John 11:30-47 Jesus and the Power to Overcome Death

The passage from John 11:30-47 shows Jesus at some of the highest and lowest points in his ministry. Jesus was told a few days earlier that his friend Lazarus was sick, but he waited for two days before he and the disciples went to the home of Mary and Martha, who were Lazarus’ sisters. By the time he arrived, Lazarus had been dead for several days, so it’s not surprising that Mary and Martha were disappointed with Jesus.

Sometimes Jesus disappoints us as well. We’ve prayed, but no answers have come. We’ve pleaded, but God has delayed. We’ve waited, but he hasn’t arrived. Why has Jesus waited? Possibly it is because our faith and hope in Jesus have to be proved and/or tested. Our faith depends on the faith that comes from experiencing God’s power in our lives. That faith needs to be as deep as Martha’s was when she said that God could do for Jesus whatever he asked. She had a faith experience because she had seen him work miracles throughout his ministry and she knew what he was capable of.  

When he saw the mourners and their raw grief, Jesus wept. Why did he weep? There are several possible reasons. Jesus could have been genuinely moved by his grief and that of the other mourners. After all, Jesus was both fully God and fully human, and as a human he experienced human emotions. Jesus was also in awe of the power of God that was about to flow through him to triumph over death. Jesus’ tears could also have been caused by grief for a fallen world that is caught up in sorrow and death caused by sin.

Jesus could have also been grieving because the people could not see that the Messiah had come and therefore they could not see what God would do through him. This is a good lesson for the church to learn. The church can be unbelieving, unconcerned and indifferent toward Jesus and God. Regardless of the reason for his weeping, the knowledge that resurrection and joy would follow were the underlying points of his grief.

It might be hard for us to believe that Jesus could cry. After all, we’ve been told for years that only babies cry, but as Dr. Phil said in a recent episode of the Dr. Phil Show, “Big boys don’t cry, but real men do”. I’ve even cried. I cried during my mother’s knee replacement operation last year. Jesus wept because he was sad and hurt, and his tears provided relief. Jesus was sad over Lazarus’ death. He could have spared everyone grief by coming sooner, but he didn’t because it benefitted them in the end to witness his power over death. His actions proclaimed his power and glory.  

Jesus’ prayer to God shows the intimacy of their union and the gratitude that God heard and answered Jesus prayer. Jesus always did what his father asked him to do, so all he does is in reality a prayer to God. Jesus hoped that everyone who heard him pray to God would know that he was the long-promised Messiah.

Our suffering and grief matter to Jesus, and he wept in empathy many times. When we get to heaven, there will be no more sorrow, pain or tears. We will experience love like we have never experienced it before. This miracle set the stage for Jesus’ death and resurrection. It was his last miracle. Some of the people who witnessed the miracle reported it to the Pharisees, and that led to Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection. If Jesus can raise Lazarus from the dead, and if Jesus can rise from the dead, he can bring new life to us as well if we are willing to profess our faith in him.

Jesus asked the people to unbind Lazarus and let him go. He could have done it himself, but when human beings are capable of doing something themselves, God will not intervene. Jesus calls us to unbind people as well-people who are bound up in prejudices, bad habits or other problems. They’ve heard the saving word of Christ, but they still need to be delivered from the bondage of sin. That is the ministry we care called to. When we unbind people, we show God’s love. 

There is a lot of emotion in this story-grief/sorrow, sympathetic neighbours who shared the grief of Mary and Martha, Jesus weeping. In the midst of these emotions, there is an abundance of faith-faith in the words of Mary and Martha and faith in Jesus’ prayer to God. The most important feature in this story is the love of Jesus, especially as shown in his weeping. His love shows us God’s mind and nature, especially his compassion and sympathy.

The people were sad because they were stifled. Their lives were constricted. They could only see the darkness and finality of death. They knew that when Jesus’ hour came, he had to meet it and that there was no way out, and they also knew that the same thing would be true for them. They could not see the sunlight and eternity of life with Jesus in heaven until he died and rose again. Only then did they realize that Jesus made it through the valley of the shadow of death and came out on the other side. The other side was filled with light and glory.

