For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.For 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.For 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 saw it, did not even repent yourselves afterward, that ye might believe him.
3 sermons cite this verse
… Which of the two did his father's will? They answered the first. Jesus said to them, amen. I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you by way of righteousness, you did not believe him, but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord. Wait till you have a seat. so earlier this summer uh i was part of a camp we put on for the diocese it's a called camp survive it's it's for middle schoolers but there's a bunch of high schoolers who serve as junior counselors during the camp and so we have a little training weekend at one of the parishes we had to sleep on the floor this whole training thing it was sunday morning so these high school boys i come up to them they're having breakfast and sit down guys how are you doing and these are these are all high school boys. They're all rising seniors. They're all on the same football team from the same town. Great guys. Like they're giving up a weekend for training. They're giving up a whole week to serve at this camp the entire week. How's it going? Man, this is just, they were so mad. This is just, I don't know, like there's too much food here. I was like, what? Like, yeah, there's too much food and it's just like, it's so good. And like, I don't even normally eat …
… Jesus says to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. for John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him and even when you saw it you did not afterward change your minds and believe him that's from the gospel according to Matthew chapter 21 it's the perfect parable for the situation because however they answer Jesus has them Whether they point to the first child or the second child, either way, they're about to get schooled. Neither of the two children in the parable is admirable. Both disrespect their father, one to his face, the other behind his back. It's just that the first one changes his mind. He has a come-to-Jesus moment. Like former prostitutes or ex-tax collectors. Tax collectors, who, by the way, used a legal technicality to get away with stealing from their own people Tax collectors and prostitutes behaved shamefully They had disrespected themselves, their neighbors, and their God Maybe they did it willfully Or maybe they just didn't know what they didn't know Either way, when they tasted that bitter feeling of being exposed They changed their minds like the first child in the story. …
… the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Don't be the group. Hang around the church and the temple all your life and always looking for an excuse not to repent and to believe. Accept God's grace today and just simply say, Lord, I don't know how you're going to do it, but I thank you that you love me enough that you sent Jesus Christ.