AUGUST 23 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#25 “Which of the two did the will of the father?” (Matthew 21:31)

 

AUGUST 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#25 

 “Which of the two did the will of the father?”  

(Matthew 21:31)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, my Redeemer, my Savior, 

the Only Begotten of the Most High God.

 There is no name like the Holy Matchless Name of Jesus.

 Lord, Savior, Friend, all praise is Yours. Your Kingdom will 

know no end, You will forever be the King of kings and Lord of lords.

 Jesus, I surrender my life to Praise and Honor Your Holy Name. 

I know that if I could completely abandon my selfish desires and 

sinful ways that the Holy Spirit would fill this unworthy earthen

 vessel and Your Abundant Love and Eternal Grace would spill 

over to the world through an outpouring of Your Mercy — so grant 

it Lord that I can be strong enough to let go, wise enough to let You 

fill me with Your knowledge, and Lord, weak enough to yield 

completely to the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit.   

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus began Teaching further about “authority” with three 

consecutive parables, the first of which is the parable of 

the two sons. Jesus had the chief priests and elders thinking

 about the “baptism of John” so Jesus confronts them with:
 “But what do you think?” (Matthew 21:28) 

and then Jesus told this parable: a man asked his two sons to go

 work in his vineyard, one son said he would go but never went and 

the second son said he would not go but 

“afterward he regretted [not obeying his father] and 

went [to work in the vineyard]…” (Matthew 21:29)

 

— Jesus ended the parable with the Jesus Question JQ#25:

 “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (Matthew 21:31) 

The chief priests and elders that were confronting Jesus with His 

“authority” gave the obvious answer that the one that went and 

worked in the vineyard was the one that did the father’s will. 

Jesus immediately tied this parable to John the Baptist who came

 in the Name of the Father preaching “Repentance” ——

— Jesus confirmed that all who believed John and repented will 

inherit the kingdom of God, but those that did not do the will of the

 Father simply would not enter the kingdom of God. Jesus has been

 saying in His ministry that He is doing the “works that His Father” 

had sent Him to do. When Jesus told this parable it should have

 been obvious that Jesus was talking about God’s chosen people

 Israel and that God had “brought them out of Egypt” 

and had led them to a “land of milk and honey” 

but as the children of Israel they had a responsibility to 

“work in [God’s] vineyard”. (Matthew 21:28) 

The point that Jesus is making to the religious rulers was that God

 had invited them to work in His vineyard and it really doesn’t matter 

what they “said”  they would do, the important thing was that they 

actually “did the works” of the father. Jesus could not have made it 

any clearer to the religious leaders that God had given them a job

  in His Vineyard and those that did the will of the father 

would be rewarded. By tying this parable to the baptism of John, 

Jesus is stating that

 God sent John to prepare the way 

for Jesus who IS the Messiah  

and if they refused to listen to the Father 

and do His Will that they will not

 “enter the kingdom of God”.

 

Jesus then makes a direct connection to John the Baptist

 with the rulers as He said, 

“for John came to you in the way of righteousness,

 and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots

 believed him, and when you saw it you did not afterward

 relent and believe him.” (Matthew 21:32) 

So with this parable Jesus is describing to the chief priests and elders

 the will of the Father:

 “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him

 whom He hath sent.” (John 6:29) 

God has called all to [repent and] enter into His labors

 and it is our responsibility to get busy doing 

“the will of the father.”