Lazarus heard the voice of Jesus and answered the call. The voice of God reassures us and calls us from the past into the present. The voice of God keeps our faith alive. Jesus always seeks people out. He comes to us wherever we are. He calls us whoever we are. He can use us whatever we are.

When Jesus called to Lazarus, he brought Lazarus from death this time. Lazarus eventually died again. There will be a time when Jesus will call our names and bring us out of death into everlasting life. Jesus’ raising of Lazarus sent the people running for cover, and it should also send us running for cover too. We and they finally see that Jesus is Lord and liberator of all the people of God. Those who are oppressed in any way by society will be convinced that his power came from on high and could not be defeated by the evil forces of the world. Evil plotted to silence Jesus by crucifying him, but Jesus has silenced evil through the hope that his resurrection offers each and every one of us.

 Bibliography

1.      ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 10 Bible Software package.

2.      Frederickson, R.L. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 27: John (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1985)

3.      “Bottle of Tears”. Retrieved from keys@lists.cbhministries.org

4.      Stanley C.F.:  The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASB (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 2009)

5.      MacArthur, J.F. Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 2006)

6.      Joni Earickson Tada, “God Weeping”. Retrieved from www.joniandfriends.org

7.      Harvey Stob, “He Will Call Our Name”. Retrieved from www.thisistoday.net

8.      The Rev. Charles Hoffacker, “Who Gets the Last Word?” Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

9.      Dr. Mickey Anders, “Waiting and Weeping”. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

10.  The Rev. John Bedingfield, “Deconstruction”. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

11.  Dr. Philip W. McLarty, “The Raising of Lazarus”. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

12.  Dr. Keith Wagner, “A Voice You Can Be Sure Of”. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

13.  Maxie Dunnam, “The Ministry of the Unbinding”. Retrieved from www.esermons.com

14.  Eric S. Ritz, “Called by Life”. Retrieved from www.esermons.com

15.  James W. Robinson, “A Cup Running Over”. Retrieved from www.esermons.com

16.  Thomas Peterson, “Come Out!” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

17.  Carlyle Fielding Stewart III, “Take Off the Grave Clothes”. Retrieved from www.esermons.com

 

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23; Matthew 5:38-48 We Are God's Temple

The passage from 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 is a continuation of Paul’s discussion with the church at Corinth, but the focus is now on the necessity of unity among believers. When Paul refers to the body as a temple, he was referring to the Corinthian church as a whole, and as the temple of God the Holy Spirit rested on each and every member.

There is a parallel in our lives. We are also God’s temple in that we are to be God’s agents in our world. In order for us to do that work, we need the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. When it does, we will have a happy and fulfilling life provided that we follow God’s instructions. As one small child told his father, the word Bible stands for “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.”

Before we can build that temple in our lives, we need to build a firm foundation. That foundation is faith in Jesus. Next, we have to use only good building material. This material is our testimonies-not only in speaking to others, but also in how we live our lives. If we build our lives out of the good things we will be better able to lead others to Christ. Our faith must be built on the solid foundation of God’s Word. God is our refuge and strength, especially in times of trouble. He gives us wisdom, especially when we don’t expect to receive it. His love keeps our hearts alive. God lives in our hearts and minds.  

When God lives in us, we know who we are. The Holy Spirit gives us a sense of identity. He will be with us all the time and in every situation. He guides and comforts us. We belong to him. We know who we are. In order for God to live in us, we are called to the radical life called discipleship. It is just beyond our grasp and yet it is powerful enough to pull us away from our earthly, contented life.

We are called to build a life of faith that is based on the foundation we have in Jesus Christ. If we do, we will be rewarded with a good life-a life that God will give us. The benefits of this life will be a church and a world that live up to the highest purposes. We will also be able to withstand life’s challenges. If a crisis takes something from us, it can still work for our salvation. It will show us what is important in our lives. As the old saying goes, “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”.

