Keeping one’s word is always a virtue. A promise must always be kept. But then there is the dilemma of changing one’s mind too, isn’t it? Can one change a promise and still be virtuous? Can one change a promise and be condemned?
This week’s passage in Matthew 21 takes us further into the scene with Jesus teaching in the Jerusalem temple during his last week of life and ministry. During the day(s) after he purged the temple of corruption, the chief priests and elders challenged his authority often. We saw last week that one particular session of teaching was interrupted by the chief priests as they called upon Jesus to reveal the authority behind HIS ministry.
v. 28 “What do you think?”
This phrase is Jesus’s answer to the chief priests who demanded to know by what authority HE purged the temple and taught as if he was the HIGH priest of the temple. Now Jesus wants these hypocrites to discover the answer for themselves.
The last words of verse 32 are directed to the heart of these wicked ‘princes’ of the temple.
“And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”
Change your mind.
Jesus shows great wisdom in his parable. God desires the changed minds of the humble and the repentant. If only these chief priests would ‘change their minds’ and believe in Jesus .. the Son of God himself … standing and working and ministering right before their very eyes.
