The First Son

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE FIRST SON

Matt 21:28-32

28 "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.' 29 "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. 31 "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 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.

NIV

The question is, who are the sons in this parable? Who do they represent? It seems right because the chief priests and elders came trying to challenge Jesus about by whose authority did he do these things, that now Jesus turned the tables on them and gave them a challenge to answer. It is reasonable to see the chief priests and the elders as the second son because they professed to know God and performed religious acts, or at least what appeared as religious acts, but refused to accept Jesus as the Savior, the one and only way to enter the kingdom of God, to do the work God required. Then it is the tax collectors and prostitutes, the publicans and sinners, as it were, who was the first son who lived a life so unpleasing to God and refused the religious life, refused to live uprightly, but when they heard John the Baptist or the teaching of Jesus and repented of, they ways, they were the ones who the father wanted. Have we not experienced the life of the first son? Have we not lived a rebellious life against God? However, praise God, we heard and we witnessed the truth of God and repented and did the work that God requires, we believed in the one He sent, we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we can be assured we did what the Father wanted. The problem that could occur is that once we became a believer, as years go by, we can become entrenched in religious activities rather than continuing to do the work that God requires, believing in the one He sent. Somehow, we might become too involved in believing our “Good deeds”, our religious activities make us a better son, or that all these deeds are the work God requires. Sure, we should be doing good in life, and perhaps that is in some way considered as worship, or in response to the love of God in our lives. It is true that we should walk as Jesus walked, living a life of devotion to God and benevolence and beneficial to our neighbor. However, when we look at this parable it still comes down to who is it that repents and believes in Jesus. That is the fullness of gaining eternal life. The rest of our lives are spent simply loving God with all our being and loving our neighbor as ourselves, being thankful we are the first son.