Stories... Don't You Love Em?

Matthew 21:28-32

　
Everybody loves a good story right? Wrong! David didn’t like Nathan’s story (2 Samuel 12) and my guess is that the chief priests and elders didn’t like Jesus’ story. Both stories confronted the recipients with a decision to be made – repent or rebel.

How does this story in Matthew apply to you and to me today? To answer this, let’s take a closer look at what is happening. As is often the case with Jesus, there is really a story within a story. The first is in Matthew 21:23-27 where the chief priests and elders question Jesus’ authority. Let’s start there.

The religious leaders are trying to trick Jesus, to make him look bad, to pin him down. They’re jealous because Jesus was drawing many followers. Mostly though, Jesus’ authoritative teaching had meddled in their lives and they didn’t like it. They were rebellious.

The second story is the parable of the two sons. The first son said no to his father’s request, but then he repented and obeyed. The second son said yes, but then he rebelled and disobeyed. Both are sons but only one repents and obeys his father. Of course the application is obvious for the religious leaders that Jesus was talking to, but what about to us?

Which son do you identify with the most? For that matter, do you identify with the religious leaders or the sinners? In reality, you may be able to identify with all of them.

In fact, if we take an honest look at our lives, you and I are rebellious by nature. We don’t like anyone meddling in our business and telling us what to do. "Who do they think they are anyhow?" They, of course, can be anyone who has authority over our lives or gets in the way of what we want.

Jesus continues to speak into our hearts and lives with his stories. What is he saying to you in this one? What decisions do you make during the day? Whose authority do you submit to? Are you choosing to rebel or to repent and follow Jesus?

Stories… don’t you love em?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2021%3A28-32&version=NIV;MSG
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Matt.21.28-Matt.21.32