The parable of two sons is one of the parables of Jesus Christ contained in the Gospel of Matthew .
 | One man had two sons; and he, going up to the first, said: son! go work today in my vineyard. But he said in reply: I do not want; and then, repenting, he went. And going to another, he said the same. This one answered: I’m going, sovereign, and I haven’t gone. Which of the two did the will of his father? They say to him: first. Jesus says to them: Verily I tell you, publicans and harlots go ahead to the Kingdom of God, for John came to you by righteousness, and you did not believe him, and publicans and harlots believed him; but you, and seeing this, did not repent later, to believe him. ( Matthew 21: 28-32 ) |  |
Theological interpretation
Theophylact Bulgarian writes that in this parable Jesus speaks of two categories of people:
- those who made a promise to listen to and fulfill the will of God, and then did not fulfill their promise (in the interpretation the modern Jews are called Jesus);
- those who were initially disobedient to the will of God, and then, having repented, began to fulfill it (in the interpretation they refer to adulters , publicans and pagans contemporary to Jesus, who responded to his sermon) [1] .
Archbishop Averky (Taushev) believes that the parable speaks of more general groups of people - imaginary righteous and repentant sinners. He writes that through a parable, Jesus showed the scribes and Pharisees that “those people whom they despise as sinners turned out to be more worthy than them to enter the Kingdom of the Messiah - the Church of Christ” [2] .
The Scottish theologian William Barkley writes that in the parable both sons do not bring joy to the father, but of the two groups of people represented in these images, “one, however, is better than the other” [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Interpretation of Theophylact of Bulgaria on the Gospel of Matthew (Unavailable link) . Date of treatment February 4, 2009. Archived April 27, 2009.
- ↑ Averky (Taushev). The Parable of the Two Sons // New Testament Scripture Study Guide.
- ↑ Barkley Commentary on the New Testament .