Looking into the lectionary
18th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21)
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 21:23-32
September 27, 2026
When Little Rock Public Schools were closed to prevent integration in 1957, a meeting between Gov. Orval Faubus and some local leaders was scheduled and later abruptly canceled. The original list of attendees included a federal judge, the local member of Congress, the owner of the city’s largest bank and my great-grandfather, an insurance executive and past president of the chamber of commerce.
When Faubus’ staff got wind that pastors Dick Hardie and Marion Bogg were added to the list of attendees, they canceled the meeting. The governor who got into a game of chicken with President Eisenhower over school integration was evidently afraid to meet with these Presbyterian clergy.
Power has always feared the gospel because the gospel is no respecter of power. The scribes and Pharisees knew the threat Jesus posed to their carefully constructed house of theological cards. In Matthew 21:23-32, they ask him by what authority he does what he does. They have no interest in the answer, mind you. They have no interest in learning more about these new teachings; they simply want to trap the teacher and get rid of him.
Jesus’ message was so potent that it struck fear in the corridors of power.
At first glance, it seems that Jesus cleverly escapes the religious leaders’ question by answering it with another question: “[D]id the baptism of John come from heaven or was it of human origin?” (Matthew 21:25). This is not mere evasion. The question itself is a kind of answer.
If the scribes and Pharisees answer “yes,” they affirm that they understand John’s ministry to be authorized by God and can then say the same about Jesus. If they answer “no,” they demonstrate that their minds are closed and the argument is futile. Jesus’ responsive question rejects the premise of their initial inquiry.
“[D]id the baptism of John come from heaven or was it of human origin?” (Matthew 21:25), assumes that the power of the gospel is that it belongs to God. The question is whether the listener is ready to receive it. That is the query Jesus turns back to the religious leaders — not as a “gotcha,” but to steer them, and us, to the real demand before us.
To drive his point home, Jesus tells them the story of two sons who respond to their father’s call to work in the vineyard. One declines but later changes his mind and goes to work. The other says he will go but does not. Which, Jesus asks, did the father’s will?
It is a good question for the church today.
Do we give lip service to the gospel on Sundays only to find other things to occupy our week? Or are we getting our hands dirty working in the vineyard, even if we arrive a little late?
Just before our text today, the scribes and Pharisees witnessed Jesus “cleansing” the temple and cursing the fig tree. They saw the unvarnished gospel and knew what it meant. Something seems to have gotten lost in translation between Jesus’ living the gospel and ours.
Far too often, we declare our willingness to take up the hard work of turning tables of injustice but never make it past our good intentions. We follow the gospel to the margins and declare our solidarity with the marginalized but often decline to do the work of tearing down the structures of unjust power that trap God’s children. The gospel is immune to power. Sadly, we are not.
One thing we learn from this text is abundantly clear: It is never too late to go full tilt with the gospel. Like the first son who eventually made his way to the vineyard, God always has work for us, even when we take the long way.
In the end, Faubus agreed to the meeting with both clergy in attendance. My great-grandfather recorded his thoughts about the meeting in his diary that day. He wrote, “Orval [Faubus] knew the four of us would eventually want something from the state – a favor, a road, a piece of legislation supported, etc. – but there was nothing he had that Dick [Hardie] and Marion [Boggs] would want. Or maybe he just heard about their sermons.”
Questions for reflection on Matthew 21:23-32
- What would it look like to live the gospel in a way that is unconcerned with the forces of power in the world? How might it change our preaching? Our living? Our witness?
- How can the church proclaim the gospel to influence social and political policy without lapsing into the heresy of Christian Nationalism?
- When have your good intentions exceeded your energy to do the hard work of God in the world?
View the corresponding Order of Worship for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
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