Rev. Rob Jones
September 27, 2026

That is why this passage is such good news and such searching news at the same time. Jesus tells us that delayed obedience, while not ideal, is still obedience. It just needed a little repentance sprinkled on it. Better late than never. But He also warns us that polite words without a changed heart are not obedience at all.

The Question Beneath the Question

Matthew tells us that Jesus entered the temple, and while He was teaching, the chief priests and elders came to Him and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” The setting matters. This happens after Jesus has entered Jerusalem, after He has cleansed the temple, after He has received the praise of the children, and after the religious leaders have become increasingly threatened by Him.

On the surface, their question sounds reasonable. Religious leaders were responsible to guard the temple and test teachers. Historic commentators often note that the question was official in form, but hostile in spirit. Charles Ellicott suggested that the leaders were asking whether Jesus had received authorization from the recognized teachers of Israel. Matthew Henry believed that they were offended because Jesus exposed abuses they had tolerated. In other words, they were not humbly seeking truth; they were trying to maintain their sense of control.

That gets uncomfortably close to home, does it not? Sometimes our problem is not that we cannot see what Christ is saying. Sometimes our problem is that we can see it, and we do not like what it means. We ask, “By what authority?” when underneath we mean, “Do You really have authority over this part of me?”

This is the old human problem of the heart. We want to be neutral judges calmly evaluating God, ad the world. We see ourselves as better than. When, apart from grace, we are simply rebels who want God’s gifts without God’s rule. The issue is not merely information; it is submission. The question is not, “Is Jesus authorized?” We know that answer. The question is, “Will I bow to that authority?”

Jesus Shows His Mastery of the Situation

Jesus answers their question with a question of His own: “The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” He is not dodging. He is diagnosing. John the Baptist had already pointed to Jesus. John had called Israel to repent. John had come “in the way of righteousness,” and the crowds recognized him as a prophet. If the leaders admitted John was from heaven, they would have to admit they had rejected God’s messenger. If they said John was merely human, they would lose the crowd. So, they said, “We do not know.”

It is possible to be very religious and still avoid the truth. These leaders are standing in the temple, surrounded by Scripture, ceremony, and sacred history, yet their hearts are calculating. They are not asking, “What has God said?” They are asking, “What answer will cost us the least?” “What answer will keep our traditions unchanged.”

Maybe you have seen this in ordinary life. A child breaks something in the house, and when the parent asks, “Did you do this?” the child suddenly becomes a philosopher. “Well, what do you mean by do?” The child is not confused. That kid is caught. Jesus catches these leaders in their evasion of God’s will and efforts to save face and influence with the crowd.

John Calvin, commenting on this passage, emphasized that Christ’s question reveals the leaders’ malice and unbelief. They had sufficient witness, but they would not yield. This is important: unbelief is not the lack of evidence in the face of extraordinary; it is a moral and spiritual resistance to God. The natural heart suppresses the truth, and only grace can make us honest before God.

The Two Sons and the Mercy of Repentance

Then Jesus tells a simple story. A father has two sons. He goes to the first and says, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” The son says, “I will not.” No polish. No manners. No spiritual language. Just a flat refusal. But after some pondering, and a sprinkle of remorse, he changes his mind and goes. Meanwhile, the father goes to the second son and says the same thing. That son answers, “Yes, sir. I’ll get right that.” It sounds respectful. It sounds obedient. But he never goes.

Jesus asks, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They answer, “The first.” And with that answer, they condemn themselves. The tax collectors and prostitutes, public sinners who had once said “no” to God in the visible disorder of their lives, were repenting at John’s preaching. The religious leaders, who had said “yes” with their lips, robes, prayers, and public reputation, were refusing the Father’s will.

Do you see it? There is mercy in the text: the first son really did say no, but his first answer was not his last answer. That is grace. Repentance does not pretend sin never happened. Repentance turns from sin because God has opened the eyes, softened the will, and drawn the sinner home. Better late than never.

The Heidelberg Catechism describes true repentance as the dying-away of the old self and the coming-to-life of the new. That is what we see here. The first son does not merely feel bad; he experiences repentance, and he goes to the vineyard. That is what grace does for us. It allows us to experience faith. We say saved through grace, by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone. Justified faith bears fruit. Not perfect fruit. Not immediate fruit in every case. But real genuine fruit.

A Warning to Respectable Disobedience

This passage is especially dangerous for respectable people. The second son knew the right words. “I will, sir.” He sounded deferential. He had the vocabulary of obedience without the life of obedience. That is the kind of disobedience that can hide in church clothes.

Matthew Henry said that parables of reproof often cause people to judge themselves out of their own mouths. That is exactly what happens. The leaders can identify obedience in the story, but they cannot see their own disobedience in the mirror. They can point to the better son, but they cannot become him.

Let us be careful here. Jesus is not saying tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom because their sins are small. He is saying they enter because they believe and repent. And He is not saying religious leaders are excluded because religion is bad. He is saying they are excluded when their religion becomes a shield against repentance. The kingdom is not for people who have cleaned themselves up enough to impress God. The kingdom is for sinners who are brought by grace to the foot of the cross.

Salvation belongs to the Lord. If any sinner comes, it is because God has been merciful. If any rebel becomes obedient, it is because grace has conquered resistance. The first son’s repentance is not self-improvement; it is the evidence of a changed heart. The second son’s politeness is not faith; it is unbelief with manners.

Christ, the Truly Obedient Son

But if we stop with the two sons in the parable, we have not gone far enough. There is another Son standing in the temple. He is the Son who never said no to the Father. He is the Son who came to do His Father’s will from the heart. He is the Son whose authority they questioned, whose mercy they despised, and whose blood they would soon demand.

Jesus is not merely a teacher telling us to repent. He is the Savior who makes repentance possible. He goes to the cross for both kinds of sinners: the obvious rebel and the polished hypocrite. He dies for those who said NO loudly and for those who said yes falsely.

So, the call today is simple. Do not hide behind yesterday’s no. If you have resisted God, delayed obedience, ignored His Word, or wandered far from Him, repentance awaits; grace awaits you. Better late than never. But also, do not hide behind yesterday’s yes. A profession made years ago, a church role, a religious vocabulary, or a respectable reputation cannot substitute for living faith in Christ.

Ask yourself: Where is Christ calling me into the vineyard today? Is there a hard apology? A secret sin to confess? A neglected duty? A neighbor to love? A habit of worship to recover, or better yet, discover? Is there a truth I have been avoiding? Our God’s command is not abstract. “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” Today—not someday. Today.

Conclusion

The good news of this passage is that your first answer does not have to be your final answer. The tax collector can come. The prostitute can come. The proud elder can come too, if he will stop pretending and bow before Christ. The door of the kingdom is not opened by our record, but by Christ’s righteousness. And when Christ opens that door, repentance walks through it.

So come to Him. If you have said no, say yes now. If you have said yes with your mouth only, ask Him for a heart that truly believes. The Father is still calling sons and daughters into His vineyard. And because of Jesus Christ, the obedient Son, it really is better late than never.