Jesus explains why people should listen to what he teaches about God
(From the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, verses 23-32)
Near the end of his life on earth, Jesus went to Jerusalem with his disciples.
One day he was teaching in the Temple. Many, many people came to hear what he was saying about God and God's kingdom. When people were with Jesus, they felt close to God. They began to think of Jesus as an important leader.
The priests and other men who worked in the Temple saw how many people wanted to be with Jesus. The leaders saw how carefully the people listened to Jesus. They saw how much the people liked Jesus. The leaders wanted God's people to stop paying attention to Jesus and start paying attention to them. They wanted Jesus to go away and let them be in charge again. So they decided to make trouble for Jesus.
In front of all the people they asked Jesus, "What makes you such an expert about God? Who gave you the right to teach about God in this holy Temple?"
Jesus said to them, "That's a good question. Let me ask you a question. If you tell me the answer to my question, I will tell you the answer to yours."
This was Jesus' question to the Temple leaders: "When John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan River, was God involved with that, or was that just John acting alone?"
The leaders talked with each other, trying to come up with an answer to Jesus' question.
"If we say, 'God was involved,' he will say to us, 'Then why didn't you believe John?' But if we say, 'It was just John acting on his own,' all these people will be angry and turn against us. Many people believe John that was a prophet sent by God."
The Temple leaders answered Jesus, "We don't know."
Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you why I have the right to do the things I've been doing."
But in his heart, Jesus did want to answer the leaders' questions. He knew that a lot of people wondered what made him such an expert about God and why he was such a good rabbi, even though he hadn't gone to school to learn to be one. So Jesus told everyone this parable:
"A man had two sons. He went to the oldest one and said, 'Please go and work in the vineyard today.' The son said, 'No way!' But later on, he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to his youngest son and said, 'I want you to go work in the vineyard today.' The young man said, 'OK,' but then he didn't go. Which of the two did what he father wanted?"
The Temple leaders replied, "The oldest son."
Jesus said to them, "I want you to listen carefully. The tax collectors whom everyone hates and the prostitutes whom everyone takes advantage of are going into the kingdom of God ahead of all of you who work in the Temple. Why? Because John came to you as a man of God and you didn't believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And to make matters worse, even after you saw how people felt better about themselves and closer to God when they were baptized by John, you did not change your minds and believe him."
Questions to think and pray about:
Have you ever had a teacher who explained things so they made sense?
Have you ever been with someone who made you feel special and loved?
How to you think the Temple leaders felt about Jesus after he told his parable?
Have you ever said you'd do something, and then didn't?
How are you working for God now?