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Tuesday of Holy Week in Jesus' Life
This is Tuesday in Jesus' last week on earth in His human form, and we read this in Matthew 21: 28 "What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, "Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 He answered, "I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, "I go, sir'; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 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 after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
Jesus loved the temple. His desire was to pray and worship His Heavenly Father, but during the last year of His life every trip to the temple was an opportunity for the chief priests and scribes to trip or trap Him. Of all the lessons Jesus taught on this day we'll start with the one shared above, The Parable of Two Sons. Jesus wanted those who questioned His authority to be sure who among them was really doing the will of God; Them or Jesus?
The story is simple enough, a dad who owns a vineyard has two sons. He asks the first to go and work for him. The son gave a ready answer: No. Sound familiar in your household? It does in ours. Our grandson has learned the word no well. But in this case that son who has said no changes his mind and goes and works as requested in the first place. The father goes to the second son and says the same thing. This son, an obvious people please or at least a daddy pleaser says, "Sure! I'll go!" And does not. Which, asks Jesus, has done the will of his father? The answer is easy, the first one the chief priests and scribes reply. They must have patted themselves on the back until Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John (the Baptist) 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 after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him."
Some religious people love their religion so much they stopped hearing from God long ago. As has been shared in this devotional, the time of Jesus was a time when people had given up on God because of the religious people. But those who seek God and God's will can hear God and are led by God. Their hearts are open to all people, especially those hated by society and they reach out to them in love to get them into relationship with God. They matter to God is the message we like, John the Baptist, shared with them. John's message was one of righteousness and love, not condemnation. It did call for repentance but it also offered a way out of their sins.
Do you love God enough to love others who seem unloveable? Careful in your answer, because you might just be unloveable yourself to some.
PRAYER: In this sacred week Loving God, speak to me and let me hear honestly about myself. I seek to love You and Yours more than ever before. Help me to do Your will. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
