Really?

Who will receive the Kingdom of God? Matthew 21:12-46 In reading this passage today, I am overcome with humility. Jesus directly confronts the Pharisees more than once in these verses and what He has to say is earthshaking.  He has just arrived at the temple after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, people shouting "Hosanna in the highest!" to the rightful Lord of Lords. First, He overthrows tables in the temple and heals the blind/lame there, putting the robbers in their place and asserting the true meaning of God's house. The next morning, He withers a fig tree and promising to his disciples that they can receive all they ask for in prayer is they believe. But things get even more real than that!  The Pharisees ask Jesus, "And who gave you this authority?", meaning the authority to do all the things He has done, specifically those miracles and such He had done right before. His response is to ask them where John's baptism came from, a question that causes some discussion among them because they cannot give a true answer, for that would undermine their stance with the people. Because they do not answer, Jesus does not answer them. (They would not like the answer anyway).  Now, here it is. Jesus tells them two parables. I encourage you to read those two parables before or after reading this (preferably before). here they are The Parable of the Two Sons "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.  The Parable of the Tenants "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said. "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. (Matthew 21:28-46 NIV) I am no biblical scholar but I see two very intertwined themes here. The first is found with the two sons. They are both children of the father and are asked to do the same thing, though one says he won't then does obey and the other says he will and doesn't obey. The theme here is true obedience, actually doing what has been asked. It is not the son who looks and says the right thing that did what his father asked but the one who appeared disobedient and in turn did his father's will. Even the Pharisees can see this, though they are the second brother in the story.  The second parable has the same ending, with the Pharisees having the right answer (an answer that solidifies their own future), but has an added twist. Within the story is a hint at the reality, that the landowner's servants are sent and killed for their obedience then the landowner's son is sent to collect the fruit and the tenants kill Him, missing their last opportunity  for salvation (for lack of a better word) from their punishment. In the same way, the Pharisees rejected the words of the prophets and will ultimately reject the Son as well. The recurring theme, though, is that the tenant will be punished for their wretchedness and be replaced in by the landowner with those that will bear fruit just as God will replace the Pharisees with followers who will bear His fruit. And Jesus says, "Have you never read the scriptures...?"  Ouch. That is not the first time He says that but I have to imagine it was quite infuriating to the pharisees. He relates it all back to prophesy and it is clear to the Pharisees that they are in the wrong so they try to kill Him? Really? It is worth it to hold so firmly to an incorrect position that you lose an inheritance with God?  I know that they had to hold firm to that for prophesy to indeed be fulfilled but, really? In the face of a wrong that you can see is so very against the Word of God, one would hold so firmly to their wrongdoings to a point of sacrilege?  All of this lengthy writing has been to get me to this point: there are things in my life that keep me from bearing fruits for the Kingdom of God and I give all the right answers when asked but continue to live out the wrongdoings thereafter. When I say "Really?" to the Pharisees I am actually saying it to myself and myself says "Really." right back. Sanctification of my heart is not done yet but here is a next step for myself: in the moments when I have to say to myself "Really", I will respond "No." because I am not past the point of no return. I can change these things so that fruit is born and self-promotion is born. I think that some of the Jewish leaders may have had this moment later on (I know of at least one who did) and it wasn't too late for them because the sacrifice had been made, salvation was possible and it is today.  In the Love of Christ