John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him

 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

- Matthew 21:23-32

Yesterday we read that, after His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "  Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  As Christ isn't a Levitical Priest, the chief priests and elders are challenging Him as to His authority to cleanse the temple (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study bible emphasizes here that Jesus is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers -- and therefore confounds His questioners with one of His own:  about John the Baptist.  Both the elders' question and Christ's question would demand the same answer, and therefore lead a person to confess that Jesus has come from heaven.  My study bible adds that by not answering His questioners directly, Jesus teaches us not to answer people who come asking about holy things with a malicious intent.

"But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."  Jesus once again uses a parable to illustrate His points.  The elders convict themselves by using their own principles in their answer to Jesus' parable.

Jesus tells us that "tax collectors and harlots" believed John the Baptist, and therefore enter the kingdom of God before these religious leaders.  It is something we might pause to marvel at, because from this distance of 2,000 years we might not understand the great impact of the ministry of John the Baptist.  The fact that even tax collectors and harlots -- that is, people widely considered to be sinners and therefore outside of community -- enter into the Kingdom for having believed John's word teaches us something powerful.  It teaches us about the great and powerfully egalitarian nature of the word of God.  John preached and practiced a baptism of repentance in preparation for the Messiah.   His good news regarding the preparation for the Messiah was good news for all, and all were welcome to participate in it.  We should remember that John preached repentance, and therefore those who heard his message presumably were prepared to repent of their sins against community.  But these religious leaders were threatened by a radical outsider like John, although we can see for ourselves the people's high regard for him.  Even in his death, John the Baptist's name is still powerful in the temple, a reminder of the high esteem in which people still held him.  Beheaded by Herod because he criticized Herod's marriage as unlawful under Mosaic Law, John is a figure of a holy man and prophet dedicated to the true Israel, the people of God.   John called these religious leaders a brood of vipers, which Jesus has already echoed, and will do so again (Matthew 3:7, 12:34, 23:33).  Reflecting John's scorn that these men are incapable of repentance, Jesus does not answer directly in today's reading, but rather gives them a parable which teaches us something about people's hearts.  Who truly does the will of God?  A prophet such as John is one who is committed wholly to the word of God.  His radical poverty and humility were assurances that he lived purely to do God's work, focused on one thing.  He would be a model for the early monastics who sought to serve Christ by living in the wilderness, dedicated to spiritual struggle, in a radical kind of humility determined to focus solely on serving God.  Theirs was the power of prayer and a constant repentance.  So how are these models to form for us something we can focus on today?  Well, let us consider Jesus' parable in the light of today's world.  We may see so many people doing what is called "virtue signalling."  That is, showing in some way using "signs" that they are moral human beings, that they follow some kind of code which indicates they are being "good."  Through social media, this is entirely widespread and simple to do.  But Christ -- and John the Baptist -- with their name for the religious leaders of "brood of vipers" call us to a different kind of reckoning and understanding.  And Jesus' parable in today's reading definitely does the same.  We should ask ourselves the question, which again has a rather obvious answer to those who observe:  who is actually doing the will of God?  Do you know people who are humble and love God devotedly?  Do they make a great show of their virtues to others?  Or is the love of God dependent not so much on showing the rest of the world that we are morally perfect -- but that we, in fact, acknowledge that we are imperfect?   Where is the humility that goes with that, and the practice of prayer, and the understanding of the heart devoted to God, even the one that understands and seeks God in the secret place, and as One who sees in secret?  These are highly important questions to ponder in today's media-driven world, where some hardly seem to know an identity separate from such "signalling" to the public.  What keeps a heart honest?  Where do we escape to a desert to face ourselves beyond the crowds?  Let us remember that the crowds who welcome Christ today will reject Him in the space of a few days.  It all comes down to our own hearts:  how best do we protect them?  How best do we seek to be like the child who follows the Father's will, aside from all appearances?  When it all comes down to reckoning,  in what righteousness do we believe and choose to live?