1 00:00:02,690 --> 00:00:13,730 Speaker 1: Life Audio Thank you for listening to your daily Bible verse. 2 00:00:14,670 --> 00:00:18,130 Speaker 1: The podcast that examines one verse each day to learn 3 00:00:18,170 --> 00:00:20,950 Speaker 1: more about God and His will for our lives. I'm 4 00:00:20,989 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: your host, Kyle Norman. After a brief message from one 5 00:00:25,020 --> 00:00:41,230 Speaker 1: of our sponsors, we will continue with today's verse. Today's 6 00:00:41,270 --> 00:00:46,910 Speaker 1: verse can be found in Matthew chapter 21, verse 31. 7 00:00:46,909 --> 00:00:49,470 Speaker 1: Which of the two sons did what the father wanted? 8 00:00:49,490 --> 00:00:54,810 Speaker 1: The first, they answered. Jesus said to them, Truly I 9 00:00:54,850 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering 10 00:00:58,380 --> 00:01:02,950 Speaker 1: the kingdom of God ahead of you. The parable of 11 00:01:02,990 --> 00:01:06,980 Speaker 1: the two sons, told in Matthew 21, is quite relatable. 12 00:01:07,660 --> 00:01:10,759 Speaker 1: I'm sure we can all relate in some way. Two 13 00:01:10,819 --> 00:01:14,940 Speaker 1: children are told to perform a chore. One child defiantly 14 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,110 Speaker 1: says no, but then somewhere along the way does the 15 00:01:18,270 --> 00:01:21,990 Speaker 1: action that was asked of him. One child agrees to 16 00:01:22,030 --> 00:01:24,850 Speaker 1: the chore, but later you find out that they shirk 17 00:01:24,890 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: their responsibility and simply did their own thing. Growing up, 18 00:01:30,060 --> 00:01:32,020 Speaker 1: I can say that I have been on both sides 19 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: of that scenario. Who among us hasn't? This parable is 20 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: a fairly straightforward story, to which Jesus puts forward the 21 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,950 Speaker 1: easiest question to answer in all of Scripture. Which of 22 00:01:45,990 --> 00:01:50,070 Speaker 1: the two children did what the father wanted? If you're 23 00:01:50,090 --> 00:01:53,390 Speaker 1: looking for a twist, it doesn't come. Because the answer 24 00:01:53,470 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: is plain. Well, the first one. The one who went 25 00:01:57,060 --> 00:02:01,070 Speaker 1: to work in the vineyard. It can be tempting to 26 00:02:01,150 --> 00:02:05,310 Speaker 1: interpret this parable in a way that suggests that doing 27 00:02:05,350 --> 00:02:07,970 Speaker 1: the right things are what is most important in our 28 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: spiritual life. To believe that, in the end, if we 29 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:16,179 Speaker 1: do the things that God approves of, well, this amounts 30 00:02:16,260 --> 00:02:19,380 Speaker 1: to a life of God's kingdom. It doesn't actually matter 31 00:02:19,470 --> 00:02:22,870 Speaker 1: what we say or what we believe. It's what I 32 00:02:22,930 --> 00:02:27,410 Speaker 1: call good person theology. Well, as long as we are, quote, 33 00:02:27,530 --> 00:02:32,190 Speaker 1: good people— Nice people, pleasant people, that's what God ultimately 34 00:02:32,250 --> 00:02:36,290 Speaker 1: cares about. Good people go to heaven, bad people do not. 35 00:02:37,389 --> 00:02:42,750 Speaker 1: And this parable seemingly suggests this. Except, there's actually more 36 00:02:42,790 --> 00:02:47,620 Speaker 1: going on. Standing in the temple courts, Jesus tells the 37 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: story about a father with a vineyard calling to his children. 38 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: This image of a vineyard was a popular image for Israel, 39 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: and more specifically, Jerusalem. So when Jesus starts talking about 40 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: a father who had a vineyard and called to his sons, 41 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: the scribes and the teachers of the law would recognize 42 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: that this rabbi was telling a story about them and 43 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: their relationship with God Almighty. Israel was that first son, 44 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,540 Speaker 1: that heir of the vineyard, the son who could say 45 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:27,250 Speaker 1: the right things, but actually rejected the father's vineyard and 46 00:03:27,270 --> 00:03:30,100 Speaker 1: the call to be a part of it. And then 47 00:03:30,139 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: there's a second child. The second child seemingly rejects the 48 00:03:34,060 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: word of the father, the invitation to join in the 49 00:03:36,980 --> 00:03:43,970 Speaker 1: work of the vineyard, but eventually returns. Jesus says, but 50 00:03:44,270 --> 00:03:49,390 Speaker 1: later he changed his mind and he went. Importantly, the 51 00:03:49,430 --> 00:03:53,270 Speaker 1: