A woman called the police station to report a skunk in her cellar. She was told to make a trail of bread crumbs from the basement to the yard then wait for the skunk to follow it out of the basement. A while later, the woman called again and reported that she had done as she was told, but now she had two skunks in her basement. As they say, the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Following the interchange where the Jews ask Jesus for His authority, He gives a short parable that hits at the very heart of the Jewish religious leaders’ attitude toward God.
What do you think? – vs 28:
Jesus wants them to listen, to meditate, to contemplate, and to act on what He says. Eighteen times in the Gospels, Jesus has told His audience, either big or small – “Do not think about this” or “They think that”, “Why do you think” or – as here – “What do you think?”
A MAN HAD TWO SONS – vss 29-30:
These two sons represent the Jews on one hand and the Gentiles on the other. But in God’s eyes, today there are only two classes of people. Both these classes of people are morally deficient in one way or another. The difference here is that one recognizes the wickedness in himself and the other does not. The one seeks forgiveness from God; the other does not.
One Son resolutely refuses and then changes his mind – Verses 28-29. The Son refused. Refuse a direct request from the father? There are those who reject, not just any father, but the holy and righteous Father in Heaven!
But afterward, after reflection, after introspection and self-examination, the son “regrets” his response and goes and serves. Who is this “son”? We’ll see in a moment.
One Son intends to go but does not – He’s the one who makes the pretense to be obedient. His façade is one of holiness and righteousness and obedience. But, the same truth is that his intentions were not strong enough to follow through. He did not go.
THE QUESTION – vs 31:
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That’s not a hard question to answer. Indeed, few of Jesus’ questions were hard to answer.
THE APPLICATION – vss 31-32:
Tax collectors and prostitutes. People who cheat others and people who abuse themselves. That pretty much encapsulates all the different types of sins that a man can commit. The people whom Jesus had been criticized for eating with all the way back in chapter 9: the tax collectors and prostitutes.
Jesus reminds them of the preaching of John who had been put to death about three years before. John preached that the Jews should repent and believe the fulfillment of the prophets’ message: they should believe the Gospel. Some Jews confessed their sins and were baptized into water for the forgiveness of their sins and to prepare them for the coming kingdom of the Messiah.
Most of the Pharisees did not believe John. They believed that John’s message was his own; it was not sent from heaven. They intended to obey God, but their intention was on their own terms. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The road to heaven is paved with godly intentions, intentions that follow through with faithful obedience. In our parable, Jesus says, “the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe John.” Good intentions will only get you so far. For them to lead you to heaven, they’ve got to be followed up with faithful obedience. The tax collectors and prostitutes responded to John’s call for repentance and amended their whole way of living and their approach to God.
But the Pharisees, seeing the response of the tax collectors and prostitutes, were not even motivated by their example or by the feeling of exclusion – they still did not feel remorse for their own sins and refused still to believe in John.
The Pharisees intended to be righteous. They intended to appear to men to be great spiritual leaders. They intended to be the first ones into heaven. But their intentions fell dreadfully short when their self-righteousness got in the way.
It is not enough to talk about doing what is right. We have to follow through with faithful obedience.
–Paul Holland
