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Chapter 28 - Two Sons
Matt. 21:32
32 For [gar] John [Ioannes] came [erchomai] unto [pros] you [humas] in [en] the way [hodos] of righteousness [dikaiosune] , and [kai] ye believed [pisteuo] him [autos] not [ou] : but [de] the publicans [telones] and [kai] the harlots [porne] believed [pisteuo] him [autos] : and [de] ye [humeis] , when ye had seen [eido] it, repented [metamellomai] not [ou] afterward [husteron] , that ye might believe [pisteuo] him [autos] . KJV-Interlinear
32 'For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax-gatherers and harlots did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe Him. NASB
The message of Jesus Christ was directed at the chief priests who were there confronting Jesus, but we should be aware that this message was not recorded as a one time incident with a one time historical application. This principle of doctrine applies to us all, and we need to be aware that if we become complacent in our spiritual life, or if we somehow decide that we can take an easier view of the spiritual life, or redefine it, or disregard it, then we are just asking for trouble in our lives.
John represented all that the priesthood strived for and thought they actually represented. He was virtuous, righteous (in the Godly sense), spirit filled (which we refer to as being in fellowship) throughout his entire life. He was holy in the proper sense of holiness (ie. in fellowship and leading a life as God expects).
These things the priests professed 'yes sir,' but did not actually possess. The represent the first son who lied. Further they even rejected John the Baptist who was the reality of their lie, thus they rejected themselves. An interesting contradiction within their very own lives.
They, the chief priests, as ones professing to be righteous and pure, were the narrow minded class of people. They were insensitive toward the needs of others, and sought only that which satisfied their own arrogance.
In contrast the sinners who are herein described as tax gatherers and harlots, are a more open minded group. Though they had more open and obvious sins, they did not close their minds to their faults. Thus they were in a position to hear and receive the gospel, and then believe in Christ for their salvation. Odd as it might seem, it is far better to be of the wild crowd and then be saved, than to be a righteous stick in the mud and reject the possibility that you have faults and not be saved. The Lake of Fire will be filled with righteous sticks.
We have all been exposed to the full text of the scriptures. Those, in Christ's day, were actually exposed to the full light of the presence of the Son of God. They heard the message of His spoken word. They heard His explanation of the scriptures with which they were so familiar. They witnessed His power in miracles, not once but over and over, again and again. They witnessed the power of John the Baptist and the affect he had on peoples lives. They witnessed the good affects Jesus had on the lives of large numbers of people, and despite all of this, they refused to be moved either emotionally or rationally.
Have you ever watched a movie, one that has very sad parts and then very happy parts and it just brought you to near uncontrollable tears? Well these chief priests would not have been brought to tears but would have remained indifferent. That is the coldness of a self righteous and empty life.
We have all seen footage of the terrible atrocities of Saddam and his thugs, on the TV. Not that we all haven't seen a lot of this lately, but there was film footage of his thugs strapping explosives to prisoners, and then blowing them up just as kids might do with fire crackers in potatoes. They (the thugs) had no emotion but their evil excitement through the whole process. They had no concern, no feeling for the victims, no thought of whether this was the right or wrong thing to do. It was ho hum to them.
'What did you do today at work daddy?'
'We cut out some tongues and blew up some people today. What is on TV tonight.'
When there is no Bible doctrine in the soul of a people, they lose all sense of right and wrong. Their morals are whatever is interesting today. Life is totally useless and a waste of their time (except their own life of course). When they run into difficult times then they have no resources with which to combat their own emotions, they become angry and even extremely angry.
We'll see this in due course in our study, as the 'righteous' of Jerusalem will totally lose their cool and kill Jesus.
Does this threat apply to any of us? Of course. Anytime you do not take your Bible study seriously, you open yourself up to the power of your sin nature. When hard times hit home, your worry, your depression, turns to anger and hate. You are more than willing to wipe out any who might get in your way. The more you resist Bible doctrine, the more you run the risk of sinking further and further into that pit of evil.
Look at the current political campaign. There couldn't be two more opposite views in the race for President. Unfortunately there are too many people who are not only fooled by the Democratic views, but they are also simply against the views of the present administration. More taxes vs. less taxes, more government vs. less government, more fighting for freedom vs. less fighting for freedom. Too many are nit picking over the reasons behind one policy, or decision, or another, and too few are looking at the principles of truth behind those decisions. Too many are using the current political debate to promote themselves through publicity rather than pursuing what is right.
Even in the recent election held in Australia, some of the Kerry relatives went there to try to help change that government to a more passive group. They failed, thank God. Australia is still on the road of rational thought. The views of those who are on the wrong side of history are many and they are furious. We'll know in November, just where the spiritual status of our own country is going to be.
These chief priests resisted to the maximum. Resistance is not uncommon and is a very real threat to everyone. We do not have Jesus walking with us in our present day, but we do have Him in the written word and potentially walking through our souls. We do not have obvious miracles in our present day, but we do have unlimited numbers of illustrations of Gods handiwork in our everyday life.
Now back to our illustration of our own current day. Look back just one century. Swim suits were full body suits. Now they are strings. Before World War Two there was a huge appeasement push. Right won out, but just barely. You can look at any decade and find proponents to what is wrong (big government, higher taxes, do nothing), and proponents for that which is right (lower taxes, smaller government, being proactive in that which is right).
The past century has had its ups and downs, but since we still have a rather large pocket of positive believers, Gods blessings outweigh the agenda's of those who want to drive history in their own direction.
Remember, we have been studying the book of Revelation. We know that history is being driven toward the end of our Church Age. When the last believer in our dispensation believes in Christ, then God waits no longer. The lever of history is thrown and things happen rapidly (the Rapture). We studied that concept in detail in Rev. 1.
Since God does not make dramatic changes until there is typically a low point in history (the Book of Judges), then we can presume that the world is going to be in a big decline at the time just prior to the Rapture, thus the Rapture will be the relief believers will need at that time.
The Rapture is future, so now we know (or should know) that sooner or later, whether in this decade, or in this century, or the next, the liberals and tyrants of the world will begin to gain more and more power. They will come to increasing power as the world populations grow and drift away from Gods Word. Problems will manifest themselves. So times will get tough either for us in our generation or in future generations. We do not know Gods timing, but we do know what God is going to allow to happen in history.
Our best defense is a great offense of spiritual growth, lest we get caught up in the absurdities of the world. Those who are evil will celebrate their victories. And God will allow them to celebrate amongst themselves right up until the Second Advent. Then the big hammer will fall and those who choose to live on the wrong side of history will shed tears (unbelievers) or will suffer loss of blessing (believers), for a very long time.
Regardless of what happens in history, we do not lose hope, nor our view on Gods Word. He gives us all we need in order to survive in our life. And we will have a great life beyond this one.
Do we wake up and realize them (the truths of history) and get with a real Bible study, or do we resist, do we put off our learning because Bible doctrine and the concepts it presents are just not that real to us? What will it take to be convinced?
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