The Parable of the Two Sons #22

The Parable of the Two Sons is a short story Jesus told in the temple courts during his final week in Jerusalem. A father asks two sons to work in the vineyard: one says no and then goes, and the other says yes and never does. It appears only in the Gospel of Matthew (21:28-32), and it is a pointed lesson about obedience, repentance, and the gap between what people say and what they do.

The Parable

A man had two sons and told the first to go and work in the vineyard that day. The son answered, “I will not,” but afterward he changed his mind and went (Matthew 21:28-29). The father gave the same command to the second son, who answered politely, “I go, sir,” but did not go (Matthew 21:30). Jesus then asks the listeners which of the two did the will of his father, and they answer, “The first” (Matthew 21:31).

Context

The story is Jesus’s answer to a challenge. After he drove the merchants from the temple, the chief priests and elders demanded to know by what authority he acted, and he countered by asking whether John the Baptist’s baptism was from heaven or from men. They refused to answer (Matthew 21:23-27). Jesus then asks, “What do you think?” and tells this parable to the same leaders.

The vineyard was a familiar image for Israel, so the setting was easy to grasp. Refusing a father’s direct request was a serious matter of honor in that culture, which makes the first son’s bluntness shocking and his later obedience more striking. The second son’s courteous answer sounds respectful but costs him nothing.

Some ancient manuscripts vary in the order of the sons and in the answer the crowd gives. In every version, however, the son who finally does what the father asked is the one commended.

Meaning

Jesus applies the parable directly. Tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of the religious leaders, because John came “in the way of righteousness,” and the leaders did not believe him while the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, the leaders did not change their minds and believe (Matthew 21:31-32). Matthew uses a verb for the first son’s change of heart that is closely related to repentance, and Luke similarly notes that the tax collectors had accepted John’s baptism while the Pharisees and lawyers rejected God’s purpose (Luke 7:29-30).

Most Christian traditions read the parable as a warning against professing faith without living it, and as encouragement that a person who has said no to God can still turn and obey. It sits beside the parable of the wicked tenants and the wedding banquet, which follow it in Matthew and press the same charge against the leaders in sharper terms. Some interpreters also note that neither son is a perfect model: the first eventually obeys but begins with refusal, and the point of the story lies in what each finally does, not in how well he speaks.