No ‘evil Yes’ Can Never Ever Defeat ‘good No’

No ‘Evil YES’ can never ever defeat ‘Good NO’

Matthew 21:28-32,

Ezekiel 18:25-28,

Philippians 2:1-11.

Reflection

Dear sisters and brothers,

Today, let us listen to the text from the Gospel of Matthew for our reflection (Matthew 21:28-32):

“Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:

“What is your opinion?

A man had two sons.

He came to the first and said,

‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’

He said in reply, ‘I will not,’

but afterwards changed his mind and went.

The man came to the other son and gave the same order.

He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir, but did not go’.

Which of the two did his father’s will?”

They answered, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you,

tax collectors and prostitutes

are entering the kingdom of God before you.

When John came to you in the way of righteousness,

you did not believe him;

but tax collectors and prostitutes did.

Yet even when you saw that,

you did not later change your minds and believe him.””

I would like to reflect with you the above text, on how the person, who is called by God, changes his/her stand in the Kingdom of God to be a part or not to be a part according to his/her convenience and comfort of his/her own life.

God invites everyone to be part of the Kingdom of God.

There is no partiality.

There is no discrimination.

There is no bias.

There is no racism.

There is no caste and creed.

God is our heavenly Father.

He calls each and everyone to be a part in building the Kingdom of God.

He treats everyone as his own daughter or son.

In the text, we are presented with a father and his two sons.

The story revolves around them.

The first son said, ‘no’, but later changed his mind.

He not only changed his mind, but also participated in the work of the Kingdom of God by being part of it wholeheartedly.

The second replied his father with a ‘yes’, but never went to work in the Kingdom of God.

He rejected the call from God.

He did not want to be a part in the Kingdom of God.

In addition, he enjoyed the privilege of being one of the sons.

Jesus used these two sons to convey the message of God to the people of Israel.

This message that is given by Jesus, is for all.

The chief priests and elders of the people reject the call from God to be part of the Kingdom of God like the first son.

At the same time, the chief priests and elders of the people accept the invitation like the second son but they decide not to be part of the Kingdom of God.

Now, we have a doubt, what makes the chief priests and elders of the people to say ‘No’ for the first time and to say ‘Yes’ for the second time.

Look at the text:

“He came to the first and said,

‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’

He said in reply, ‘I will not,’

but afterwards changed his mind and went.”

The first son said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but changed his mind.

The significant sentence is: ‘He changed his mind.’

Who did change the mind in real life?

Did the chief priests and elders of the people change their minds?

Or

Did the tax collectors and prostitutes change their minds?

We know it distinctively that it is the tax collectors and prostitutes, who changed their minds and believed in the repentance message of John and in the loving message of Jesus.

Here, I would like to mention that the tax collectors and prostitutes too replied, ‘no’ like the first son, but afterwards they changed their minds to turn to God and became a part in the Kingdom of God.

Moreover, the text intelligibly states that the second son represents the chief priests and elders of the people.

You may ask me why do I say so…?

I do not say this.

Jesus himself said in the text.

The chief priests and elders of the people did not believe in John, the precursor of Jesus.

They did not even have faith in Jesus, the Messiah himself, when he came among them and dwelt among them.

Why did the chief priests and elders of the people not believe in John and in Jesus, but still accepted God’s invitation to be part of the Kingdom of God by saying ‘Yes’?

When I reflect on this, I feel deeply in my heart that the second son is a pleasing character like many of us in the world.

The second son did not want to commit himself to be a part in the Kingdom of God doing the works of the Spirit in his life.