{"id":1314,"date":"2025-02-04T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=1314&2025"},"modified":"2025-01-30T17:00:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T00:00:31","slug":"obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/","title":{"rendered":"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Matthew 21:28-32 (NCV)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\">\r\n<p><sup>28\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cTell me what you think about this: A man had two sons. He went to the first son and said, \u2018Son, go and work today in my vineyard.\u2019\u00a0<sup>29\u00a0<\/sup>The son answered, \u2018I will not go.\u2019 But later the son changed his mind and went.\u00a0<sup>30\u00a0<\/sup>Then the father went to the other son and said, \u2018Son, go and work today in my vineyard.\u2019 The son answered, \u2018Yes, sir, I will go and work,\u2019 but he did not go.\u00a0<sup>31\u00a0<\/sup>Which of the two sons obeyed his father?\u201d<\/p> <p>The priests and leaders answered, \u201cThe first son.\u201d<\/p> <p>Jesus said to them,\u00a0\u201cI tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do.\u00a0<sup>32\u00a0<\/sup>John came to show you the right way to live. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even after seeing this, you still refused to change your ways and believe him.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew 21:28-32&amp;version=ncv\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Matthew 21:28-32<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>In a brief conversation Jesus has with a group of Pharisees, the gospel of Matthew describes Jesus sharing a parable about a father who asks His two sons to help in the family\u2019s vineyard. One son said he would help but then chose not to go, while the other son said he wouldn\u2019t help, but then chose to go and help.<\/p>\r\n<p>The key question Jesus asks these Pharisees is which of these sons actually obeyed their father: The one who said they\u2019d help or the one who showed up to help?<\/p>\r\n<p>At the close of this discussion, Jesus shares a statement that is surprisingly relevant for us today. Matthew tells us that Jesus said, \u201c<strong>I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. John came to show you the right way to live. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even after seeing this, you still refused to change your ways and believe him.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 31-32)<\/p>\r\n<p>One amazing thing I see in this set of verses is that God sends messengers to help people turn their lives around, and while the religious leaders did not openly oppose John the Baptist, they also didn\u2019t give John\u2019s message any thought. Jesus directly says that \u201c<strong>John came to show you the right way to live. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 32a)<\/p>\r\n<p>Because tax collectors and prostitutes believed in John\u2019s message and changed their lives and their focus, Jesus tells the religious leaders that those who <em>were<\/em> the worst sinners but who have changed their ways will gain entrance into heaven \u2013 <em>ahead of those who supposedly lived close to God.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p>This should be a challenging message for people who call themselves followers of Jesus. <strong>When God sends us messengers to help us live better and grow closer to God, we would be wise to obey the instructions God\u2019s messenger gives. Otherwise, we might end up in the same position these religious leaders ended up in when they rejected John\u2019s message for themselves and ultimately missed out on seeing Jesus as God\u2019s Messiah.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--1314\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '1314');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a brief conversation Jesus has with a group of Pharisees, the gospel of Matthew describes Jesus sharing a parable about a father who asks His two sons to help in the family\u2019s vineyard. One son said he would help but then chose not to go, while the other son said he wouldn\u2019t help, but [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a brief conversation Jesus has with a group of Pharisees, the gospel of Matthew describes Jesus sharing a parable about a father who asks His two sons to help in the family\u2019s vineyard. One son said he would help but then chose not to go, while the other son said he wouldn\u2019t help, but [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-04T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-04T10:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":579,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/\",\"name\":\"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-04T10:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God&#039;s Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"In a brief conversation Jesus has with a group of Pharisees, the gospel of Matthew describes Jesus sharing a parable about a father who asks His two sons to help in the family\u2019s vineyard. One son said he would help but then chose not to go, while the other son said he wouldn\u2019t help, but [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2025-02-04T10:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32","datePublished":"2025-02-04T10:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/"},"wordCount":579,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/","name":"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-04T10:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/obeying-his-messengers-matthew-21-28-32\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God&#039;s Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}