Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 21:31
Whether of them twain did the will of [his] father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
Verse 31. The publicans and the harlots] In all their former conduct they had said NO. Now they yield to the voice of truth when they hear it, and enter into the kingdom, embracing the salvation brought to them in the Gospel. The others, who had been always professing the most ready and willing obedience, and who pretended to be waiting for the kingdom of God, did not receive it when it came, but rather chose, while making the best professions, to continue members of the synagogue of Satan.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
31. Whether of them twain did thewill of his Father? They say unto him, The firstNow comes theapplication.
Jesus saith unto them, VerilyI say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots goor, “aregoing”; even now entering, while ye hold back.
into the kingdom of Godbefore youThe publicans and the harlots were the first son,who, when told to work in the Lord’s vineyard, said, I will not; butafterwards repented and went. Their early life was a flat andflagrant refusal to do what they were commanded; it was one continuedrebellion against the authority of God. The chief priests and theelders of the people, with whom our Lord was now speaking, were thesecond son, who said, I go, sir, but went not. They were earlycalled, and all their life long professed obedience to God, but neverrendered it; their life was one of continued disobedience.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Whether of them twain did the will of his father?…. This is the question put by Christ, upon the preceding parable to the chief priests, elders, and Scribes;
they say unto him, the first: an answer which natural reason, and common sense, directed them to; and therefore they give it out at once, directly, without staying upon it, and demurring about it; though they seemed not to be aware of the application of it to themselves, which follows:
Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots; that is, such who had been so;
[See comments on Mt 9:10].
go into the kingdom of God before you. They are signified by the first son, who repenting went, and did the will of his father: these repented under John’s ministry, were called, and brought to repentance by the preaching of Christ, and his apostles: these justified God, their Father, by being baptized with John’s baptism: these embraced the Messiah, believed in him, and were the first in his kingdom, and set an example to the chief among the Jews to follow: and it is easy to observe, that a poor profane sinner may, by the grace of God, be brought to repentance, that before was obstinate, rebellious, and disobedient, and be made willing to go and work in the Lord’s vineyard here, and be at last glorified; when a self righteous person, notwithstanding all his fair promises and resolutions to do good, his professions of, and pretensions to religion, neither repents of his sins, nor believes in Christ; has no share in the kingdom of grace here, nor will he enter into the kingdom of glory.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Go before you (). “In front of you” (Weymouth). The publicans and harlots march ahead of the ecclesiastics into the kingdom of heaven. It is a powerful indictment of the complacency of the Jewish theological leaders.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
(31) They say unto him, The first.The answer came apparently from the lips of the very persons who were self-condemned by it, and so implied something like an unconsciousness that they were described in the person of the second son. They who gave God thanks that they were not like other men, could not imagine for an instant that the went not represented their spiritual life in relation to Gods kingdom.
The publicans and the harlots.The words are purposely general, as describing the action of classes; but we cannot help associating them with the personal instances of the publican who became an Apostle (9:9), and of Zacchus (Luk. 19:2-10), and of the woman that was a sinner (Luk. 7:37-50).
Go into the kingdom of God before you.Which literally means, lead the way into. What follows shows that our Lord is stating not so much a law of Gods government as a simple fact. The choice of the word is significant as implying that there was still time for scribes and Pharisees to follow in the rear. The door was not yet closed against them, though those whom they despised had taken the place of honour and preceded them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. Whether of them twain Which of the two. The first The first did the will of his father, not in his first refusal, but in his subsequent repentance and obedience. The publicans and the harlots Not only the common people, but the worst of them. Go into the kingdom of God before you They have no false piety to trust to. They have no false conscience produced by a false system. They are open sinners, and feeling themselves such, they repent and believe.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They say, “The first.”
Jesus them asked which of the two sons did the will of his father, the one who had refused, but had then gone, or the one who had expressed all willingness, but had not gone. Even the religious leaders knew the answer to that one. It was the son who had repented and had then done it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘Jesus says to them, “Truly I say to you, that the public servants and the prostitutes go into the Kingly Rule of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the public servants and the prostitutes believed him, and you, when you saw it, did not even repent yourselves afterward, that you might believe him.”