The foundation of the temple is to be united. Christ is not to be divided, and neither is his church. The foundation is not built around individual leaders. We need to work together. After all, if we can’t get along with each other, how can we draw people to Christ? We need to build bridges so we can preach the Gospel not only with our words but with our deeds. We need to build bridges within our own culture and community. We need to work together and use our individual gifts to build up the church. We must use God’s gifts, but not hoard them. We are to embrace them and share them. When we work together, we can hold each other accountable for our actions, and we can also work miracles. Human wisdom is foolish because it divides the church. God’s wisdom unites the church’s foundation. If we follow God’s wisdom, we will be foolish in the eyes of the world, but we will be wise in the eyes of God.  

The building of God’s temple within ourselves is an ongoing process. God is the builder. As part of the process, we must remember that we are still children of God. We have to do our part in the building process by doing things such as praying and attending Bible study and worship. We also need to work with other members of the body of Christ. We can’t do it alone. We must also continue making moral and ethical decisions in light of our Christian faith. These decisions can never be separated from our spiritual life. We need to keep on doing what is right even though we are still “under construction.” We need to look forward to the experiences and full life that God will give us.

The Holy Spirit can’t enter us unless we see ourselves as sinners and God as a God who saves. He wants people who say “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner” and who believe that He is merciful because of Christ’s death and resurrection. God needs people who know that they need him and who are willing to share him. God’s house of faith is built when we follow God’s plan by serving others.

The cornerstone of the foundation that is God’s temple within us is the Apostle’s Creed. We can stand behind the beliefs it states because on the road of life there is a need to know that our sins are forgiven, to have our faith affirmed and to bury our deceased loved ones in the sure and certain hope that we will rise to be with Christ in another world.  

When God’s temple is built within us, boundaries between neighbours and non-neighbours are removed. There are no limits on those we are to love. For example, a small rural church with an average attendance of only thirty people received a visitor one Sunday-a mother with a young child. The child had special needs that required round-the-clock medical care. At first some of the members were upset by the depth of this family’s need. Others found the situation disruptive to their worship experience.

Slowly church members were trained to help care for the child. The mother was grateful for the help and could run errands or get some much needed rest. The few children in the church would talk to the mother and child. The men made the family’s home more accessible. The caring congregation changed the mother’s life, and the acts of kindness also changed the congregation. Worship attendance began to increase, the spirit of the congregation became more positive, and soon other families with young children began attending that church. Congregations that learn to treat others with the love of Christ attract people who are searching for a genuine sense of community.

This is a good lesson for all of us who attend this church to learn. For example, I recently spoke to one person who used to attend the 8:00 AM Service on Sunday morning before it was stopped last fall. This person is looking forward to the resumption of the 8:00 AM service next month because this particular person is bothered when the children’s talk at our 11:00 AM service is too long! To me, this clearly states that we as a church have more work to do to build the temple of God within each one of us.  

The church in Corinth lost its first love—love for Jesus. They kept up their spiritual activities, but the key ingredient of love was missing. They were consumed by loyalty to different leaders. The same problem exists in churches today. Many members are so obsessed with rules, committees, programs and personal agendas that they do not serve Christ in love. As a result, they have lost their mission and vision-to show God’s love to people in a hurting, sin-filled world. Instead, we are to celebrate a unity beyond uniformity and a diversity beyond divisions.

Jesus doesn’t call on us to manufacture love for someone we don’t like or may even hate. Instead, we are to do good for a person, even if that person is our enemy. We are also to do more than what is required by law or tradition. We are to “go the extra mile”. We are to treat everyone equally. This standard is not easy to live up to, and when we fail to live up to it, we must fall back on God’s grace. We are not called on to be perfect or holy like God is. We are called on to imitate God’s love and reject the world’s ways and standards of living. God loves everyone-the good and the bad, sinners, the poor and so on-and so should we. The readings for today remind us that we have work to do in our relationships with our fellow human beings before we can truly prepare ourselves for worship. We are called by Christ to be better than we are because we have fallen short of what we can be because of our sinful, human nature. Sometimes he asks us to do the impossible, but when he does, he makes the impossible possible.

We are to do more than what is required by law or traditions or everyone else. We must share with the world more than what the others share. We must show more compassion for the needy than others do. We need to be more committed to the causes of peace and justice than others are. These are not requirements that we have to find the will to meet. They are the desires we have to fulfill that come from God’s love. That love comes from surrendering our lives to God.

