Entering the Kingdom

             “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

            “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

            “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

            “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

            “The first,” they answered.

              Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” (Matthew 21:28-32)

 

            Some people miss what’s being said here. They get caught up in the notion that the kingdom of God will include people like prostitutes and tax collectors, and “religious folks” get left out. I wonder how much time Jesus spent with tax collectors and sinners. If Jesus had spent five minutes asking a prostitute for directions to the local library or was seen talking to a tax collector about his dog, the rumors would have flown. I don’t doubt that Jesus did talk to them and eat with them; I just wonder how much.

            The other thing people miss with this parable about the kingdom of God is that the son who said, “I will not,” later repented and did what he was told to. The prostitutes and tax collectors who were getting into the kingdom ahead of (not instead of) the Pharisees weren’t getting in because of their sins, or with their sins. There won’t be prostitutes or corrupt tax collectors in the kingdom of God. There won’t be murderers, rapists, child molesters, adulterers, or thieves. But there will be people there who at one point did those things.

            I’ve met people who talk as if they would rather go to Hell than to spend eternity in Heaven with Adolph Hitler, or Jeffery Dahmer, or a serial rapist, or a pedophile, or…or… I’ve met people who refuse to go to church because the Church is full of hypocrites, adulterers, etc., but what the people who say these things don’t seem to understand is that they have stepped into the role of Pharisee. For all of their talk of the need of others to repent, they do not. In fact, they believe they have no need to repent. But repentance is necessary to enter the kingdom of God – and it doesn’t end with that “saving prayer.”

            In the parable, both sons repented. One said, “I won’t,” but later changed his mind and did. The other said, “I will,” but later changed his mind and didn’t. Obedience isn’t about what we say. It’s about what we do.