Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Obedience And Deceit: The Parable Of The Two Sons

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, October 1, 2023

One thing that is so obvious when you read the Gospels is the attitude of the Pharisees, the chief priests, scribes and the elders of the people towards Jesus. They really do not like the Lord. They know that Jesus has mastery over the forces of nature; they know that he is a wonder-worker; they know that his teaching ministry is spreading like a wildfire, and masses of people are being drawn to hear Jesus teach. The rich, the poor, the strong, and the weak were flocking to hear the Lord teach. In the same vein, they also know that Jesus is not a temple priest and didn’t receive any formal training in a rabbinic school. So, every opportunity they get, they use it to express their opposition to his teaching and to question Jesus on the source of his authority to teach. Today’s Gospel is taken from the Twenty-first chapter of Matthew. It begins with the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. After that, he makes his way into the Temple, and upon entering the Temple, he turns the tables of money changers upside down, cleanses the Temple and reminds the people of an age-long dictum, “My house shall be a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). After curing the blind and the lame in the temple area, he leaves. The next day, he returns to the Temple. This time, the chief priests and the elders of the people are in question mode. Approaching him, they ask, “By what authority are you doing these things?” And who gave you this authority?” Rather than provide a straightforward answer, Jesus tells them the parable of the two sons: A father has two sons. He goes to the first and says, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” The first son replies, “I will not.” But after a soul searching reflection, he changes his mind and goes in obedience to his father. Shortly after, the father goes to the second son  and gives the same instruction. The second son replies, “Yes, sir, I will go!” Right after, the second son changes his mind and refuses to go. Turning to these powerful religious leaders, Jesus asks, “Which of the two did his father’s will?” Surprisingly, they say: “The first.” 

Now, what do we make of this particular parable? The point Jesus makes in today’s Gospel passage (Matthew 21:28-32) is very simple, and that is why we often miss it. The obedient Son of God is underscoring something we all know: that action speaks louder than words. As the very incarnation of the true and living God, he is stating that God wants more than agreement, he wants obedience. Good words are noble, but God wants more than good words. He wants good work too. God wants us to have faith in him, but God also wants our faith in him to produce good deeds. God wants fidelity. If you want to run a faith-test, consider the following questions: during the past week, did you do anything that at first, you did not want to do, but you only did it because that is what God wanted you to do? Is there anything you feel like doing but just because God does not approve of it, you refused to indulge in it? If your answer to the two questions is yes, then you have biblical faith. Look at the great heroes of faith— Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, David, Samuel, the prophets and the martyrs. Their faith included their obedience to God. Their actions spoke louder than their words or thoughts. Faith means fidelity— fidelity to God, fidelity and obedience to his will. 

It is the reason why, after narrating the parable of the two sons, Jesus tells the chief priests and the elders that “tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of heaven before you.” I tell you, those words must have so infuriated these religious bigwigs. But why are these public sinners entering the kingdom of heaven before the religious leaders? Because they are surrendering to God’s way of ordering the world. What’s God’s way of ordering the world? Love. Mercy. Compassion. Fellowship. Forgiveness. Friendship. Relentless pursuit of the other, especially public sinners and those driven out from the community. But these religious leaders, who believed that they were the teachers of what was right religiously, were picking and choosing those who deserved to know the words of the Torah. They were basically discriminating in the house of God. As for Jesus, wherever he went, great crowds came to him. He taught the poor and the sinners— the very people the Pharisees discriminated against and considered beneath themselves. God’s way of ordering the world empowered and motivated the outcast to love God and to leave their sins behind. The Pharisees couldn’t understand how extending mercy to such vile, wicked sinners could possibly change their lives much less their behaviors. But figures like the woman caught in adultery, the prostitute who washed the feet of Jesus, Zacchaeus, the Apostles who abandoned the Lord in his time of great need, Paul as Saul who persecuted Jesus in his disciples etc. show us that forgiveness and mercy beget great love and faithfulness. God’s love is always more powerful than our greatest enemy—sin or death. This is precisely why, St. Paul, once he has seen the Risen Christ could say, “I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither heights nor depths, nor any other power can separate us from the love of God" (Romans 8:38-39). How does Paul know that? Because we kill God and God returns in forgiving love. 

Is Jesus minimizing the sins of tax collectors and prostitutes? Not in any way! When John the Baptist preached, tax collectors, prostitutes and other sinners went to him and repented of their sins. As for the Pharisees, the chief priests, the elders etc. even though they too had sins to repent of, sins that were more dangerous because they were more hidden, did not repent. Rather they dismissed John as someone possessed by a demon. They rejected John the Baptist and rejected Jesus whom John introduced to everyone as the long expected Messiah, as the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world. One of the characteristics of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day was their obsession with pointing out the sins of people. Although they memorized the Torah, the first five books of the Bible written by Moses and had deep knowledge about other biblical books as well, they focused on keeping laws, rules etc. and missed the more important subject. They failed to pay attention to the reason behind those rules and laws. Even when Jesus said to them, “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners,” (Matthew 9:13), they still didn’t get it. As for the tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers driven from the community, and many others, they were running to Jesus in droves, confessing their sins, repenting from them and following him. They got converted, became saved and became saints. But these religious heavyweights did not. Rather than become disciples, they chose to remain opponents. What’s one powerful lesson here? Beware of not falling into the trap of thinking that you are less sinful than other people whose sins are more spectacularly obvious. Second lesson, even if you are morally upright, your source of eternal salvation is in Jesus alone. We cannot earn salvation by being obedient; our obedience is rather an expression of gratitude for God’s boundless love, for Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection for our sake. 

God bless you!