The key to God’s temple is our faith. It keeps us close to God because the Holy Spirit will live in us just like God lived in the temple in ancient Israel. The Holy Spirit assures us that in our relationship with Jesus we can do what he did and now tells us to do-be generous to the needy, do not retaliate when hurt or offended, pray for those who persecute us and forgive our enemies. The only way we can do this is by making sure that God’s temple within us is filled with love, especially the love Christ showed here on earth.

Thanks be to God, AMEN

Bibliography

1.      Abingdon Commentary. Retrieved from www.esermons.com

2.      Dr. J. Howard Olds, “Work.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

3.      James Merritt, “Foundation for the Future.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

4.      Dr. J. Howard Olds, “Embracing an Endless Life of Servants.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

5.      King Duncan, “You are God’s Temple.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

6.      Maxie Dunnam, “Magnificent Fools.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

7.      James L. Killen, Jr., “The Record.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

8.      Richard A. Hasler, “Play the Fool.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

9.      Timothy J. Smith, “Building a Solid Foundation.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

10.  James L. Killen, Jr., “Still Under Construction.” Retrieved from www.esermons.com

11.  Pastor Ken Klaus, “The Word for the New Year.” Retrieved from www.lhm.org

12.  Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 7^th Sunday (A), Feb. 20, 2011”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org

13.  Exegesis for Matthew 5:38-48. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

14.  Ed Stetzer, “How the Church Can Be Agents of Change”. Retrieved from www.christianity.com/edstetzer/2014/february/how-church-can-be-agents-of-change.html

15.  Chris Keating, “Turning Out Violence by Turning the Other Cheek.” Retrieved from www.sermonsuite.com

16.  Lectionary Scripture Notes, Epiphany 7, OT 7, Cycle A. Retrieved from www.sermonsuite.com

17.  John Shearman’s Lectionary Resource, 7^th Sunday After Epiphany, Year A. Retrieved from http://lectionary.seemslikegod.org

18.  Michael Youssef, Ph.D., “Enduring Love.” Retrieved from mydevotional@leadingtheway.org

19.  Daniel B. Clendenin, Ph.D., “The People of God as a Positive Social Epidemic”. Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net

20.  Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 7^th Sunday (A) February 23, 2014.” Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org

21.  Dave Risendal, “You Have Heard that It Was Said…But I Say to You.” Retrieved from http://onelittleword.org/?p=2353

22.  SeasonFUSION Tip for February 23, 3014. Retrieved from tips@seasonsonline.ca

23.  Christine Havens, “Bible Study: 7 Epiphany (A)”. Retrieved from http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com

24.  The Rev. Danae Ashley, “Stone Soup.” Retrieved from http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com

25.  Living the Lectionary, “Epiphany 7 A-Leviticus 19:1-18.” Retrieved from phil@calvaryftw.org

 

 

Matthew 5:38-48 Love Your Friends and Your Enemies

Good morning boys and girls!

Has there ever been a time in your lives when you did not like someone? Why?

Sometimes it’s not easy to like people, especially when people haven’t been nice to us. I know, because when I was your age a lot of kids at school didn’t like me. In other words, I was bullied. There were many times when I wanted to fight back, but I didn’t because I didn’t have the mental and physical strength to do so, and also because I knew that my father would find out at some point and he would not be very happy (to put it mildly, and if you want to know why, ask your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles if they had Mr. Condon for a teacher or principal, and if they did, they can tell you some REAL horror stories). Bullying hurts, and the effects still bother me today.

I didn’t try to get even, but I didn’t love them either. Perhaps I should have listened to Jesus and what he said in his Sermon on the Mount. He said some things that surprised a lot of people. For example, he said “You have heard it said that you should love your neighbours and hate your enemies, but I’m telling you that you should love your enemies as well, and you should pray for them”.

Why should we love those who hate us? Well, when we do, we show God’s love to them. It also sets a good example for us to follow, and it turns enemies into friends.

Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes for a moment of prayer. Dear God, thank you for loving us. Help us to love everyone, including those who hate us. Help us to love them like you love us. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.

Bibliography

1.      “Love Your Enemies.” Retrieved from http://sermons4kids.com/love_your_enemies

2.      “Friends and Enemies.” Retrieved from http://sermons4kids.com/friends_and_enemies

3.      Dell Klein, “The Stolen Baseball Glove.” Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

 

Matthew 21:23-32 What are We Going to Do

An honest man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the traffic light turned yellow just in front of him. The man did the right thing stopping at the crosswalk even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman hit the roof - and the horn - screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands in the air. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

There is an interesting parallel between this story and the parable of the two sons in this morning's Gospel reading, and this parallel can best be understood by discussing some of the events leading up to the confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders. Shortly before this confrontation, Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as mentioned in Matthew 21:1-17. Jesus entered the temple and-to paraphrase a popular saying - "upset the apple cart". In other words, he challenged the status quo by driving out the livestock and money changers.

Needless to say, the religious leaders were not happy. After all, they had a good thing going, and Jesus ruined it. They were running a very lucrative business in the temple. You see, in order for people to make sacrifices in the temple, they had to sacrifice an animal that was unblemished as determined by the temple examiners. If the examiners decided that the animal had blemishes, it was unacceptable and people had to buy unblemished animals at the temple...and often at inflated prices. To make matters worse, people could not use regular currency in the temple. They had to use official Jewish currency, and the money-changers charged interest rates of about 25 percent.

The religious leaders mistook their self-righteous attitudes for true belief. They were more concerned with themselves, their own salvation and determining who was and was not saved instead of helping the lost come into God's presence. The rabbis were now losing money, and so they decided to confront him and challenge his authority. They tried to discredit Jesus and show the people that he did not have authority. They did not question his miracles or his supernatural abilities. They just questioned the source.

Jesus might not have had official authority, but he did have the one authority that the religious leaders did not - namely, the authority and power of God. The religious leaders had used their religion to keep themselves away from God. They had their traditions and rules, and therefore they had no need for God. We are often the same way. We mistake our actions, traditions and rules for true faith in Christ. We're great when we're hanging around the church on Sundays, but we have trouble making something of our Christian lives where we live, work and play.

Jesus used the parable of the two sons to tell the religious leaders that the folks on the bottom end of society had nothing except God. They might have said "no" to God in the past, but they said "yes" right now - it was not too late. On the other hand, the rabbis had once said "yes", but had never let God into their lives. The rabbis assumed, rather arrogantly, that they had a good chance of salvation. Jesus says that those who don't profess faith but live it as if they did have a better shot at salvation than those who profess faith but don't act. In other words, it is like the old saying, "Actions speak louder than words".

Jesus is trying to lead the religious to admit that talking is not always the same thing as doing. He emphasizes the messages of the prophets-messages of hope, thinking better and repentance. He points out that this can be more likely in some very unlikely people - people like the prostitutes and financiers he referred to in the Gospel reading. The religious leaders, on the other hand, thought that they had no need for forgiveness because of their struggle to reach their favoured status and keep it. They had little or no understanding of the love in forgiveness...perhaps because love had ceased to exist in the world they made and maintained with regulations.

Two thousand years ago, a handful of people turned the world upside down, just like Jesus turned things in the temple upside-down. Why? Was it because they were smart? There's no sign of that. Was it because they were powerful? No, because they were from the bottom tier of the social structure of their day. Was it because they were strategically placed? No, because they were Galileans, hillbillies much like those on the 1960s TV sitcom, "Beverly Hillbillies". They had such an impact on the world because they were totally dedicated to Christ, and if we are totally dedicated to Christ, there is nothing we can't do.

This is often easy to do in theory but hard to do in practice. We have no problem obeying rules, but we do have a problem with the sin of omission. Why? It's because such changes in our behavior do not always come easy. There is what we call the law of inertia. Inertia is defined as "the property of matter by virtue of which any physical body persists in its state of rest or of uniform motion until acted on by some external force" . In other words, an object that is at rest will remain at rest until a force acts on it and forces it to move. If the object is moving in a particular direction, it will keep moving in that direction until a force comes along to change the direction.

