Just Do It Matthew 21:28-32

I arrive at the gym, and I am checking in. Another young man waiting to check in speaks to me. He says, “Good morning. How are you doing?” I answer, “Good morning. I’m fine how are you?” “Fine,” he says. He continues, “Well, are you awake? Are you ready to go?” I answer, “I’m here and that’s all that matters. I’m here.” I tell the young man this story. “When I was in seminary someone asked me how I prepared myself to go back to school after the semester break. I told them that I did not get ready; I just went to school and school got me ready. Sometimes you just do it.” The young man thanks me and we continue on our way to do our workouts. This conversation reminds me of the parable of two sons that Jesus tells to the chief priests and elders found in our scripture passage today.

There are situations in our lives that we have to respond to almost immediately. You may not have time to think about what you ought to do. Your response needs to be immediately. You just do it whatever it is that you need to do. My mother often said these words to me: “You pray, pray that the Lord will help you to make the right step.” Now, initially I think that mom is telling me to pray that I will be prepared to respond appropriately to any situation that I might encounter in life. So, like King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes I set out to learn all that I can about different situations that I encounter in my life. I want to be prepared for everything. However, I learn though life experiences that I am unable to prepare myself with enough knowledge to handle all the situations that come my way. I learn that mom is saying that there are times when you are not prepared for the situation, so you just do it. This means that without thinking about it, and without having made preparations I pray that when it is time to act that whatever I do it will be the right step. This is what Jesus tells His disciples when He sends them out to do ministry. “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given to you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matt.10:19-20).

In the scripture passage Jesus responds to the chief priests and elders. In Matthew 21 they see Jesus riding into Jerusalem riding on a colt of a donkey. Jesus goes to the temple and he drives out those doing dishonest business. The writer records these words: “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves” (Matt. 21:12, NASB). The chief priests and elders are in charge of the temple, and they allow some things in the temple that should not be that Jesus puts a stop to. So, they question His right to take the actions that He takes. “When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave You this authority’” (v. 23, NASB)? Jesus does not answer their question. Instead, He tells the parable of two sons. In the parable Jesus teaches us that when it comes to carrying out the assignment that God gives to us we just do it regardless of the obstacles that we face.

The parable is about a man that has two sons. He goes to the first son and says, “Son go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went’” (v.29). “The man came to the second son and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will sir'; but he did not go” (v. 30). As Jesus tells the parable He does not give us any reasons that the sons respond in the way that they do. You see, Jesus is not trying to explain the son’s reasons for doing what they do. Rather, Jesus is explaining that He is doing what He is commanded by His Father to do. He asks the temple leaders, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” Jesus uses their own answer to explain that the people that the leaders are rejecting will get into the kingdom before they will , because the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John and the religious leaders did not (v. 31-32).

There are times that we should just do it. It does not matter if we have reasons not to do what we should do. Why did the first son initially refuse to go into the vineyard? Some possible reasons include the following. Maybe it is simply because he does not want to. He does not feel like working today. He has something more important to do. Maybe he wants to have fun with his friends today. The gang has plans to go out of town today. I am too busy to work in the vineyard today. The vineyard can wait. The vineyard is not going anywhere. I can work in the vineyard tomorrow or another day. Whatever the reason is that the son has for not going to work in the vineyard he reassesses the situation and changes his mind. He regrets how he had answered his father. In his mind he decides to just do it.

Now, on the other hand the second son responds just the opposite of how the first son responds. Initially he agrees to go into the vineyard. At least he says the right words to his father. However, the second son doers not do what his father tells him to do. Again, Jesus does not tell us the reason that the second son changes his mind. Regardless, in the end this son does not do what he had said that he would do. Here are some possible reasons. He is like Adam and Eve that do what the Lord tells them to do until the serpent gives them a reason to not do what the Lord tells them to do (Gen. 3:1-6). Maybe when he says that he will go into the vineyard he has forgotten about some other plans that he has made. Maybe he answers his father the way that he does because he just want to get along with his father. He can do something else to day and the father will never know that he does not go into the vineyard. What is the point that Jesus is making when He tells this parable?

Let us remember that the central issue here is that the chief priests and the elders of the people challenge Jesus right to exercise authority in the temple. The chief priests and the elders have authority, but they do not use their authority to do the work that God assigns them to do. Instead of the temple being used to pray and worship God, the leaders allow the temple to be used as a place to carry out business transactions. It is not really an issue of whether the business people are being honest. The issue is that the chief priests and elders are not carrying out their assignment.

Jesus comes to do the will of His Father. He comes to obey His Father’s commands. Jesus works with the authority that the Father gives to Him. Jesus will not allow any reason; even any obstacle to prevent Him from doing the will of the Father. Like Jesus, you and I must not allow anything to stop us from doing the will of God. It does not matter how we feel. It does not matter what we think. The Lord gives to you and me the authority to do our assignment. We have a duty to just do it. Just do what the Lord requires us to do.