Now Jesus told this parable to illustrate the truth that citizens of the kingdom of heaven, God’s children, people who believe in Jesus and turn away from sin do what is commanded of them in the bible. Of course the Pharisees thought they were most righteous and holy. They were puffed up with their own self-importance following every letter of the law and making up loads of their own laws which in the end just meant that ordinary Joseph’s and Joanna’s couldn't keep up, which in turn made them feel all the more special. Jesus tells us about how they would walk around loudly praying so everyone could see how important and holy they were. Prior to Jesus making himself known, John the Baptist had been teaching repent and believe, and it was the sinners, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the fatherless, the sin sick who turned and followed Jesus, who accepted that he had forgiven them their sins whilst the chief priests and Pharisees continued to believe in their own righteousness. The first son in this parable of course represents those sinful people who initially had rejected God’s word but later accepted that they were desperately in need of God's grace and turned to Jesus for forgiveness. In Psalm 51:5, we can read that we are all sinful from birth. David acknowledges this fact. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Now David of course knew a thing or two about grace and he, along with those who repented when told to by John the Baptist, received God’s grace. They accepted they were sinful and turned away from sin. Can any of us say like it does in Mark 12: 30-31 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbour as yourself.” That's obeying Jesus’s commands. Has anyone got to know their neighbours a little better these past 8 weeks? What a fantastic opportunity to be able to build relationships with people and eventually, hopefully, we’ll be able to share the gospel. So obeying Jesus’ commands 1 John 2: 3-4 tells us that we know that we have come to know Him if we keep his commands. Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not do what he commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. That's a difficult teaching isn't it, because if you put that alongside what He says, love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and love your neighbour as yourself then who, if they are being truthful, really does what He commands? Seriously, did anyone not covet toilet roll recently or paracetamol ? Well maybe not everyone, but without grace it wouldn't be possible to enter the kingdom of heaven would it? Jesus, being God made man, knows our trials and temptations. He knows what difficulties we face in this life and He says “If you accept that you are a sinner and believe in me I will forgive you your sins, yesterday, today and tomorrow and into the bargain change you for the better.” Amazing Grace? You bet! We are saved by grace! Ephesians 2: 8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so no one can boast.” Sadly, the Pharisees thought that if they prayed loudly so that everyone could hear how holy they thought they were, and made extravagant gestures of giving, ensuring everyone knew about how generous or rich they were, that these things would get them to heaven. Without Jesus of course, none of us are able to earn our way to heaven. Once again, Jesus tells us “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them.” When we believe and repent, Jesus sends the Holy spirit to dwell within us. Then, nourished by grace, we are moved to pray, read His word, worship with our church, join in fellowship with other Christian people and do things pleasing for him. So what do we do? What do you do? When we truly love someone, we are eager to do things that please them. My wife Angela, loves me so she makes cake for me (which to be fair she enjoys too) but she would also order me kebabs which she doesn't like, but she is happy to do that because she loves me. How do we show love to the people in our lives. Micah 6:8 points the way – “He has shown you O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” So where is this all taking us? Well, it's a tough teaching isn't it? We might have to do stuff that takes us out of our comfort zone, putting our pride to one side and showing God's love to the very people He spoke to who then repented. There are lots of ways we can obey Jesus, just by reading through the New Testament, praying that the Lord Jesus will work in our hearts to accept the truth we read and asking that he reveal to us what it is we can do to serve him, then through grace he will reveal these things to us. We can be like the first son and turn away from the baggage, the sin, from the things that weigh us down and stop us obeying the Lord Jesus, and instead do his will. Remember the second son in the parable? “Oh yeah Dad no problem, I’m on it” then he just refuses to go and help out? If we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and then just sit on our hands and carry on as we were before, and we don't do anything different. then that's not really demonstrating that we follow and love the Lord Jesus. We should want to do things for Him and not expect any reward. Remember those Pharisees who loved the praise and exaltation, loved the reward they got, the seats in high places, the admiring looks, the deference everyone paid to them? Jesus teaches us another way doesn't He? Remember the lines from Luke 17:5-10, about whether or not the master was going to thank the servant after only doing what he was told to do? What Jesus was teaching here was that we shouldn't expect a reward in this life. Store up treasure in heaven as it were. So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say “We are unworthy servants we have only done our duty.” Christian, are you doing your duty or is Jesus going to say to you “Away from me evil doers I never knew you.”
Simply do what the Lord requires of you. Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.
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