Jesus' Parable of the Two Sons - Representing Israel

“Believe” in Matthew, Mark & Luke - Part 12:

We continue in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke with our examination of the Greek word Pisteuo translated “believe.” To date we have considered 10 of the 25 times Jesus Christ is recorded as having uttered this word in these 3 books. Today we find He used it 3 times in a lesson He gave to Israel's Chief Priests and Elders, condemning them because they refused to believe John the Baptist's message of repentance. This was just after they are recorded as having used the word “believe” while reasoning among themselves about John's ministry. The context of this event is found in Matthew 21; Mark 11 & Luke 19 & 20. This occurred during the last 6 days of Jesus' earthly ministry, beginning when He entered Jerusalem seated on a donkey and/or it's colt while being acclaimed King of the Jews by the multitudes, but not by the Chief Priests and Elders, Matthew 21:1 - 111 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.

3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,

7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

; Mark 11:1 - 101 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

; Luke 19:28 - 4028 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.

29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,

30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.

31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.

32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.

33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?

34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.

35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.

36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.

37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

, 47.

In Jerusalem, Jesus went into the Temple and drove out those buying and selling merchandise and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, proclaiming they had turned a house of prayer into a den of thieves. He healed the blind and lame and the people praised Him as being the Son of David but this really displeased the Chief Priests and Scribes, Matthew 21:12 - 1612 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,

16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

; Luke 19:45 & 4645 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;

46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

. Matthew indicates that Jesus then returned to Bethany to spend the night. It was on the way back to Jerusalem the next day when He cursed the fig tree for not having any fruit, which we have already studied in Vol 3, No's 33 & 34, Matthew 21:17 - 2217 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

; Mark 11:11 - 1411 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

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Even though the leaders of Israel, i.e., the Chief Priests, Elders and Pharisees, hated Jesus and wanted to kill Him they were afraid to do so at this time because of the multitudes following Him. So they tried to inveigle or trap Him with a question that is recorded in all 3 gospels: “And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.” Matthew 21:23 - 2723 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.

27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

. Mark and Luke both record this same basic dialog, each quoting the Chief Priests and Elders as using the word believe once, Mark 11:27 - 3127 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,

28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?

; Luke 20:1 - 71 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,

2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?

3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:

4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?

5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?

6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.

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Much is said about our politicians/leaders “spinning the truth” to hide their true agendas but they have nothing on those leaders of Israel. Whereas politicians today have to be careful how they say things for fear of loosing the next election, it was a much more serious business 2000 years ago for the leaders of Israel to show their true agenda: “And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,' he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?' But if we say, ‘From man,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” Luke 20:5 & 65 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?

6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

. So, in order to save their skins they backed off and claimed they could not tell whether God ordained John's baptism. Thus they saved their ego based prestigious positions in Israel but condemned themselves to hell by openly proclaiming they did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, Israel's Messiah, which is what John the Baptist had proclaimed.

Then, in a parable recorded only in the book of Matthew, Jesus tells the Chief Priests and Elders how they stood with God: “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, the first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” Matthew 21:28 - 3228 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.

31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

. (This dialog is not included in either Mark or Luke.)

Jesus used the word “believe” 3 times in this parable. The two sons represent two classes of the Children of Israel. (God considered Israel His son ever since they were chosen, Exodus 4:2323 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

.) The first son referred to the rank and file in Israel, represented by the lowest in Jewish society, that is, the publicans or tax collectors and women of ill repute or whores. The other son represented the highest echelon of society in Israel, that is, the leaders who were the Chief Priests, Elders and Pharisees.

Long before the time of Christ the prophets had given the Word of God to Israel, basically instructing them to repent and follow the Law God had given them through Moses. That Word of God is portrayed in this parable as God asking His son to work in His Vineyard, the labor of which would have produced Spiritual fruit. However, time and again the rank and file in Israel refused to work in God's Vineyard, they failed to be obedient to God's Law after being warned by the Prophets. They chose instead to follow after the vile idols of the gentiles and thus degraded themselves to the lowest common denominator of society, i.e., whores chasing after base lusts and tax collectors after money. On the other hand, the leaders of Israel said they would work in God's Vineyard but they became overcome with self-importance and self-righteousness, setting themselves on a pedestal, upon which God Himself belonged. Time and again they claimed to be working in God's vineyard but were hypocrites.

Finally, John the Baptist came preaching that Israel must repent from their departure and rejection of God's Law and teaching that Jesus was the Christ who had been promised them. Many in the lower echelons of Jewish Society believed John the Baptist and Jesus Christ and by doing so they went to work in God's Vineyard even though they had always refused to do so. But the other son, the Chief Priests and Elders, who had said they would work in the Vineyard, refused to believe John and Jesus. They claimed they were working in God's Vineyard but they really didn't because they rejected John's testimony and Jesus as their Christ.