ACC ~ Matthew 21 v28

THE TWO SONS

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: Who is this if not the God who created all people and loves them with a fatherly affection, the God who preferred to be loved as a father rather than feared as a lord, even though he was Lord by nature? On this account, at the beginning of the commandments of the law, he did not say, “You shall fear the Lord with all your heart” but “you shall love the Lord with all your heart.” [1] To elicit love is not characteristic of a lord but of a father.

Of the two sons in this parable, the older one represents the Gentiles, since they come from their father Noah. The younger son represents the Jews, who come from Abraham. “And approaching the first, he said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’” “Today” refers to this present age. How did he speak to his sons? He didn’t address them face to face like man, but he spoke to the heart, like God. Man only utters words to the ear, but God supplies understanding to the mind. HOMILY 40. [2]

[1] Deut 6:5.

[2] PG 56:849.