Matthew 21:23-32

Matthew 21:23-32

Jesus has declared by his actions that the temple system was no longer effective. The alliance against Jesus now includes the Priestly contingent. They confront Jesus directly asking by what authority He acted. They may have expected this to be an unanswerable question. If He claimed His own authority they would set Him against the scriptures. If He claimed Divine authority they would charge Him with blasphemy.

Jesus ties Himself to John and John's baptism. Here the hypocrisy of the leaders becomes evident. Their answer was not genuine rather it was diplomatic; nevertheless everyone knew they had rejected John. They wanted a way out. Jesus calls their hypocrisy to light first by saying, “I will not”. They knew the answer to Jesus' question they simply refused to give it. Jesus answers them with their own answer if they had they been honest. Next Jesus exposes their hypocrisy by telling a confrontational parable of two sons. In this parable the roles are clear and the message direct. Even the opposition gets the correct understanding. Jesus points out that the dregs of society will enter the Kingdom of God (which by the way was not a typical phrase for Matthew) before, indeed, instead of the Priestly delegation because the dregs of society were changed in response to John's teaching.

Even seeing the evidence of God being at work the religious elite still did not repent. Like the fig tree they have the form and ritual of religion but no fruit. Throughout history there are occasions when those closest to the function of religion have become blind to the relationship they ought to have with God because they can only see the function, ritual and activity of their religious organization. This problem did not end with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

“Father, never allow me to be so committed to the activity of being religious that I fail to be changed into Your likeness. AMEN”