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Reading Today
The Bible, as wise people say, is the best psychology textbook. Today’s Gospel is a good example of this. Jesus, in depicting two sons in the parable who react differently to the father’s request, shows two fairly distinctive human types.
The first son replied, “I am going, Lord,” but did not go. Did he have other plans and he couldn’t refuse his father outright? Did he really want to go, but got something more attractive along the way? Did he not pay attention to what he said at all, and would he promise pretty much anything without having to feel about any responsibilities afterwards? Certainly, at least he was a man who could make a good impression, please, but not a man who could be relied on. We like such people very much – and they are the most disappointing for us in the end.
The second son told his father that he did not want to go, but then he regained his senses and left. He probably had other plans, and his father’s proposal surprised him, and in general, as a quite independent man, he did not want anyone to impose anything on him. He was not afraid to refuse, because he did not care about the short-term effect and the crumbs of undeserved acceptance. He defended his preferences or even his own identity from his father, but in the end he was able to rise above his egocentrism and appreciate the higher value, accept a more serious challenge.
If there was a third son in this story, perhaps he would immediately agree to go to the vineyard eagerly and go, then doing hours of hard work to build up the remaining brothers and associates. However, there is no question of such an exemplary attitude, which only reminds that life is always different from ideals, and the combination of human motivations and actions is usually very complicated.
These two unholy, imperfect behaviors, Jesus shows the high priests and orders them to evaluate. They prefer to choose a second son, although they themselves are acting rather like the first, as Jesus points out to them: “The tax collectors and the harlots enter the kingdom of heaven before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. And the tax collectors and harlots believed him. ”
The high priest is worse than the tax collector and the harlot… Those are very hard words. It is scary to imagine what hustle and bustle would arise today in the media and the surrounding area if someone publicly dared to make such a provocative statement. Yet Jesus did not hesitate to show his contemporaries this brutal truth, for he had an obvious justification for it; who does not act badly, who does not listen to God’s voice, who humbly accepts the signs given by God and does not take them into account in his decisions, but stubbornly follows his own paths, although sometimes it may seem to be the opposite – he does wrong even if he is a high priest, if he has various titles, certificates and dignities guaranteeing the social prestige associated with religion.
In today’s Gospel, however, Jesus also speaks to each of us who find it so easy to believe in our own sinlessness and feel good because they are worse: people from the margin of society, unbelievers or otherwise believers, friends who cannot face honestly everyday problems, etc. “Does a decent person have to convert? After all, Lord, I am going your way and you should not have anything to reproach me for or demand more of me “- perhaps we will answer when we are called to convert.
Jesus does not praise tax collectors or prostitutes for their sinful lives, but for wanting a change for the better, not clinging to complacency, being aware of their mistakes and not afraid to admit to them that they choose God for Himself and not for recognition from people or for other fleeting gains. God, give us decent people that we always have so much sensitivity, honesty and courage!
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