Bible Reading: Exodus 27-28; Matthew 21:23-46
“Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” Matthew 21:31
Jesus made a shocking statement to the religious leaders who were around in His days on earth. He says: “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before them”. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day are a kind of people who looked like perfect followers of God. They appeared to be obedient to God, do God’s will and always put God first, which is what they taught others to do. So they are called teachers of the law of God. But in reality, they were disobedient to God, their hearts were far away from God, their motivations were all wrong, they rejected the message of Christ, and they did not live their lives in obedience to God’s will or pleasing to God.
While the Tax collectors and prostitutes committed open sins against God and against others. But many of them, after hearing the message of God’s kingdom, repented, turned to God and started living their lives in obedience and pleasing to God. For instance, the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 16:1-10. After Jesus reached out to him, Zacchaeus changed his ways and made his life right with God to live a life that would be pleasing to God.
Jesus is admonishing us in our text today that in the matter of obedience to God’s will it is better to repent from sinful ways and intentions to obey God’s will than to remain locked in good appearances and still living a hypocritical life. In John 3:3, Jesus was speaking with Nicodemus a religious leader: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. And in John 6:40, Jesus was speaking to the Jews concerning the will of God; “And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” – a process of repentance.
We should be obedient to God, not only in words like the teachers of the law, but also in our actions. Our words – no matter how impressive, how convincing and how much we mean them; without being backed by corresponding actions, they are worth nothing. James 1:22 (KJV) says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
Prayer: Father, help us remember that in obeying you, we are doing ourselves a favor because our blessings are in obedience to your will.
Pastor Alfred Samuel