The setting -- The Pharisees asked Jesus who gave Him His authority. Each pharisee learned under a certain teacher, and that teacher gave that pharisee his authority. Their question was "What school are you from?"
Promise -- all are called.
Warning -- not all will answer (for a variety of reasons).
"28 “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.’ 29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.31 “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. 32 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." Matthew 21:28-32
Lip service is not good. Jesus was telling the disciples, "What they did is worth more than what you said."
Not by Words alone . . . It's all or nothing with Jesus.
33 “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. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “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.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “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.” Matthew 21 33-41
The owner did everything necessary -- the perfect setup for the Tenants. They had everything they needed. God set it all up. They just had to believe and follow (talking about the pharisees here). But they didn't.
Jesus ends this parable with a question. They have no idea He is speaking about them yet.
We are called to have faith and follow. The founding fathers of America said that if everyone lived a Christian life we wouldn't need any laws.
Condemnation by their own words.
42 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’[h]?
43 “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. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[i] Matthew 21:42-44
The Cornerstone must be perfect. And Jesus is perfect.
Bearing fruit -- warning:
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
You will only bear fruit if you live in Jesus.
The Wedding --
2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city." Matthew 22:2-7
Everything is ready. They knew the Messiah was coming. He was here -- But they ignored Him and refused to believe in Him. We are in the same boat -- we know Jesus is coming! It's going to happen. Are we acting like He will return? In the end judgment will come.
He has called everyone:
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests." Matthew 22:8-10
Jesus wants everybody. All are called and all have sinned. This is a promise of a sort.
22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24
We are all sinners. Labels don't matter to Jesus. The only label that truly fits us without Jesus is sinner. Whatever you call yourself, Jesus is calling you to believe and follow Him.
The wedding crasher -- warning:
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:11-14
The man tried to slide in through the backdoor. Tried to steal his way in. We cannot do that. We can't sneak into the Kingdom of God.
In the last days:
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—" 2 Timothy 3:1-4
We all can see a part of this list in us at times, but we don't want these verses to characterize us.
12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:12-15
We don't want to be evildoers or imposters. Are we just going through the motions as a Believer? That is called an impost. Don't deceive ourselves. Examine ourselves.
We want to be different than the world. Don't do lip service. How much are you willing to pay?
The only way, period!
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—"
John 14:16
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:16
Ask yourself -- who are you?