There is a common saying "slow obedience is no obedience, is disobedience". Now it is absolutely right that the quicker we obey the better, and here are times when it is imperative that we obey at once without question. However, this parable shows that this is not the whole story.
Two sons are told to go to work in the vineyard. One initially refuses, but then later on does as his father requested. The second said he would go, but then failed to do so.
This is a pattern we often observe in life. When there is a call to do something, initially many will show great enthusiasm, but will actually end up doing very little. Whereas people who seem the most reluctant can end up being the best servants.
This answer is a continuation of Jesus' encounter with the temple authorities. It was a rebuke to them, that although outwardly they seemed to be the obedient ones, they were actually failing to do God's will. Conversely, the prostitutes and tax collectors, people the religious types despised, were responding to the Lord. In fact this is a parable that is analogous to the theology that Paul gives in many of his letters. Those who had the Law gave the impression of being committed to God, but were in fact disobedient. Whereas the Gentile "sinners" were the ones who by believing in Christ were actually the obedient ones.
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