YES to God, not only with our mouths, but with our hands, our feet, our hearts, our check books, our priorities, our passions, our relationships, our occupations. You see this world influences our thoughts and actions and even our belief system. But God tells us our intentions and our motives matter despite what this world is teaching and preaching to us. What we believe will change who we are. Obedience is the key to do God’s will.
