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We're studying through Matthew chapter 21 this week. This is day four of our
study, and today we're going to look at Jesus' conversation with the Pharisees.
They don't like what's happening.

Jesus is working miracles. Jesus is cleansing the temple. They do not like what
he is doing.

He is acting like God, and they don't believe that he's God. He's acting like
the king, and they don't believe that he's the king. So in verse 23, Jesus
entered the temple courts, and while he was teaching, the chief priests and the
elders of the people came to him.

By what authority are you doing these things, they asked? And who gave you this
authority? So here they come very openly and publicly, and they challenge Jesus'
authority.

Now remember, this is the last week of Jesus' public ministry. He's taught the
disciples one of the final lessons about faith from the fig tree. Each thing
that he's going to teach this week has included, added strength and importance
because it's one of the final lessons, and now he's going to talk to the
religious leaders for one of the final times, and he's going to talk to them for
one of the last times about how to have a changed heart.

Because all through his three, three and a half years of public ministry, they
had stubbornly refused to change, most of them, but Jesus keeps encouraging them
to change. When you and I are stubborn, because these religious leaders 2000
years ago aren't the only stubborn people who ever lived, when you and I are
stubborn, when we're having a hard time making a change of heart, Jesus keeps
encouraging us to change too. So instead of thinking about how stubborn they
were, let's think about how stubborn you and I can be, and about how Jesus keeps
encouraging a change of heart.

Jesus challenges their hearts here with a question and with a story. And with
both of those, the question and the story, the challenge is, will you change
your hearts? First he asks this question about John the Baptist in verses 24 to
27, "Jesus replied, 'I will also ask you one question.

If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I'm doing these things. '"
John's baptism, where did it come from? Was it from heaven or from men?

They discussed it among themselves and they said, "If we say from heaven, he
will ask then why didn't you believe him? But if we say from men, we are afraid
of the people for they all hold that John was a prophet. " So they answered,
"Jesus, we don't know.

" Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these
things. " Now as you read this exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders
here, we learn a couple of things about our stubbornness. Number one, we learn
that we get stubborn when we're afraid.

Notice it says here, they were afraid. They were afraid first of losing their
position. That's why they wouldn't believe Jesus in the first place because if
they believed him that meant they would lose their position of authority.

But they're also afraid of the people. They're afraid of what the people would
do to them if they said they didn't believe in the John the Baptist because he
was so popular. And that fear drove their thinking.

They were not able to see the truth because of their fear. That often happens in
our lives. Many times when you see stubbornness in another person's life, it's a
lot easier to see it in somebody else's life than in your own.

Behind that stubbornness is some kind of fear. They're afraid of losing
something. They're afraid of some circumstance that they're not going to be able
to hold up under.

They think, "I'll never be able to do that. " So they shrink back in fear. In
your own heart when you see stubbornness, one of the places, one of the things
to look for is what's the fear that's behind that stubbornness?

Why can't I serve God in that area? Sometimes even it's a fear of succeeding.
It's a fear of God using you in a great way.

So you stubbornly refuse to obey him because you know that he would open the
doors if you did. We get stubborn when we're afraid. And then a second thing we
learn from this exchange is when it comes to our stubborn heart before God,
there's usually a specific place, a specific point where we stopped trusting.

God asked us to do something and that's the place I said no. That's where I got
stubborn. That's where I started to dig my feet in.

For them, for these religious leaders, it was the message of John the Baptist.
Everyone was accepting his message. You need to repent.

You need to turn around. They wouldn't accept the message. They wouldn't accept
John's authority.

And Jesus here essentially says, "Why should I tell you anything that I want to
do? " You started making the mistake a long time ago. If you wouldn't accept
John's authority, you're certainly not going to accept my authority.

Warren Wiersbe says about this passage, "It's a basic principle of Christian
living that we cannot learn new truths if we disobey what God's already told us.
" And many times the reason we're stubborn, we're not seeing God do new things,
new blessings in our lives, is there's some point at which we've said, "I won't
obey you there. I won't do that thing.