Jesus then applies the parable in terms of the response of people to the ministry of John. John had come in ‘the way of righteousness’. He had walked righteously. He had taught righteousness (compare Luk 1:17; Joh 5:33; Joh 5:35). But above all He had brought God’s active righteousness and deliverance to the people (see Isa 41:10; Isa 45:8; Isa 51:5; Isa 61:3 etc.; Luk 1:17). And many of the public servants and the prostitutes, the lowest of the low, those who would have been seen as those least likely to respond to God, had believed him. And they had repented and had been baptised, declaring their desire to take part in the future drenching of the Holy Spirit, declaring that they wanted to be God’s ‘holy ones’ (saints). Thus they had ‘gone into’ the Kingly Rule of God. They had begun to live anew and had wanted all that God could give them. They had begun to obey Him and acknowledge His Kingly Rule. They were no longer what they were, but were now seeking to live their lives in a way which was pleasing to God. And the same was true of all who had responded to God’s message through John.
But the religious leaders had not responded in this way. They did not believe him. They did not repent. They did not go into the Kingly Rule of God then. Nor had they done so since, even when they had seen the repentance of others whom they had castigated as sinners. They had remained unmoved. Thus they were still outside the Kingly Rule of God. Note the use of ‘Kingly Rule of GOD’. The former had responded to God Himself, the latter had turned from God. This expression always expresses the immediacy of His Kingly Rule in Matthew.
The contrast would have been startling to all who heard it. Being a public servant meant that a man was seen as having betrayed his country and his friends and as having consorted with the enemies of his people. He was engaged in the service of those who served Rome. He was thus seen, even by the ordinary people, as a traitor towards God and towards his people. He was universally despised in Israel. Being a prostitute was similar for a woman. She was seen as encouraging men into adultery (see Pro 7:10-23). She betrayed all that a decent woman stood for, and prostituted the relationship that lay at the basis of all decent society. Along with the public servant she was seen as openly defying God, and as being therefore, of all people, the most displeasing to God. Both would have been seen as the last ones who could ever have been expected to find acceptability with God. Thus the thought that such people might actually have entered the Kingly Rule of God would have seemed almost unbelievable. It would open the door of hope for all, again on the basis of repentance. For it must be recognised that they were only accepted because they had repented and believed.
The leaders of the people on the other hand saw themselves as not only respectable, but as thoroughly pleasing to God, as pleasing as a man can be. Were they not able to prove by their genealogies that they were sons of Abraham. Was His favour towards them not evidenced by their wealth and position, both seen as tokens of such favour? And the people on the whole would have agreed with them. They therefore saw no need to repent. Thus what Jesus was suggesting was almost shocking. It was turning the Jewish world upside down. But here again was Jesus’ confirmation that the new age had begun, and that the Kingly Rule of God was already here, and had been since the time of John. For the whole point of what He was saying was that the sinful who have repented at John’s preaching have entered the Kingly Rule of God, and are therefore now God’s true people, while the outwardly righteous who have not responded to John’s preaching, have not entered the Kingly Rule of God, and are even now unwilling to do so.
In this context ‘go before you’ must signify present experience, for the assumption of ‘before’ (which always in its use here indicates ‘before’ in time) is that there is still opportunity for those who have not yet entered to do so, while once the time for entering the future Kingly Rule of God comes, all decisions will have been finalised, and those who have not believed will not be entering at all. There will be no question then of ‘before’ for them, for their opportunity would have gone. Thus present experience is what is in mind. And this is confirmed not only by the use of ‘before’ but by the whole argument. It loses most of its strength if it only refers to entry into the Kingly Rule of God in the distant future.
