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. Matthew 21:28
Who do we point our finger at when we read this account of the two sons who were asked to work in their father’s vineyard? In the context of His message, we can see that the Lord Jesus is comparing the disobedient Jewish leaders with the rest of the people. At the beginning, most of the people were refusing to go to the vineyard, while the Jewish Leaders made much of their willingness to go. We can extend the lesson further and see that the son who refused at first to go to the work were the Gentiles, while the ones professing willingness were the Jews. Their professed willingness was a sham, because they were merely wrapped up in their own religion and rejected the Lord Jesus when He arrived. We have the same situation today when we see the religious people making a profession of serving God but merely serving their religion, while those outside the religious systems are more open to receiving the Gospel. But is there a possibility that the Lord Jesus was directing this parable to ourselves?
In the first son, we find ourselves as those who are not always open to what the Lord has for our lives. We have our own ideas and plans, and sometimes the Lord’s plans would take us in a different direction. The parable does not condemn the first son for his initial refusal, but commends him for his eventual submission to his father’s request. We are not told why he changed his mind, and it makes no difference. Like him, we should keep our minds open to the direction of the Holy Spirit, Who will take us in the direction of the Father’s will, regardless of our own purposes. The first son is a good example for us to follow.
The second son is like those of us who put on a good face when we attend the Assembly meetings and conferences, but fail to allow the Word to make any significant change in our life. We recognize that the Word of God is calling us to obedience and service, but we fail to make the changes that such obedience and service require. We have our plans laid out, and we are going to obey the Lord only as far as that obedience is within the scope of our plans. There is no commendation for the son who agreed to work in the vineyard but neglected to go.
Only in the vineyard of our Lord is there obedience and the Father’s commendation. We should never neglect the call to service, even if it takes us awhile to submit to the call. -Jim MacIntosh