Matthew 21:23-32

²³ And after he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him while he was teaching, and said, “What gives you the right to do these things, and who gave you this right?”

²⁴ Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what right I do these things.

²⁵ The baptizing ministry of John, from where did it originate? From the sky or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From the sky,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’

²⁶ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, because they all think that John was a prophet.”

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what right I do these things.

²⁸ “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’

²⁹ But he replied, ‘I will not,’ afterward, however, he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I am going, sir,’ but did not go.

³¹ Which of the two did what his father wanted?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Honestly, I am telling you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God before you.

³² Because John came to you following the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

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organized unbelievers and the real deal

The chief priests and elders of Jerusalem had given their silent approval to Herod’s arresting, and later killing John the Baptizer. Now, they were gunning for Jesus. They had each other’s backing, and so constituted a dangerous thing in any generation: organized unbelievers. Their secret doubts of John’s legitimacy, and fear of Rome — enabled them to overlook the fact that Herod (whom they knew to be evil) destroyed him for selfish reasons. They never dared to ask Herod who gave him the right to do what he did.

Now, the king of kings goes about doing good, and organized unbelievers can only criticize him, question his motives, and secretly seek to destroy him. The tax collectors and prostitutes knew hypocrisy when they saw it. They knew of elders who had property they didn’t claim on their tax forms, and they knew temple officials who had illicit relationships. They also knew the real deal when they saw it. John and Jesus were the real deal, and the broken came to them.

The question for us as we read this text today is “which group do we fit in the most?” Are we more likely to hide our own sinfulness, and criticize those unpopular folk who are genuine? How do we respond when the real deal comes around?

LORD, give us the courage to acknowledge you in spite of the pressure from organized unbelievers.