The Two Sons is the parable Jesus told of a father who said to both,
Go and work in the vineyard today.
The first answered,
I will not,
but afterward he changed his mind and went.
The other answered,
I go, sir,
and did not go.
Which of the two did the will of his father?
They said, The first.
Jesus said tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
John came in the way of righteousness.
You did not believe him.
They did.
Matthew sets this story in the temple after the leaders ask by what authority He acts. He asks them about John’s baptism. They will not answer. Then the vineyard again—the same field as Isaiah and the wicked tenants that follow.
A father speaks. Two sons hear the same charge: work today.
- One is rude and honest. He refuses, then repents and goes.
- The other is polite and empty. Sir. Yes. No work.
Jesus forces the verdict out of their own mouths.
- The first did the father’s will.
- Then He names the first son in the streets: tax collectors and prostitutes believed John.
- They had said no to God with their lives and then turned.
The leaders said yes with their lips and would not enter. Belief is the work in view. John came. The way of righteousness stood in front of them. Seeing it, they still did not repent and believe.
The parable is not a praise of bad manners. It is a judgment on a yes that never walks to the vineyard.
The Father is still saying, Go today.
The kingdom still fills with people who changed their minds and went.
- The question is not who sounded better. It is who did the father’s will.
- Afterward he changed his mind is the gospel door in the story.
- I go, sir, without going is the religion Jesus unmasks.
- John is the test they already failed. The Son is standing in the same court.
- Tax collectors and prostitutes are not a new moral rule. They are evidence of repentance.
- Today is part of the command. Delay dressed as courtesy is still disobedience.
- The vineyard belongs to the Father. Work is not optional conversation.
- The Same Charge – Go and work in the vineyard today.
- The Refusal that Went – No, then repentance, then obedience.
- The Consent that Stayed – Yes, sir, and no fruit.
- The Verdict – They name the first son; He names them.
- John’s Way – Righteousness already offered and refused.
- The Unexpected First – Sinners who believed enter ahead.
- Authority – The story answers the question they would not answer.
- Matthew 21:28-32 – “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”
- Matthew 21:23-27 – “By what authority are you doing these things?” They would not say whether John’s baptism was from heaven or from man.
- Matthew 21:33-43 – The wicked tenants; the vineyard taken and given to a people producing fruit.
- Luke 7:29-30 – “When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.”
- Matthew 3:8 – “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”
- Matthew 7:21 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
- James 1:22 – “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
- Ezekiel 18:21-23 – If a wicked person turns from all his sins and keeps the statutes, he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?
- Ezekiel 33:31 – “They hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.”
- Isaiah 29:13 – “This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me.”
- Luke 15:11-32 – Another two sons; the younger who went far and came back; the elder who stayed and would not come in.
- John 1:11-12 – He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him He gave the right to become children of God.
- Matthew 23:3 – “So do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.”
- Titus 1:16 – “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.”
- Hebrews 3:7-8, 15 – Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.
- Jonah 3:10 – God saw that they turned from their evil way.
- Acts 17:30 – God commands all people everywhere to repent.
Son, go and work in the vineyard today.
I will not—and afterward he changed his mind and went.
I go, sir—and did not go.
Which of the two did the will of his father? The first.
Tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. They believed John. You saw it and would not change your minds.
Not everyone who says Lord, Lord. The one who does the will of the Father.
Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Change your mind. Go to the vineyard. The yes that never walks is still a no.
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