Some sort of inertia is also at work in human nature. If we are sitting still, we tend to keep on sitting still, and it usually takes some powerful force to get us up and going. If we are going in a particular direction, we tend to keep going in the same direction until some influence of great power can force us to change direction. In other words, we, like the religious leaders, are sometimes like the second son in Jesus' parable. We often say we will do something, but we sometimes fail to follow through. We need to be more like the disciple Andrew, who, while he didn't write any of the books in the Bible, led people to Jesus - people like Simon Peter and the boy in the parable of the loaves and fish. Following Jesus is the source of our power - the power to change direction. It will lead us in directions that we don't want to go. It forces us to leave our comfort zone and "self-righteous" religion (as represented by the religious leaders in this morning's Gospel reading).

A small boy in church with his parents listened to the minister describe his visit to a poor home. The minister described the bare rooms, the ragged clothing, the empty dishes on the table, and the pale, hungry children. When he had finished his story, he announced the closing hymn. But the little boy, with tears in his eyes, cried out to his father, "But, Daddy, aren't we going to do anything about it?" God is asking us the same question over and over again today - are we going to do anything about it?

 

Matthew 21:23-32 The First Shall Be Last, and the Last Shall be First

It’s painful to have someone you trust tell you that they are going to do something for you---and they don’t. Many of us can tell stories about people who have let us down by making promises and then not following up on them. For example, there is a story of a young widow whose husband died suddenly and left her to raise their two children. She told her minister that during the wake for her husband, a lot of family and close friends came up to her and told her that they would be there for her. During the following years, some people were there for her when she needed them, including some people who never made that promise, but there were others who were so eager during the wake to offer help and never called or visited.

Life has taught us to be wary of certain people, and it is a lesson I have learned the hard way. These people include not just blatant liars but those who are all talk with no follow-through. There is an old saying that “a promise made is a debt unpaid”. We expect family and friends to keep their word and come through for us when we have a pressing need, but sometimes they don’t. When a friend disappoints us we are not terribly upset. When someone close to us makes a promise and then fails to fulfill it, we are blindsided because often we do not see it coming.

At the same time, we must acknowledge that that there have been times when we have made promises and then not kept them. There might also have been times when, in order to avoid discomfort or confrontation, we’ve given a half-hearted “yes” to someone or something which we never planned to follow up on. Whether we have been on the receiving end of broken promises, or have given a half-hearted investment of ourselves to commitments we have made, we are in need of the healing and the challenge the Word of God offers us today.  

The Gospel reading from Matthew 21:23-32 is another discussion between the Pharisees and Jesus. It occurs just after Jesus has chased the moneychangers and animal sellers from the temple. Both types of businesses needed the approval of religious authorities to operate in the temple. They provided a necessary service. Only temple currency could be used in the temple, so foreign currency had to be converted to temple currency, albeit at outrageous rates of exchange. Animals that were offered for sacrifice had to be free of blemishes as determined by the temple authorities. Both of these services evolved into profitable enterprises, so it is not surprising that the chief priests and elders were upset. They wanted to know who gave Jesus the authority to do what he did. They wanted God to play by their rules, and they insisted that God’s prophets must make the distinctions they make. Like John, Jesus thinks that God’s freedom includes the freedom to forgive people who are not children by blood of the Covenant, who haven’t offered sacrifice, even the poor person’s sacrifice of a dove, in the Temple, who haven’t done anything to deserve forgiveness.

Jesus’ actions in the Temple not only broke the powerful connection between money and religion, they also freely heal and forgive those who are perceived as cursed, those who are perceived as under punishment, those who need some serious blood atonement. Jesus sought to redirect the tradition of Israel away from ritual legalism and a dominant priesthood toward a more meaningful trust by the individual in the gracious and forgiving love of God. Jesus’ actions are a bullet in the heart of sacrificial religion, and they challenge the ultimate structuring of relationships proffered by the so-called authorities. Like Jesus, we too may be called by God to engage in acts of conscience, acts that defy authorities and challenge their right to exist as authorities. We may end up paying a price like Jesus did, but we will also have the chance to turn the questions of our accusers back upon themselves in the hopes that they might see and repent.

