Matthew 21:31

Matthew 21:31, in plain English

They answer, 'The first son.' Jesus says, 'The truth is, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God's kingdom ahead of you.'

Why it's here

The people everyone looked down on responded to God. The people who looked the most religious didn't. That should shake you.

Who's speaking

Jesus delivers the most confrontational statement of the day.

Where it sits in the story

The leaders gave the right answer and walked right into the point. The sinners who changed their lives are ahead of the religious who never changed their hearts.

The scholarly reading

The leaders correctly identify the first son as obedient; Jesus then delivers the shocking application: tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom ahead of them because they repented at John's preaching.

Language and setting

The application is devastating: the most despised members of society responded to God's call, while the religious elite merely performed obedience.

Voice

Jesus forces the leaders to judge themselves and then delivers the devastating verdict.

Significance

The leaders walk into Jesus' trap and condemn themselves. The outcasts who repented are closer to God than the priests who refuse to.

29‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.

30Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing.

31Which of the two did the will of his father?”

32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

33Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

Read all of Matthew 21 — Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey while the crowds shout hosanna. Within hours, he's overturning tables in the temple.