Then Jesus says to the crowd:  “So, what do you think about this?   A certain man had two children, and, going to the first one, he said, 'My child, go and work in my vineyard today.'  He replied: 'I don't want to go', but then he repented and went.  And going to the second, he said the same. He replied, saying, 'I will go, master’; but he did not go. So, which of the two had done the father’s will? They said to him, ‘the first one’.”  

Jesus once again checks them by using parables, here alluding to the ingratitude of the Jews as well as to the obedience of the Gentiles - who were despised by them exceedingly - because that is what the two sons portray, inasmuch as it portrayed what was happening with the Gentiles and the Jews.  For the Gentiles – albeit not having promised to obey or heed the Law - finally proved their obedience with their works.   Whereas the Jews – albeit stating  that “all that God has said, we will do, and we will heed; for Moses had recited these words to God” [Exodus 19:8] - in practice they did not uphold what they claimed, but instead disobeyed.

So, lest they believe that the Law alone is beneficial to them,  they are being shown how that very Law itself condemns them – a thing that Paul also highlights, as follows: “For the mere listeners of the Law are not righteous before God; it is the doers of the Law who will be vindicated' (Romans 2:13).  

Wanting  to make them accuse themselves on their own, He prepared things in such a way that they would be able to reach a decision on their own – which He did, by means of the present parable of the vineyard.  To achieve this result, He places the accusation on another person in the parable: that of the second son. Given that it would not have been possible to extract their confession immediately, He guided them by means of the parable to where He wanted.  

Realizing that they had not understood the meaning of His words and had made their decision, He then revealed what He was implying and clarified: “Verily I say to you (implying the Scribes and the Pharisees), that tax collectors and prostitutes will precede you into the realm of God; for they had initially shown disobedience to the Law, but you only show obedience to God with words. For John had come to you on the path of righteousness (=preaching to you the path of virtue and the virtuous way of life and behaviour) and you did not believe him; the scribes and the pharisees believed him. But you, even having seen him, did not afterwards repent and believe in Him”...  If He had merely said that ‘prostitutes will precede you...’ the words would have annoyed them, whereas now, after formulating His thought upon hearing their opinion, His words seemed more tolerable. It was for this reason that He also added the reason.

So what was that reason?  “For he – John – came to you” (not  ‘them’); and not only that, but also “on the path of righteousness”. Nor can you of course accuse him of being an indifferent person and his words being of no use, given that even his very way of life was irreproachable and his care was profound...  Nevertheless, you didn’t pay attention to him.

And together with this, he accuses them of another thing, namely, that even tax collectors had paid attention to him;  and after this accusation, he accuses them of yet another thing, namely, that they didn’t pay attention to him even after the tax collectors had.  Of course they should have believed before the tax collectors, but the fact that they did not believe - even after them - is unforgivable.   Hence the praises for them (the Gentiles) is indescribable, as are the accusations for the others (the tax collectors).  “He had come to you and you did not accept Him; He had not gone to them, and yet they accepted Him, while you did not accept them - even as your teachers.”

Notice in how many ways the praise of the Gentiles and the accusation of the Jews was pointed out. “He had come to you” (the Jews), “not to them” (the Gentiles). “You did not believe; but that did not scandalize them. They believed, but that did not benefit you.”  

Also, he did not say the phrase “precede you into the realm of God” - implying that they too will enter - after the others. He said this intending to show that there is hope for something similar – should they desire it.

Nothing arouses those who are spiritually imperfect as much as jealousy.  This is why He always said: “Many who are first shall be last, and the last shall be first” (= many who are first in this world will be last in the next world, and many who are last here will be first there) [Matthew 19:30].

It was also the reason he had referred to tax collectors and prostitutes: to arouse their jealousy – given that these two worst sins are born of unnatural love, one from physical lust, while the other from the lust for riches.  He thus proves to them that this primarily means obeying God's law - that is, believing John’s words.  As such, it meant that it was not solely the result of divine grace that prostitutes would enter the heavenly realm, but also of righteousness, inasmuch as they would not be entering while having remained prostitutes, but would be entering after having obeyed, believed, were cleansed, and had changed their way of life.