We know the answer to the Pharisees’ question, but the chief priests and Pharisees did not. God gave Jesus the authority. The Pharisees and chief priests were rabbis, and they could not believe that Jesus’ authority was greater than theirs. They forgot that God is the ultimate authority. He gave the Jews the Ten Commandments. The Pharisees expanded them with all of their rules and regulations because they were obsessed with not breaking any of the Ten Commandments. The Pharisees considered themselves to be so righteous that they thought they were doing God’s work, but Jesus pointed out in the parable of the sons in Matthew 21:28-32 they were sadly mistaken.

But Jesus uses this trick question to teach the Pharisees about the Kingdom of God. You see, they were living examples of the second son in the parable. Self-righteous Jews were the ones who always gave the appearance of serving God. They followed all the picky religious rules; rules about what they should eat, and what they should wear, and how they should say their prayers. They looked and sounded very religious. But when it came to issues like loving their neighbor, or showing kindness to the poor, or showing compassion to the lowly, they never showed up in the vineyard! They said they would; their religion was very impressive when they were at the synagogue, but they did not live it out in their daily lives.

If we profess that Jesus is our Lord, we must do what he tells us to do. The religious people were the ones who were a problem for Jesus. They were oblivious to the true demands of God’s righteousness. They just didn’t get it. They did not see that God was not so much interested in the pious rhetoric and ceremonial formality. 

When Jesus asked the Pharisees if the baptism of John came from heaven or from man, he was really asking them if they thought John was a true prophet or a false prophet. They were caught between the proverbial “rock and a hard place”. If they said that John’s baptism came from heaven, they would be faced with John’s witness to Jesus and their failure to respond to John’s preaching. If they said that it was from man, they would risk upsetting the crowd, many of whom believed in Jesus and John. The Pharisees had the responsibility to know who was and who was not a false prophet. They had the duty to protect the people from false prophets. Their final decision, which was the refusal to answer Jesus, compromised their own authority.

Jesus also indirectly asked the Pharisees if they thought that his authority came from heaven or from man. If Jesus authority is from heaven, then his messianic claim is valid, and the church must stake claim to a unique mission, a mission that relinquishes power in bringing Christ to the world, just as Christ relinquished power in bringing himself to the world. The church living under Christ’s present, heavenly authority will embody Christ’s own ministry as a gracious transformation, a divine reclamation of the world. 

Tax collectors and prostitutes were prepared to change their ways, but the religious leaders were not, even though they had time to change. In the parable of the two sons, the older son represented the religious leaders and the younger son represented outsiders such as tax collectors and prostitutes. The faithful son represents the faces of people such as a recovering alcoholic, a small band of worshippers in a storefront, a church that reaches out to the needy in the community, a church member who decided to tithe-all of whom, however reluctantly or painfully, obey Christ. The second son is the person in the pew who refuses Christ entry to the deepest recesses of his or her heart---a preacher whose sermon is designed to please people rather than to please God; the Christian who refuses to obey God in the sensitive areas of sex, money or power; a church that ignores issues of justice and mercy. In other words, they are the people who appear to be faithful but, deep down, are not.

The parable of the two sons means that those who are not religious may sometimes respond to the good news of God’s forgiving love more readily than those whose self-serving religious superiority makes them immune to its appeal. The main key is a person’s sense of self-worth which can deceive even the most perceptive to think of ourselves more highly than they ought to think. The truth is that even keeping the rules can lead us astray if we end up with the attitude that we're good and righteous people, pure as the driven snow. To believe this is a dangerous deception. It can cause us as much grief as if we dive headlong into living an immoral life.

When we believe ourselves to be good and righteous people, then we ignore a large part of who we are. We overlook our dark side, what some psychologists call the shadow. The shadow then acts on its own, swallows us up, and takes others along with us. This can happen without us even recognizing it.


