In the Temple where He was confronted with the unbelieving chief priests and the elders, Jesus told a parable (Matt.21: 28-31). A certain 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”. Afterwards, he repented and went. And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, “I go, sir” but went not. When Jesus asked them which of them did the will of his father, they answered and said, “The first”. Then Jesus said, “Verily, I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him”. Jesus made it clear to the chief priests and the elders that even the publicans and the harlots were better than them because the latter believed John and repented of their sins. Arrogance and self-righteousness blinded the eyes of the chief priests and the Pharisees. They did not believe John because John was a simple man with no formal education in the laws. He was not in the palace but in the wilderness, shirking public recognition. John spoke the plain truth boldly and without fearing men. The publicans and the harlots believed him and entered the Kingdom of God. But the chief priests and the Pharisees rejected John and missed the Kingdom of God. Today also, there are true and humble servants of God like John the Baptist in our midst. They are not popular in the Christian world. They are not materially prosperous like John. However, they have the message of God to give to the Church. You may not hear them on the T.V or through any popular media of communication because they are in the wilderness. There are also people likened to the publicans and the harlots because they are devoid of pride and humble themselves before God with a contrite heart and cry, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. These people hear the voice of God through His messengers likened to John the Baptist and enter His Kingdom.
In the above Bible passage, Jesus compares the vineyard to the kingdom of God. This shows that when a person is born again in the Spirit and enters the Kingdom of God, he or she should go to the vineyard of God for ministry.
Many members in the body of Christ have not yet gone to the vineyard of the Father. They say that they are saved and are filled with the Holy Spirit. They go to the churches and worship God. But they do not hear the call of God, “Son, and go work today in my vineyard”. The Devil has shut their ears to the call of God. They have no passion for lost souls. They are not involved in the outreach ministry of taking the glorious gospel to those places, which are not yet reached by the gospel.
According to a report published in “Outreach” by Indian Evangelical Mission, India has only 3% of Christian population and that too, many of them are nominal Christians. In about 200 Indian languages, the Bible translation is yet required to be taken up urgently.
There are many in our midst, who said they would go to the vineyard of God in other nations. But they have not yet gone. But they are some Christians who said that they would not go. But they have really gone to the other nations.
Let us bear in mind:
(i) We should believe in the messages of God given to us through the members of His body, humble ourselves before God and repent of our sins and backslidings. We should be like the publicans and harlots and not like the chief priests and the elders.
(ii) We should be prepared to go to the vineyard of God today.
- Job Anbalagan