Note the huge implication of what Jesus is saying in all this. He is declaring that all men, even the chief priests and the aristocracy, are to be tested by how they have responded to John’s preaching. And that is because John was not to be seen as just another preacher. He was to be seen as an eschatological figure. He was the forerunner of the Coming One. In him God was thus challenging the world. He had come representing the full truth of God. And thus all men of whatever level were judged by their response to him, in the same way as they will be judged by their response to the Coming One Who will follow him. For John was inescapable. In him God’s truth was polarised. Through him God had broken in on the world. Thus not to believe him was not to believe God. And to believe him or otherwise was therefore the same as believing in the Coming One. It divided the righteous from the unrighteous. (And the corollary of this was that believing in the Coming One would also be vital, for there is salvation in no other than the One to Whom John pointed, and no other Name under Heaven given among men by which men and women can be saved (Act 4:12)).
By this parable therefore Jesus rams home the failure of the chief priests and the aristocracy to respond to John and his message, reinforcing their failure to appreciate that his baptism and his message was from God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The application:
v. 31. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
v. 32. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. By giving the answer to the question of Jesus, the rulers of the Jews had pronounced their own sentence. John, in his message and in his life, was a preacher of righteousness, none greater than he. Yet the outcasts of Jewish society, those that had been expelled from the synagogue and were no longer members of the Jewish Church, they gave heed to his admonition to repent. They were, after all, obedient to the will of the heavenly Father. But the Pharisees and scribes, the chief priests and elders, heeded neither the preaching of John nor that of Christ. They made a practice of having God’s Word and Law in their mouths, but their heart was far from real obedience to the will of the Father in heaven. A mere head-and-mouth Christianity is actually nothing but disobedience to God. But a poor sinner that realizes his guilt and repents of his sin, is acknowledged and treated by God as an obedient child, and his former sins are no longer remembered.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 21:31-32. They say unto him, The first It seems that the Pharisees did not perceive that by this answer they condemned themselves, till Jesus made a direct application of the parable in that sharp, but just reproof, Verily, I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For, Mat 21:32, though you pretend that you do not know whence the baptism of John was, John came unto you in the way of righteousness; he clearly proved his mission from God, and ye believed him not,gave no credit to the testimony he bare to me; and consequently would not go into the vineyard; but the publicans and the harlots believed him; they received his testimony, and obeyed the Gospel; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him; when you had persons of the most abandoned characters reformed by his sermons, (which doubtless was a strong proof of his mission from God,) you did not repent of your opposition to that holy man; nor of your disobedience to his instructions; at least, your remorse was not of such a kind as to make you afterwards believe him. Dr. Heylin renders the last clause, And though you saw that, yet you did not repent, so as to believe him.
The moral reflection suggested by this passage of the history is, that the openly profane are more apt to repent than hypocrites; which experience shews also to be true. The reason is, persons openly profane have nothing by which they can defend themselves against the terrors of God, when once they begin to fasten upon their consciences; whereas hypocrites, having a form of godliness, screen themselves therewith from all the attacks which can be made upon them by the strongest arguments, drawn whether from reason or from the word of God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
Ver. 31. Go into the kingdom of heaven before you ] And it were an arrant shame to be left behind by such; as that is a very jade, we say, that will not follow, though she will not lead the way. But these proud Pharisees hated to be in the same heaven with penitent publicans. And, as Quintilian said of some in his time, that they might have proven excellent scholars had they not been so persuaded of their own scholarship already. In like sort these conceited ones of themselves might have had place in heaven, had they not taken up their seats in heaven beforehand.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
31. ] In connexion with the reading , which Tregelles has adopted without the preceding transposition , it may be mentioned, that some (not Origen, that I can find) have understood it to mean, .
