The word "no" is a part of our natural, early vocabulary. Anyone who has children, or who works with children, is well aware of that fact. It almost seems as though the word "no" comes pre-programmed with the child. Where does this come from? It comes from Adam and Eve, the ones who first said "no" to God and "yes" to themselves and “yes” to the devil who lied to them, and that "no" is passed on like a genetic disease from parent to child, from one generation to the next.
In our own human experience, to say “no” to someone in authority is a test of that authority, which is exactly what the first son was doing in the parable Jesus told. He was denying his father's authority. To say no to his father's request was to refuse his authority.
Of course, there were two sons in the Gospel story, and we hear also the words of the second son: the lips say “yes,” but the actions say no. This, also, was a denial of his father's authority. When we hear all this outlined for us in a parable, it all seems so stark, and it appears obvious what is going on. But very often the actions we see in these two sons describes exactly how we tend to operate. We’re not necessarily so rude as to say "no" to someone's face. What happens is that, like the second son in the parable, we say "yes," - maybe even in a polite way - but then we go and do the opposite. We’ve all done it at one time or another.
In fact, we stand in a long tradition of people doing that - indeed, it began with Adam and Eve, and it’s been present throughout the history of mankind. Look back in the Scriptures:
The People of Israel stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai where God had given them the Law, and they said, “All these things the Lord has commanded us, we will do." That was just before they made the golden calf and bowed down to worship it.
St. Peter made the promise to Christ, "Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you," and later, on the very same day, he denied Jesus three times.
And so it goes with each of us. We say one thing, but we do the opposite. As St. Paul said, the good we want to do, we don't do; the evil we don't want to do, we very often end up doing. We honour God with our lips, but our hearts are often far from Him. We nod a polite "yes" to God's Law, but in the end, our greed, our arrogance, our immorality, our self-centeredness, our gossip and our lack of forgiveness – they all speak a deafening "no." So, the first son in the parable is almost like looking in a mirror.
But the second son in the parable isn’t any stranger to us. In fact, his behavior is a prime example of what would be called religious hypocrisy. The word "hypocrite" is from the Greek word for "actor." In the Greek theater, the actors hid behind masks; they appeared to be something they weren’t. That’s what we see in the second son. He appeared to be the good, obedient son - not like the other one who said "no." This son learned to hide his disobedience behind a shiny halo of politeness. "Yes, sir," he said to his face, while shaking his fist behind his father's back. And that’s what religion without repentence is -- a polite "yes, sir" to God's face while we shake our fists at Him in defiance.
Both sons in Jesus' parable sinned against their father. And that’s exactly what we should be confessing to God. We have sinned against God our Father by what we have done and by what we have left undone, by our rebellious "no" and by our false religious "yes." We haven’t loved God with our whole heart, and so our "yes" to Him sometimes is half-hearted at best. We make God’s commandments a matter of convenience; we say “yes” to them as long as they apply to the sins of others and as long they don't cramp our own lives too severely.
Jesus asked the religious leaders who heard the parable, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" "The first," they replied. “The one who said no, but then turned.” Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and harlots are going into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him."
Repentance – a “turning” – is what this parable is all about. Not just turning things around in your life, but actually being turned around by God. Like the first son – who turned from his "no," – so we’re supposed to be turned away from ourselves and turned toward God – we’re supposed to be turned in our mind and our heart. We’re to see ourselves in a new light, in the light of Christ, as people who are called to be saints, to be children of God, to be heirs of eternal life. Once we were determined to do our own will, a determination that leads to death; but now we’re turned to do the will of our Father in heaven, a determination which leads to life.
And what is the will of our Father in heaven? Jesus said, "For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life; and I will raise Him up at the last day." This is God's will for us: that we should look to His Son Jesus – crucified for us, raised for us, reigning in us – and that trusting in Jesus, and not in ourselves, so we can claim the promise of the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, so that we’ll rise from the dead in the resurrection of the righteous to live in the presence of God forever. That’s the will of our Father in heaven. That’s what God is bringing about in our lives. Not necessarily that we be happy, healthy, wealthy, or even wise, but that we rise from the dead – rise to newness of life – and God orders everything in our lives around that very end.
God has provided a kind of “alternative death” in the death of Jesus, a death into which a sinner dies to sin now, so that he can live forever. God took His Son, placed upon Him the sin of the world, and nailed Him on the cross. Now in Holy Baptism, God offers that death to us. He applies it to us with His Word and Sacrament. He says, "Cling to this death, because it’s yours – it’s Jesus' gift for you." Die with Him – die to “self” – and you will live forever. But try to live without Him – try to do things your own way and according to your own schedule – and you’ll die forever.
As with all the parables, the key is Christ. He is, in a sense, the “third son” of the father, the one not mentioned in the parable. He’s the son who said "yes" to His Father's Will long ago, when the foundations of the world first were laid. It was then that the Father said to His beloved Son, "When they turn from me, you will go and save them. You’ll do what they won’t do. You will keep the Law perfectly in their place, and you will take upon yourself their sin. Their disobedience will become yours; and your obedience will be theirs.” Jesus said "yes" to His Father's will to save mankind, and He did it, perfectly.
In his Epistle to the Philippians St. Paul wrote what is actually a beautiful hymn which says in part, “Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” St. Paul presents the fact that the eternal Son didn’t consider His equality with the Father something to be held on to, but He emptied Himself of His divine honour and glory, and took on the humble clothing of a servant. The king left his throne and became a peasant. God became the lowliest of men, born of a poor and humble virgin. He laboured, he wept, he bled. God was clothed in our humanity. He humbled Himself. He buried His divinity deeply behind our humanity. He touched us with human hands. He became obedient to His own Law. He kept it perfectly in our place. He came under the Law's death sentence - even death on a cross.
So – to go back to the parable – “Which one did the will of his father?” The answer is that Jesus did. He did the will of His Father for those who would not, for those who could not. Jesus did it for everyone - for the son who said "no" and for the son who said "yes." He did it for those who are religious and for those who aren’t. He did it for the sinner and for the saint, for the tax collector and for the Pharisee. He did it for you, and He did it for me. He did it for the whole world.
Therefore the Father exalted His Son. He raised Him from the dead and enthroned Him at His right hand, and placed His name over all things so that He might place His saving death and resurrection over everyone and everything. "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Jesus’ death is our death. His resurrection is ours. His ascension is ours. Baptized into Him we have died, we have risen, we are seated with Him at the Father's right hand. So, turn to Him who has turned to you in love to forgive you, to raise you up, to make you his own. Turn to Him, because God doesn’t want us to die forever. Turn to Him, who hung on the cross for you. Turn to Him, confessing your sins, because God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins. Christ is calling each and every one of us to turn to Him, and live.
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Pictured: "The Father and His Two Sons in the Vineyard"
Engraving by Georg Pencz (1500-1550)
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