What is the most cliché movie trope about bad dreams? Isn’t it being found at school, or in front of some sort of crowd, naked? We have sayings like, clothes make the man. Designer Rachel Zoe says, “Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.” And Harry Winston says, “People will stare. Make it worth their while.” Our clothes are a huge part of our life, both in terms of what we wear everyday, and our economy. The fashion industry purports to have a labor force of 3 billion people, turning out 3 trillion dollars in value, which corresponds to about 2% of the global GDP.
Suffice it to say that clothes are a large part of our world, and being clothed with the latest fashion, for a lot of people, is their life. And it’s clothes that brings us back into our Matthew series, where we’ll be picking it back up in Matthew chapter 21, starting in verse 28. And as we open up to Matthew 21:28, let’s look back at where we are in the final section of Matthew’s Gospel.
Two weeks ago at the start of the fifth section of Matthew, we looked at God’s call to be satisfied with what he gives us. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t want more of God, but rather as he gives us situations, giftings, abilities, positions of authority, we should be satisfied.
This led into last week where we saw Jesus’ authority on display in triumphal entry, the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple. Jesus has authority over all things, because he is their Creator. Therefore we are to be saying “Jesus, Your will be done.” And when we do, we can be satisfied in what his will is.
This now brings us to chapter 21 of Matthew, where we are going to look at three consecutive parables, each dealing with the central theme of being faithful. Let’s look at each one individually and see how they build upon one another.
21:28 “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, “Truly I tell you, 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.
This first parable deals with two sons and their reactions to their father’s command. The first son is told to work the vineyard, but refuses, but later obeys. The second is also told to work the vineyard, he agrees, but then never does it.
Jesus’ question of, “Which of the two did what his father wanted,” is interesting. Reading it, my first reaction is, neither one. Neither one obeyed the father first time asked. This is what we tell our children to do. My wife and I teach our children that true obedience is when you’re asked one time to do it, and then you do it.
But we have to remember the context of what is happening at the moment. From last week we talked about Jesus’ authority being challenged by the religious leadership of the Jews. They asked him where his authority came from and he responded with a question that they were to answer before he would answer theirs.
The question that was asked was, where did John’s baptism come from, heaven or man? The religious leaders couldn’t answer because they couldn’t say either way for fear of answering wrong.
This parable directly follows this moment in time and speaks volumes. The first son represents those who have not obeyed God and choose a life of sin. Jesus gives the social answer of what a sinner is by referring to tax collectors and prostitutes. But these are the ones who responded to John and are now coming to Jesus; these are the one that God accepts, because they are repentant of their sin, and will move forward in obedience to Jesus’ Gospel. They might not have responded to God’s command originally, choosing lives of sin over his righteousness, but they are responding now. These people are the first son.
But the religious leaders on the other hand, represent the second son. A son who speaks of his obedience to the father, but then doesn’t do it. This second son looks good, speaks well, and says the things that he knows the father wants, but has no desire to actually fulfill his father’s wishes.
God’s desire is that we not merely give him lip service. God doesn’t want our religious acts, when they are separated from a heart that seeks to put his word into action. Looking good on a Sunday morning is less important to God, than holy living in our daily lives. Not cussing in church is less important to God, than to speak encouragement outside of the church’s walls. Saying we believe is less important than showing that we believe.
This is why Jesus states in the Gospel of John, “If you love me, obey my commandments (14:15).” This is why James, the leader of the Jerusalem church after Jesus’ resurrection states in his letter, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (2:17).” We must actually do what God has said, not simply say that we will.
This leads us into the second parable in verse 33, let’s read it together.
33 “Listen 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 watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Jesus switches from obedience to God’s command, to the specific history of God’s dealing with Israel. Jesus’ parable directly addresses how Israel has dealt with God’s authority over the last 1,500+ years of its covenantal agreement.
God is the one who brought them to a land that would sustain them and make them great among all the other nations. It was God who set them up for prosperity. Yet when the nation would slide into sinful acts, saying they would obey but not doing it, God would send his prophets to them. These prophets would call the people back to their covenantal responsibilities. This was done because God loved his people Israel and wanted them to return. So prophet after prophet was sent, and as the sin of the people worsened, more were sent. Yet the people rejected them. The prophets were beaten, and some were killed. The nation would not return to their covenantal relationship with God, and so God sent them into exile. And when he brought them back, he went silent. No more prophets came for 400 years.
