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Pentecost 19 -- September 28, 2008 Matthew
21:23-32
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ I can picture them in my mind’s eye - watching with measured tread, slow and conscious of their dignity. No hurry here! Any sign of hurry will detract from their status. The chief priests, the elders of the people - scribes, that is, teachers of the law, Pharisees and Sadducees, on their way to confront Jesus. “By what authority do you do these things, and who gave you this authority?” Notice that they ask Jesus “by what authority do you do these things...”, not “by what authority do you do this” this teaching. So in effect, they are asking Jesus: “By what authority do you cleanse lepers? By what authority do you give sight to those who cannot see? By what authority do you give hearing to those who cannot hear? By what authority do the lame walk? By what authority are you preaching good news to the poor? By what authority do you heal the sick? By what authority do the dead rise? By what authority do you tell folks to do as we say, but not as we do? And by the way, who gave you this authority? And Jesus replies: “I’ll ask you a question and if you can answer it, I will tell by what authority I do these things.” And Jesus asks them concerning the baptism of John - from whence it came? From heaven, that is from God, or from man? I can see them going off in a cluster - perhaps one saying “who is this John?” Another replying “you remember John - the guy in the wilderness who preached repentance, saying that the kingdom of heaven was near. He’s the one who when we went to see him, called us a brood of vipers, and asked who warned us to flee from the coming wrath. Remember, he’s the one who said the ax is at the root and trees not bearing fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire. He lost his head with Herod, and then lost his head. We can’t say that his baptism came from heaven because then Jesus will ask why we didn’t believe him, especially when we all saw the prostitutes and tax collectors repenting. And on the same token, we can’t say that his baptism came from man because the mob will be clamoring for our hides because they believed John was a prophet sent by God. Best we say nothing at all, or just tell Jesus that we don’t know. And Jesus, hearing their answer, tells them that he will not reveal to them the authority by which he does these things. Then Jesus tells them a story... A man had two sons. Going to the first he told his son to go and work in the vineyard. His son refused saying that he would not do so. And this in itself had to get the attention of those listening to Jesus, because in the culture of the day, it was unheard of for a son to tell his father he would not do something the father asked him to do. So I can imagine the ears of the chief priests and others suddenly focused on Jesus. Then the son “changed his mind and went.” The Greek word translated as “changed his mind” also has the meaning of “repented,” and in effect that is what the son did - he repented, he literally turned around, and went to work in the vineyard. Going to second son, the man says the same thing as to the first son. The second son says “I go, sir” but does not go to work in the vineyard. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they reply, and Jesus explains that the prostitutes and tax collects are going into the Kingdom of God before the chief priests and elders. John came preaching repentance and baptizing a baptism of repentance and even seeing this you did not believe. So which of the sons are we like? Well, I suspect that there is some of both in each one of us. There are times when we say “no” to God, to his wishes, to that which we know we should be doing, then we change our minds, we repent of our actions or inactions, and we accede to God. Then there are those times when we say “yes” to God but our actions belie our words. Should we, then, aspire to be more like the first son? No, I tell you we should rely on the third son in the story. What “third son?” The one who is telling the story. The one we know as Jesus, the Word became flesh, God incarnate, the one called the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. The same son who said that his purpose is to do the will of the One who sent him. The one who shortly after this discussion with the chief priests and the elders would be in the garden praying that “this cup” be taken from him, but nonetheless, not his will but the Father’s will be done. Jesus who was without sin, who took our sin upon himself, who as he hung upon that cross was forsaken, cut off from the Creator for our sakes. Jesus who died and rose again on the third day. This is the Son in whom, by grace through faith we believe, who justifies us through faith. Jesus, who modeled everything he preached and taught. To love God with heart, soul and all our might, to love our neighbors as ourselves. To do unto others we would have done to us. Who told us that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do for him. Jesus, who enables us to do all things, as the Apostle Paul told us in his letter to Philippi. It’s this third Son who enables us to say “yes” and then to do what we have said, and through whom forgiveness is ours when we fall. And so we go and make disciples, witnessing by our deeds, and even by our words. AMEN Rev. Bruce Hannem,
Associate Pastor |
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