Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”
(Matthew 21.31
NRSV)
Jesus told the chief priest and elders of the temple, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you." What Jesus told them was unthinkable. These men were the best people in the land. Yet Jesus said tax collectors and prostitutes were going into the kingdom ahead of them. You see, these officials had used their religion to insulate themselves against God. They had their traditions. They had their rules. They really had no need for God. The folks at the bottom of society, on the other hand, had nothing--except God. True, they had said "no" to God sometime in the past, but if they said "yes" now, it was not too late. The officials, on the other hand, had once said "yes," but they had never let God into their lives.
Jesus reminded these officials of the preaching of John the Baptist. "Tax collectors and the prostitutes believed (John)," Jesus said, "and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him." Change was possible even for these men, but they were too blind to see. They did not realize that the message of repentance was for them, too, as it is for each one of us.
God of love, change me today by the power of your love. Amen.
Ron Newhouse
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