, either the declarative present go before you, in the matter of God’s arrangements, or the assertive present, of the mere matter of fact, are going before you. I prefer this latter on account of the explanation following: ‘go before,’ not entirely without hope for you, that you may follow , but not necessarily implying your following. The door of mercy was not yet shut for them: see Joh 12:35 ; Luk 23:34 . . answers to . . in the parable. The idea of ‘shewing the way’ by being their example, is also included. There were publicans among the disciples, and probably repentant harlots among the women who followed the Lord.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 21:31 . o the question, Who did the will of the father? the answer, when the parable is arranged as above, must, of course, be ; the nay -sayer, not the yea -sayer. It is a wonder any answer was given at all when the purport of the parable was so transparent. .: introducing here, as always, a very important assertion. The statement following would give deadly offence to the Pharisees. , , the publicans and the harlots, the two socially lowest classes. Jesus speaks here from definite knowledge, not only of what had happened in connection with the Baptist ministry, but of facts connected with His own. He has doubtless reminiscences of the “Capernaum mission” (chap. Mat 8:9-13 ) to go upon. , go before, anticipate ( , Euthy.), present tense: they are going before you now; last first, first last. Chrysostom, in Hom. lxvii., gives an interesting story of a courtesan of his time in illustration of this.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Whether of them twain = Which of the two.
the will = the desire. Greek. thelema (the Noun of App-102).
publicans = tax-gatherers.
go into . . . before = go before you into.
the kingdom of God. See App-114. The fourth of five occurrences in Matthew. See note on Mat 6:33.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
31.] In connexion with the reading , which Tregelles has adopted without the preceding transposition, it may be mentioned, that some (not Origen, that I can find) have understood it to mean, .
, either the declarative present-go before you, in the matter of Gods arrangements,-or the assertive present, of the mere matter of fact, are going before you. I prefer this latter on account of the explanation following:-go before,-not entirely without hope for you, that you may follow, but not necessarily implying your following. The door of mercy was not yet shut for them: see Joh 12:35; Luk 23:34. . answers to . . in the parable. The idea of shewing the way by being their example, is also included. There were publicans among the disciples, and probably repentant harlots among the women who followed the Lord.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 21:31.[932] , into, or as regards) the kingdom of heaven.
[932] , the first) Work without words is better than splendid words unaccompanied with work: and also it is better to adopt a praiseworthy course subsequently, rather than not at all. V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
did: Mat 7:21, Mat 12:50, Eze 33:11, Luk 15:10, Act 17:30, 2Pe 3:9
The first: 2Sa 12:5-7, Job 15:6, Luk 7:40-42, Luk 19:22, Rom 3:19
Verily: Mat 5:18, Mat 6:5, Mat 18:3
the publicans: Mat 9:9, Mat 20:16, Luk 7:29, Luk 7:37-50, Luk 15:1, Luk 15:2, Luk 19:9, Luk 19:10, Rom 5:20, Rom 9:30-33, 1Ti 1:13-16
Reciprocal: Pro 26:12 – Seest Mal 3:2 – who may abide Mat 5:46 – publicans Mat 10:7 – The Mat 12:28 – then Mat 18:17 – a publican Mat 19:23 – enter Mat 19:30 – General Mat 21:29 – I will not Mat 23:13 – for ye shut Mar 1:15 – repent Mar 2:15 – General Mar 10:31 – General Mar 11:31 – Why Mar 11:32 – for Luk 3:12 – General Luk 9:11 – the kingdom Luk 11:9 – I say Luk 18:10 – a Pharisee Act 20:21 – repentance 1Co 6:16 – an harlot Heb 10:36 – after Heb 13:21 – to do Jam 2:25 – the harlot 1Pe 4:2 – the will 1Jo 2:17 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1:31. The kingdom of heaven was not set up in fact in the earth lifetime of John, but his work was that kingdom in preparation, and whatever attitude anyone showed to-ward his work was counted for or against the kingdom.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 21:31. The publicans were already entering, having listened to Johns preaching of repentance, and being disposed to follow Christ.
Go before you. This does not imply that the rulers would follow; though it invites them to do so.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 31
The publicans and harlots, who without making professions of sanctity repent and forsake their sins, go in before you, who are forward and zealous in your profession, but do not really obey the will of God. They were like the first son in the parable; the chief priests and elders like the second.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of [his] father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots {p} go into the kingdom of God before you.
(p) They hurry to the kingdom of God and you go slowly, so that you should at least have followed their example. Mark then that this word, “go into”, is improperly taken in this place because none of them followed Christ.