Jesus’ parable asks us how we will respond to the Gospel. Will we change our minds and believe, or not? Will we be the son who says he will obey and does not, or will we be the son who turns around and changes his mind? The parable is an example of the old adage that “actions speak louder than words”. We will be judged not by what we say, but by what we do. The religious leaders wrongly thought that they were better than they really were, and they imagined that they did not need to repent. How many times have we made commitments to God, only to fail on the follow through? How many times have we made promises to God that for one reason or another, we have not kept? How often do we find ourselves responding to God when we have already told God “no”? What we believe needs to be evident in the way we live and relate. There must not be any break between our words, actions and faith. We must be able to discern God’s voice in those expected and unexpected places. We must not only listen but be willing to change as we grow in our personal and corporate faith.

Most of us have been pretty religious for most of our lives. Still, there are those whose religion seems to be lovely when they are surrounded by other religious persons. They can quote scripture verses by the boatload. They know all the religious language, all the religious rituals. But they don’t go to work in the vineyard. And all the love, and all the kindness, and all the compassion that they speak of in church…tends to stay at church. But there are also those whose lives are laced with sin, whose language would make a sailor blush, and who wouldn’t know a bible from a dictionary if it were handed to them, but they are kind, and generous, and compassionate to no end. They don’t get it when it comes to religion, and yet they are walking examples of the very people Jesus came to love.

Which of those people is doing the will of God? It’s a trick question because neither of them is. But here is the word of grace: Which one of them is God’s daughter or son, which one of them does God want to nurture, and mold and change into walking examples of righteousness in the vineyard? All of us.

Jesus says that it isn’t the religious folk who are first in the kingdom of heaven. It is those who are most open to turning their lives around who are first in line, those who take action when Jesus says, “follow me”. We need to be careful lest we get to feeling that God owes us something. God sent Christ into the world to die for our sins, because we are sinners, and we are in need of redemption. That applies to all of us---Sunday school teachers, choir members, clergy, and members of the congregation. God does not owe us anything. Our hope for heaven is based on one thing and one thing alone---and that is the grace of God. This parable comes with the flame of Jesus’ Spirit to quicken our resolve to try again to change what needs changing. We have hope that this time, in some small or large way, change is possible because we have heard God’s word and experienced the living Christ through it.

When we look over our recent past and notice the trend our lives have taken, with the thoughts and deeds that speak of our lukewarm disciples, we want the second chance this parable offers us. We want to be able to change our minds, repent and do the good things we know we are called to do---and do them with the wholehearted “Yes” the gospel requires of us.

 Bibliography

1.      Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASV

2.      Exegesis for Matthew 21:23-32. Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com

3.      Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 26^th Sunday (A)”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org

4.      Karl Jacobson, “Commentary on Matthew 21:23-32”. Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org/preaching_print.aspx?commentary_id=1047

5.      Ira Birt Diggers, “Commentary on Matthew 21:23-32”. Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org/preaching_print.aspx?commentary_id=144

6.      Preaching Peace, XVII Pentecost, Year A. Retrieved from www.preachingpeace.org/lectionaries/yeara-proper21

7.      Saturday Night Theologian, 28 September 2008. Retrieved from www.progressivetheology.org/SNT/SNT-2008.09.28.html

8.      Daniel Clenendin, Ph.D., “Repentance: Cleaning Up a Messy House”. Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20080922JJ.shtml?view=print

9.      Sarah Dylan Breuer, “Dylan’s Lectionary Blog, Proper 21, Year A”. Retrieved from www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2005/009/proper_21_year_.html

10.  The Rev. Debbie Royals, “Sept.28, 2008-Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 21, Year a (RCL)”. Retrieved from www.episcopalchurch.org/sermons_that_work_100542_ENG_HTM.htm

11.  The Rev. Beth Quick, “Paved With…Intentions”. Retrieved from www.bethquick.com/sermon9-25-05.htm

12.  John Shearman’s Lectionary Resource, Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost, September 25, 2011. Retrieved from http://lectionary.seemslikegod.org/archives/fifteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-september-25-2011.html

13.  Pastor Steve Molin, “Trick Questions”. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

14.  Dr. Mickey Anders, “Show Me Now”. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

15.  The Rev. Charles Hoffacker, “The Strange Parade”. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org