Did you notice how Paul made his words tolerant and more effective by means of a parable and  the mention of prostitutes?  He did not say to them right from the beginning: “Why didn’t you believe John’s words?”  Instead, after first mentioning that which was most indicative - namely, the tax collectors and the prostitutes – he then he added the rest, maintaining a control through his reference of the natural order of things, showing that they did everything out of their fear of people and their own vainglory. Given that they also hadn’t believed in Christ for fear of being excommunicated from the synagogue, they likewise didn’t dare to accuse John - not for religious reasons again, but out of fear.

He checked all these things with everything that he said, then added another blow - more drastically - with the following words: “But you, having seen them (who had believed), did not repent afterwards, and believe in Him” [Matthew 21:32]. It was a bad preference indeed, that they had not chosen from the start what was good; but the accusation is even greater, for not having repented afterwards,  as this above all is what makes many people wicked – a thing that I see even now happening to some, when overcome by the worst kind of insensitivity.

But let no one be thus; even if they become possessed by the most terrible wickedness, let them not be overwhelmed by despair after their change for the better, as it is easy to be dragged out of the pits of wickedness. Or haven’t you perhaps heard of that prostitute who exceeded everyone in lewdness, yet finally exceeded everyone with her piety after repenting?

I am not referring to the one mentioned in the gospels, but the prostitute of our generation, who originated from the most illicit city, Phoenicia, being once a prostitute who lived among us, who was the first in appreciation in the theaters and her name was well known everywhere, not only in our own city, but also as far as the land of the Cilicians and the Cappadocians.  She too had squandered many fortunes, and had left many orphaned; many also accused her of magic - that is, that she trapped victims in her nets, not only with her bodily beauty, but also with those magical medicines of hers.  In fact, this prostitute had also seduced the queen's brother, for her power was so immense.

But all of a sudden - I don’t know how, or rather, I know very well:  she willingly repented and had thus attracted the grace of God; she had forsaken all the wicked things she had done, and, having rejected the sorceries of the devil, she was ushered swiftly into heaven. Although there was nothing more obscene than her when she worked in the theater, nevertheless, with her pursuant, extreme self-control and after donning the sack-cloth of repentance, she lived the rest of her life with this practice of strict ascesis.

Because of this phenomenon however, she had also aggravate a first officer and the soldiers, who came against her, threatening her with weapons to resume her old life, but they were not able to bring her back on stage at the theater, nor remove her from the cloister of  virgins who had welcomed her to her repented life.  Later on, having been found worthy of the ineffable mysteries by the Lord, and having displayed a zeal worthy of divine grace, she departed from this life, having cleansed all her sins by the grace of God and by having shown exteme piety after her baptism. She had furthermore refused to even be simply seen by former admirers and lovers who sought her for their usual purpose; for she had totally isolated herself and had spent the rest of her life as if living in a prison.

This is the only way that “the last will come first and the first last”: by ensuring that our soul remains ever aflame by the fire of faith, there will be no obstacle for one to become great and wondrous.

Therefore let no-one who may be living in sin fall into despair, and let no-one of the virtuous remain idle and becoming over-confident of their virtue, for very often, even a prostitute can surpass them in virtue, after having repented. But neither should any sinner be overcome by despair,  because it is possible for them to surpass even the first.

Note carefully what God had said to Jerusalem: “And I said all these things, after she had fornicated: Turn back to Me; and she did not return.” [Jer.3:7].   Even after their idolatry and their deviation into fornication, He invited them to return to Him with repentance, but they did not return!

When we return to the fervent love for God, God will not recall the precedent acts that we had committed while living in sin. God is not like people, for He does not rebuke our past deeds, nor does He ask us after repenting: “What took you so long?”; He just loves us when we do return to Him, as long as we return the way we should.

FOR THE GLORY OF THE HOLY TRIUNE GOD

Translation A.N.