28“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. [simple_tooltip content=’23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”
And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.’](Matthew 21:23-30[/simple_tooltip]; [simple_tooltip content=’27 Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.
28 And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:
30 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”
31 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
32 But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.
33 So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”’]Mark 11:27-33[/simple_tooltip]; [simple_tooltip content=’1 Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.
2 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.’]12:1-2[/simple_tooltip]; [simple_tooltip content=’1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him
2 and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”
3 But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:
4 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”
5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from.
8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
9 Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.’]Luke 20:1-9)[/simple_tooltip]
There were many ways Jesus showed the religious leaders that they were not really right with God. In this parable He revealed who truly did the will of God. It was not the son who talked about it; it was the son who may have begun in rebellion but then repented and did his Father’s will.
These leaders had a form of godliness like this second son, but they were not doing the will of God. The publicans and harlots had no form of godliness, but when confronted with the preaching of John, many of them repented and began to do the will of God like the first son in the story.
These religious Jews, who sat in the seat of Moses, disqualified themselves from being God’s representatives here on earth because of their hypocrisy and hard hearts. Even the publicans and harlots who repented were ahead of them. There is no sin more frequent among religious people than that of self-righteousness: they honor the Lord with the mouth when their hearts are far from Him. [simple_tooltip content=’‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.’](Matt. 15:8)[/simple_tooltip]
Terrible sinners were repenting and entering the kingdom of God ahead of the very religious Jews because they knew they were sinners and put their faith in Jesus. One of the deadliest things about religious self-righteousness is the deception that we will be saved because of our good deeds. We cannot save ourselves regardless of how good we act.
Remember how you were saved and who saved you. If you stay humble, knowing you are right with God because of Jesus, instead of being continually under pressure to prove yourself right with God, your heart will be filled with joy and praise for the One who has already made you right with God.