word that Jesus uses for changed his mind is the 52 00:03:53,310 --> 00:03:58,500 Speaker 1: word metemalethes, and it means to repent. This is the 53 00:03:58,540 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: exact same word that Jesus says at the end of 54 00:04:01,260 --> 00:04:04,140 Speaker 1: the parable when he says that the scribes and the 55 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:11,230 Speaker 1: elders failed to repent and believe. Now, repentance simply means 56 00:04:11,510 --> 00:04:15,630 Speaker 1: to change direction, to respond in a different way, to 57 00:04:15,710 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: turn into something particular. This was the message that Jesus preached. Repent, 58 00:04:22,220 --> 00:04:26,020 Speaker 1: for the kingdom of God is at hand. So, within 59 00:04:26,060 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: the parable, the indication is that the invitation of the father, 60 00:04:30,420 --> 00:04:35,500 Speaker 1: originally rejected, stuck with this second child, and eventually this 61 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:40,419 Speaker 1: child turned their life into the vineyard and began to 62 00:04:40,500 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: join into the father's work. This was a complete acceptance 63 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,229 Speaker 1: of the father's invitation, and Jesus says that this is 64 00:04:48,290 --> 00:04:52,450 Speaker 1: what the tax collectors and the prostitutes were doing. Even 65 00:04:52,550 --> 00:04:56,010 Speaker 1: though they had seemingly rejected the one who made them, 66 00:04:56,750 --> 00:05:00,690 Speaker 1: and chose to live apart from God's ways, God's word 67 00:05:00,810 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: stuck with them, and they responded to it. They changed 68 00:05:05,950 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: their life. They responded to God and turned into God's kingdom. So, 69 00:05:12,339 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: this parable isn't just about working in the vineyard. It's 70 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,020 Speaker 1: about the willingness to respond to the goodness of God 71 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,770 Speaker 1: that has come to us. It is about accepting ourselves 72 00:05:25,910 --> 00:05:29,830 Speaker 1: as God's children made to join in God's work in 73 00:05:29,870 --> 00:05:34,099 Speaker 1: this world. So the question that we have to ask 74 00:05:34,180 --> 00:05:40,779 Speaker 1: ourselves is, how do we respond to Jesus? I remember 75 00:05:40,820 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: a friend of mine who would always talk about needing 76 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: to know more before making any faith decision. He would say, 77 00:05:48,660 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: I need to know more about Jesus. I need to 78 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:53,980 Speaker 1: know more about God. I need to know more about 79 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,990 Speaker 1: the Bible or more about life. And then I need 80 00:05:58,010 --> 00:06:00,909 Speaker 1: to know more about other religions. I need to know 81 00:06:00,950 --> 00:06:03,070 Speaker 1: more about what I want to do with my life. 82 00:06:03,670 --> 00:06:07,289 Speaker 1: And what it ended up being was simply excuse after 83 00:06:07,390 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: excuse after excuse to keep himself closed to any sort 84 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:17,460 Speaker 1: of response. But here's the thing. At some point, to 85 00:06:17,500 --> 00:06:19,900 Speaker 1: go deeper in our life with God, we have to 86 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:24,310 Speaker 1: respond to what God has done. and there is simply 87 00:06:24,470 --> 00:06:28,530 Speaker 1: no work of God greater than the life, death, and 88 00:06:28,570 --> 00:06:35,180 Speaker 1: resurrection of Jesus. The theologian Stanley Hauerwas said, The attempt 89 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,859 Speaker 1: to establish grounds more determinative than Jesus' life, death, and 90 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: resurrection for why we should believe in him results in idolatry. 91 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,660 Speaker 1: If one needs a standard of truth to ensure that 92 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,409 Speaker 1: Jesus is the Messiah— then one ought to worship that 93 00:06:53,529 --> 00:06:59,250 Speaker 1: standard of truth and not Jesus. So, what does that mean? 94 00:06:59,830 --> 00:07:04,870 Speaker 1: It means that in Jesus, God has acted. In Jesus, 95 00:07:04,950 --> 00:07:07,789 Speaker 1: God has called out to us. In Jesus, God has 96 00:07:07,890 --> 00:07:11,850 Speaker 1: invited us to enter his kingdom of grace and love. 97 00:07:12,890 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: The question isn't, what else can God do to prove 98 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: God's self? The question is, How will we respond to Jesus?