My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, in today’s Gospel, we find Jesus teaching in the Temple. Just before this passage (Matthew 21:23), the chief priests and elders challenged Him with a critical question: “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Instead of answering directly, Jesus responded with a question of His own, inviting them to find response in it to theirs. But they refused to answer, and so they missed the truth standing right before them.
It
is in this context that Jesus tells the parable we hear today. Again, He turns
to these same religious leaders and asks, “What is your opinion?” At the end of
the story, they do give an answer, though perhaps without realizing it was also
a verdict on themselves.
Jesus then delivers a
stunning conclusion: “Truly I tell you; the tax collectors and the prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” Why? Because they heard John’s
call to repentance, believed, and changed their lives.
The Chief Priests and
Elders Among Us.
We might call these
leaders “professional believers.” They knew the Torah, the Commandments, and
the Prophets. Yet their familiarity with sacred things had numbed them to the
inner transformation God requires. They had mastered the rituals but neglected
obedience. Their religion was polished, but their hearts were distant from God.
Jesus had previous warned against this attitude when quoting Isaiah he said: “These
people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Mt 15: 8.
Isaiah 29:13).
Many of us, especially those in ministry,
religious life, or regular church practice, can fall into the same trap. We
attend Mass daily, recite prayers, sing hymns, and know Scripture well. But if
our hearts remain unmoved by the call to repentance, we risk becoming experts
in worship while remaining strangers to conversion.
The Two Sons: Words vs.
Actions
In the parable, the
second son quickly says “Yes, sir” to his father. He is polite, respectful,
perhaps even meticulous about form and ritual. But he does not go to the
vineyard. The first son refuses outrightly; he is the rebellious type,
disrespectful by appearance, stubborn, straightforward, but later changes his
mind and goes into the vineyard and does what the father requested.
The Greek word used here
is metamelētheis, he “regretted it” or “changed his mind.” This is
repentance: not just feeling sorry but turning around and acting differently,
followed the new path of the Gospel. It
is this son, not the one who merely said “yes”, who fulfills the father’s will.
And it is the tax collectors and prostitutes, not the religious elite, who
embody this change because they responded to John’s message with real
conversion. Is this not what we are called to do in this last week of Advent?
Spiritual Blindness
The leaders could
interpret the parable correctly, but they could not see themselves in it. That
is spiritual blindness: quick to judge others, yet blind to our own
inconsistencies. Jesus holds up a mirror: Where in my life do I say “Yes” to
God with my lips but live a “No” in my actions?
This Gospel invites us to
pause. To let the light of Christ expose every shadow in our hearts, pride,
hypocrisy, hidden sin, double standards, and religious routine without
reverence. Only then can our hearts become the humble, welcoming crib where
Christ desires to be born anew, where Mary can gently lay her Son.
A Call to the Vineyard
The tragedy of the chief
priests was not their religiosity, it was their assumption that their status
excused them from repentance. They thought they were already in the vineyard,
but they stood outside, arguing about authority while refusing to work for God
and his Kingdom.
The Good News is that God
is not shocked by our initial “No.” He is not repelled by our mess, rebellion,
or past failures. He waits patiently for that moment of honest regret, that
turn of the heart that leads us back to the vineyard. In Ezekiel 33: 11 God
says to the Israelites: “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I
take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from
their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die,
people of Israel?’ He so much love us that losing anyone causes Him unimaginable
pain. Jesus wants all to be saved, including the Chief priests and the elders.
He does not want polished
words. He wants our presence, our real, striving, and even imperfect presence, engaged
in the work of love, mercy, and justice. He would rather have a rough heart
that wrestles toward obedience than a smooth one that never moves.
Let us pray:
Lord,
save us from the empty “Yes.”
Shatter the pride that blinds us to our need for repentance.
Give us the courage of the first son, to admit we were wrong,
to change our minds,
and to walk humbly into Your vineyard
to do the work You have called us to do.
Amen.🙏🙏🙏
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