I won't forgive that person. I won't share my faith with that person. I won't
step out into that ministry.

I won't say no to that. I won't say yes to that. I won't worship with Christians
because I don't like being around other Christians.

Stubbornly, I just got to say, they make me miserable. And so I won't do that,
even though God I know has commanded me not to forsake the assembling of myself
with other believers. And we think it's going to be okay, but all of a sudden
that stubborn refusal to obey cuts us off from the new things that God wants to
do in our lives.

He still loves us. He's still working in our lives. If you're a follower of
Jesus, He's still forgiving you, but you're not growing.

You're not seeing new things happen in your life. If you can see a place in your
life, a time in your life when God asks you to obey and you refuse to obey, go
back there. Make that right.

Now, maybe you can't obey any longer. Maybe the person died that you were
supposed to go and talk to. You can still confess it to God.

You can still take some other action that might cause you to be able to not make
the past right, but do what's right in the present. Don't ever try to make the
past right. Only Jesus can do that.

Just do what's right right now. Jesus, first of all, asked them this question.
We learned some things about our stubborn hearts from this question.

And then Jesus challenges them to break out of their stubbornness with a story,
verses 28 to 32. "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons.

He went to the first and he said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard. ' 'I
will not,' he answered. But later he changed his mind and he went.

And then the father went to the other son and he said the same thing. And he
answered, 'I will, sir,' but he didn't go. Which of the two did what his father
wanted?

The first, they answered. Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth. The tax
collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

For John came 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.

'" So Jesus tells this story, this story about two brothers told by their father
to go and work in the vineyard. One said, "I won't go," changes his mind and he
went. The other said, "I'll do it," but he never showed up.

Jesus honored the one who said no, but then decided to go. He didn't condemn him
for doing what he did not feel like doing. He honored him for his obedience.

Now two things, as you think about our stubbornness, two things that this story
does for them and for us. Number one, it caused them to take an honest look at
where they were. If you're going to break out of stubbornness, you've got to
take an honest look at where they are.

"Take an honest look at where you are," he was saying to them, "the prostitutes
and tax collectors are getting into the kingdom of God and you're not and you're
religious leaders. And maybe for you, when it comes to breaking out of
stubbornness, you've got to take an honest look at where you are. Maybe family
has been lost.

Maybe you're living in lonely discouragement. Ministry has been lost. Your fire,
your spirit of love for the Lord has been lost.

And yet you're still trying to prove that you were right. In trying to hold on
to something that was no longer true, these religious leaders found themselves
missing out on the life that God had for them. And that can happen to me.

That can happen to you. We try to hold on to something that we thought was one
time right, when it's not even an issue anymore. But we're still holding on.

We're still trying to make it right because we don't want to admit that we were
wrong. We don't want other people to ridicule us because we were wrong. Whatever
the reason, Jesus says, "Just take an honest look at where you are.

You're missing out on what I want to do in your life. " The first thing that
this story did is it caused them to take an honest look at where they were. But
there's a second thing this story did.

They reminded them that it's never too late to change. The tax collectors, the
sinners, the prostitutes of that day. They were the second one in this story who
said, "I will not," but eventually did.

These religious leaders could join in that group. They were saying, "I will not
follow you, Jesus. " They'd been saying it for three and a half years now.

But they have an opportunity even now to say, "Yes, I will. " Jesus reserves the
highest praise in this parable, this story, for the person who didn't feel like
doing the right thing, who didn't immediately do the right thing, but in the end
did it anyway. Change your mind, he's saying to them.

Change your mind, he's saying to us. It's never too late. It is never too late
to change.

Take a minute to talk to Jesus together. And I invite you to pray this simple
prayer with me. Just pray a prayer of faith and say, "Jesus, would you show me
where I'm stubborn?

Help me to take an honest look at where I am, to remember that it's never too
late to change and to turn around, to repent, to turn to you, to follow you. I
pray that you would do what only you can do, break through my stubborn heart to
show me the truth of your love. In Jesus' name I pray this.

Amen.