Then God sent John the Baptist, and the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, to call his people Israel back to himself. Jesus came to be what the Israelites, and in turn, all of humanity couldn’t be, faithful to the call of God. But as Jesus was speaking this parable he points them to the reality that they wouldn’t listen even to the Son. Even the one who had the authority of God, wouldn’t be heard by the people that was given so much from the Master of the vineyard.
And in response to Jesus’s second question, “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants,” the religious leaders seal their fate. They recognize that the wicked vineyard workers will end in a horrible way, and that new tenants will be invited into the vineyard.
This is why at the end of Acts Paul says these words to the Jewish community in Rome, “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen (Acts 28:28)!”
Through Jesus, it is not only the Jewish people who have access to God’s salvation, but all people’s of the world. Because salvation is found in no other name but the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). This is why Jesus quotes from the Psalms about the stone that was rejected, but has become the cornerstone. Jesus is the cornerstone of faith, everything is built off of him. And without him, no one can have faith that is acceptable to God.
It’s here that the Jewish leaders realize that he’s talking about them and want to dispose of him; they are literally trying to fulfill Jesus’ parable the moment he’s done speaking it. But they can’t. All they can do is plot for another time.
But here’s the thing, Jesus doesn’t end there. He doesn’t end with, these guys are bad, new people are coming. No, he doesn’t let the new people off the hook either and so he gives another parable. Let’s read this one, starting in chapter 22, verse 1.
22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Here it is, God’s wedding feast has been prepared. Jesus has been sent for the salvation of humanity. The invited wedding guests are like the original workers of the vineyard. They are first to be called to this great moment of history. Salvation has come, the feast is prepared. But Israel has rejected the invite. The people set aside by God, have rejected the invitation to the feast, the salvation that comes through Jesus on the cross.
So the unclean ones from the streets are invited. The people of the world, now can come through the cross of Jesus to the throne room of God. They can have salvation, they can eat at the wedding banquet. They can have the vineyard.
But wait, there’s a guest there that isn’t prepared. He has no wedding clothes so he is thrown out. And this might seem harsh, but it lines up with everything Jesus has said so far. Just because we’re in the right place; just because we think we have done what needs to be done, we must not think that a mental belief is what God is calling us to.
God is calling us to a life of faithful obedience to him. It’s a life that is transformed by the Holy Spirit at work in the believer. It is a life of living sacrifice, of death to self and living for Jesus. It’s not my will, but God’s. It’s not my life, but God’s. I go, where he says to go. I speak how he says to speak. I love how he says I love.
This is why Paul states in Romans 13:14, “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
I am not clothed in my own goodness, but in the goodness of Jesus. So when I am found at the banquet, I have my wedding clothes on, I have been wrapped in Jesus’ righteousness and it’s on display for all to see.
We cannot miss this point, faith is belief in action. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died for my sins, so I take his word and say transform me. I walk away from sinful thoughts, desires, and actions and embrace the Holy Spirit’s work in me. I realize that I am bought with a large price, the God who created me died for me, now I will live for him until he calls me home or returns for me.
God is calling us to be the son who obeys, though we may falter in disobedience. God is calling us to be the faithful vineyard workers who will not disregard the master’s messengers. God is calling us to have clothes on for his feast so that we may not be found outside when the celebration happens.
God is calling us to be faithful children of his. To first accept Jesus as our Savior, and then to live our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, being transformed into the image of Jesus himself.
My challenge for you this week is to re-read these parables. From the first one, ask the question, Am I responding in obedience or simply telling God what I think he wants me to say? From the second one, ask the question, Am I bucking those who God has sent into my life to correct me? And from the third one, ask the question, Am I clothed in Jesus, so that everyone sees it?
God is calling us not just to a mental shift, but to a life transformed by him. So that we would be seen as separate from the world. Holy because our God is making us like himself. Therefore let us be his holy people, Amen.
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