"The Parables. No. 13. The two Sons and the Vineyard (Matt. xxi.28-32)" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor circa 1915. We have already pointed out that the central theme developed, enlarged, and illustrated in this set of parables is service with reference to the kingdom, and that sometimes it is viewed nationally, and sometimes individually. Three parables use the illustration of the vineyard, but the vineyard as a place of service, not as a place of growth. In other words, the emphasis is not on the thought that those addressed are members of the true vine, but on those who are servants and labourers in the vineyard. In xx. 1-16 the idea uppermost is the difference of service, yet the equality of the reward. In xxi. 28-32 it is not degrees of service, but the sharp contrast between serving or not serving, while in xxi. 33-46 the emphasis is the wickedness of serving oneself, and of robbing God. It is further of importance to a true interpretation that we observe the close connection that is intended between the two parables in Matt. xxi. This will be made evident by noticing the structure as follows:- The relation of the two parables (Matt. xxi. 23-46). A | 23-. Chief priests and elders. B | -23-25. | a | Question - "By what authority?" | b | Question regarding John's baptism. C | 26. | c | We fear the multitude. | d | All hold John as a prophet. D | 28-32. | e | The parable. | f | The question - "Whether of the twain?" Parable of | g | The answer - "They say unto Him, two Sons. | | The first." | h | Jesus saith - Publicans and harlots | | go into the kingdom *before you*. | i | Statement concerning John's | | baptism. D | 33-44. | e | The parable. | f | The question - "What will he do?" Parable of | g | The answer - "They say unto Him, the Wicked | | He will destroy." Husbandmen | h | Jesus saith - "The kingdom of God | | taken *from you* and given to a | | people producing fruit." | i | Question and statement regarding | | "The stone." A | 45-. Chief priests and pharisees. B | -45. Perception - "He spake of them." C | 46. | c | They feared the multitude. | d | They held Him as a prophet. It will be observed that, like so many parables, this one concerning the two sons was given partly as a result of the questions of the chief priests and elders. They asked, "By what authority? and Who gave the authority?" to the Lord to perform the miracles that attested His Messiahship? His reply took them back to the testimony of John the Baptist. We often lose sight of the prime object of John's baptism. Matt. iii. is devoted to the beginning of John's ministry, and the concluding verses show us that its goal was the manifesting of the Son of God. This is plainly expressed in the account given in John's Gospel. John i. 19-34 tells of the questions put to John by the Jews, and John's answers. John said:- "This is He concerning Whom I said, After me cometh a man, who has become before me, because He (was) before me. And I knew Him not, but in order that He might be made manifest to Israel, I am come baptizing in water....He Who sent me to baptize in water, He said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, the same is He who baptizeth in holy spirit, and I have seen and testified that this One is the Son of God." John i. 35-51 gives us some examples of those who received this testimony. The Pharisees, however, set this counsel aside, not being baptized of John. Luke vii. 29-35 shows us the two classes that are set forth under the image of the two sons:- "All the people that heard Him, and the publicans, justified God being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the Lawyers frustrated the counsel of God with regard to themselves, being not baptized of him." The two sons in Luke xv. set forth the same people and lesson. We must be careful to keep within the limits of the divine Word. Much of our failure to understand the Word results from that mischievous practice of taking that which is true of the particular as true of the whole. Many words are addressed to "*this* generation." Matt. xi. 16, "Whereunto shall I liken this *generation*?" xii. 39, "An evil *generation* seeketh after a sign"; xii. 41,42, "The men of Nineveh, and the Queen of the South shall rise in judgment with this *generation*"; xii. 45, "The last state of that man is worse than the first; even so shall it be with this wicked *generation*"; xvi. 4, "A wicked and adulterous *generation* seeketh after a sign." So in Mark and Luke. In Luke vii. 31 the Pharisees' attitude toward John the Baptist and the Lord is introduced by the words, "Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this *generation*? and to what are they like?" In Luke the Pharisees are likened to peevish, refractory children. In Matt. xxi. they are likened to a disobedient son. "But how does this seem to you? A man had two sons: coming unto the first, he said, Son, go, to-day, work in my vineyard. And he answering said, I (will) do it, and went not. And coming unto the second he said the same. And he answering said. I will not: but afterwards repenting he went. Which of the two did the will of the father? They say, The latter. Jesus saith unto them, *Verily I say unto you, the tax collectors and the harlots go before you into the kingdom of God*. For John came unto you in a way of righteousness, and you believed him not; but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; but you having seen it, did not afterwards repent so as to believe him." The difference between the words of Matt. xxi. 31, "go before" and those of xxi. 41, "miserably destroy," must be kept clear. "Go before," as used by Matthew, never means going before to the exclusion of others. ii. 9; xiv. 21; xxi. 9,31; xxvi. 32 and xxviii. 7 are all the occurrences of the word. There are other passages where more drastic words are used. "Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. viii. 11,12). A superficial reading may leave us with the idea that the message of Matt. viii. 11,12 is practically the same as that of xxi. 31. This is not so, however. With the inspired precision of Holy Scripture, one passage says, "cast out," the other says, "go before." The one says, "the kingdom of *heaven*," the other says, "the kingdom of *God*." Now while the parallel passage of Luke xiii. 28 uses the words kingdom of God, we must not forget that Matthew uses the two expressions, and it is for us to observe the difference. Taking Matthew's witness as complete in itself, we may learn that, difficult as it may be for our limited knowledge to enable us to grasp it, a difference is intended. Matthew tells us that some of the children of the kingdom will be cast out of the kingdom of the *heavens*, but he does not say they will be cast out of the kingdom of *God*, but that the despised publicans will "go before" them. The kingdom of God is infinitely wider than the kingdom of the heavens. The generation whose carcasses strewed the wilderness, who failed to enter into the land, may be used as an illustration of the distinction intended. They were cast out of the kingdom of heaven, but not necessarily out of the kingdom of God. For them Ps. xc. was written, and numbered with them was Moses himself, who though shut out of the land of promise was not cast out of the wider sphere of God's love. Repentance was the great emphatic note of John Baptist and the Lord with reference to the kingdom of the heavens. Repentance involved *deeds* as well as *words*. To the Pharisees and Sadducees John had to say, "Bring forth therefore *fruits* worthy of repentance, and think not to *say* . . . " (Matt. iii. 8,9). Here, as in the parable of the two sons, we have the contrast between "saying" and "doing." The omission from the parable of the penalty falling upon the unrepentant son is noteworthy. In other parables which are somewhat parallel, "outer darkness" and "weeping and gnashing of teeth" are spoken of. Here, a milder case is intended, "the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God *before* you." To observe the distinction which Scripture draws between different *servants* is an important item in true interpretation. While many will not be *lost*, they shall suffer *loss*, and this parable of the two sons seems to have that aspect before it. This parable is not intended to teach the way of salvation, and failure to realize its primary setting, as in the case of most of the parables, has led to serious evangelical errors. We may all, nevertheless, take heed to the lesson and see to it that, by grace, we are not "hearers of the word only," but doers also.