First Reading (Ezekiel 18:25-28). Here the prophet is responding to an objection that God is unjust because he punishes or rewards the individual for his own actions, instead of allowing him to rely on the institution of Israel and the promises made to the nation.
The prophet declares that each individual is responsible for his/her own actions, and will be judged accordingly. Ezekiel goes on to state that repentance will win the individual pardon and life. The issue of repentance is the connection with the Gospel.
Gospel (Matthew 21:28-32). Matthew now has three parables that are concerned with the judgement of Israel: the two sons, the vinedressers, and the wedding feast.
We have the first of these today.
In today’s Gospel the focus is on the refusal of the religious leaders to repent and believe in Jesus. Their unbelief is contrasted with the belief of tax collectors and prostitutes. This is pressed home in the parable of the two sons.
The religious leaders were meant to see themselves in the second son. They promised to work for God but failed to do so, and so have excluded themselves from the kingdom.
The first son represents sinners. They originally chose to go their own way but then repented and took God’s way, and so gained entry into the kingdom. Repentance is a necessary disposition for entry into the kingdom.
The parable was meant to defend Jesus’ invitation of sinners and outcasts to the kingdom, in the face of the sneers of the Jewish religious establishment. It also illustrates the difference between saying and doing – a favourite theme of Matthew.
Second Reading (Philippians 2:1-5). St Paul says that self-seeking and rivalry have no place in the Christian community. We must imitate Christ who humbled himself to the point of accepting death, the most shameful kind of death – death on a cross (Deuteronomy 21:23).
God rewarded his obedience and humility by ‘raising him on high and giving him a name which is above all other names.’
The self-emptying and self-abasement of Christ should serve as a model for every Christian.