"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Mt 7:21And so he asks:
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"Lu 6:46In their repenting, the tax collectors and prostitutes were doing God's will. But the religious leaders didn't repond to Jesus nor John the Baptist properly. While thinking of themselves as good, they lacked the necessary humility to respond in repentance. And furthermore their faith was not application oriented, but simply verbal. Even today there are whole churches that don't do much more than make alot of noise. With loud voices they proclaim their love of God, but their behavior may say otherwise.
A man had two sons and said to the one
Go work in the vineyard today my son But the son at first just wouldn't obey "I'm not going to work, no not today" But later he changed his mind and went Even though before he did not consent He asked the second son the same "Sir, I'll go" he did proclaim But didn't go as he said he would Though I'm sure he thought himself good. Which of these two did his father's will The first one did and the other did nil Then Jesus spoke to the chief priest And to the elders missing the feast Those whom you think don't have a clue Are entering the kingdom ahead of you John showed you the way, you haven't believed But sinners repented, his word they received And after you saw how they did repent You didn't really seem to care what he meant |