The Two Sons: Go, Not Say

Short answer: In Matthew 21:28–32, a father asks two sons to go work in his vineyard. One says no, then changes his mind and goes. The other says yes, and never goes. Jesus asks the chief priests and elders which son did his father's will — the answer is obvious enough that they answer it themselves, and Jesus tells them tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of them.

"Whether of them twain did the will of his father?" It is a short parable, and Jesus does not leave its point implicit. He asks the question directly, gets the only honest answer available, and then applies it to the people standing in front of him by name.

Who he was talking to, and when

This comes during the last week before the crucifixion, right after Jesus enters Jerusalem and clears the temple, and right after the chief priests and elders confront him: "By what authority doest thou these things?" (21:23). Jesus answers their challenge with a counter-question about John the Baptist, then tells this parable and two more — the Wicked Husbandmen and the Wedding Banquet — all aimed at the same audience, in the same confrontation.

Which son said what — a real textual question

Ask most people to summarize this parable and they'll tell you the first son refuses, then repents and goes; the second agrees, then doesn't. That is the order in most modern English translations, including the King James Version used here. It is worth knowing that the manuscript tradition is not unanimous on this point — some early manuscripts have the sons in the reverse order, so that the son who is asked second is the one who initially refuses and then goes. Textual critics have discussed this at length; it does not change which behaviour Jesus commends, only which son (first-asked or second-asked) is the example of it. Translators have made different calls, so if you compare versions and the order feels reversed from one you remember, you are not misremembering.

Saying yes costs nothing

The son who says yes and doesn't go pays no price for the false promise in the moment it's made. He has said the right thing to his father's face, and that is, in this story, worth exactly nothing. The parable does not linger on why he doesn't go — no excuse is offered, because none is needed for the point being made. What did the work was going, not agreeing to go.

"The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you"

Jesus's application is aimed with precision. He is not making a general statement about hypocrisy; he is telling the specific religious leaders in front of him that tax collectors and prostitutes — two categories that first-century Jewish society regarded as morally disqualified — are ahead of them, and gives the reason: "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" (21:32).

That closes the loop with the parable itself. The tax collectors and prostitutes are the son who said no and then went. The leaders being addressed are the son who said yes and never did.

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Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (public domain). Verse references are given so you can read any translation alongside.

Sources and further reading

• On the textual variation in the order of the two sons: the apparatus and discussion in the UBS/Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament tradition, summarized in most critical commentaries on Matthew (e.g. W.D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, ICC).
• Klyne Snodgrass, Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Eerdmans, 2008) — on the parable's setting within the Matthew 21 confrontation and its relationship to the two parables that follow it.