Ezekiel 18 gives us a proverb that was being repeated among the Jewish people living in exile in Babylon:
“
The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
In other words, the people were saying, “
Our ancestors sinned, and now we are the ones suffering because of it.” They were beginning to think, “
What can we do? We are doomed because of what our parents did. There is nothing we can change.”
But God’s response was clear: each person is responsible for his or her own sin. God was saying, in effect, “
Do not use your family history, your past, or someone else’s wrongdoing as an excuse to remain where you are. Turn from sin and live.”
God was calling His people back to repentance and back into a faithful relationship with Him. He wanted them to understand that their past did not have to determine their future. They could turn to Him. They could repent. They could live.
We hear that same kind of appeal in our Gospel lesson today. Jesus is calling people to recognize their need for repentance and forgiveness. He compares the tax collectors and prostitutes with the religious leaders, not because their sins did not matter, but because the tax collectors and prostitutes recognized that they needed God. They heard John the Baptist’s call to repentance, and they responded.
Human beings have always had a habit of blaming someone else instead of taking responsibility for ourselves. We see it all the way back in the Garden of Eden.
When God asked Adam what happened, Adam said, “
The woman You gave me, she gave me the fruit, and I ate.” Adam blamed Eve—and, in a way, he even blamed God.
Then Eve said, “
The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” She blamed the serpent.
Much later, in the New Testament, when Jesus met the man who had been blind from birth, the disciples asked Him, “
Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” They wanted to know who was at fault. They wanted someone to blame.
And that is often what we do. When something goes wrong, our first question may be, “
Whose fault is this?” We look at our parents, our upbringing, our circumstances, our past, other people’s choices, and all the ways someone may have hurt us.
To be clear, people really can hurt us. Families can leave wounds. Our past can affect us. Other people’s decisions can bring painful consequences into our lives. But God still asks us: “
What will you do now? Will you turn to Me? Will you take responsibility for the life and choices that are before you?”
When we become consumed with finding someone to blame, we can lose sight of our God-given purpose: to live lives that honor God and to take responsibility for our own actions.
That is why Jesus tells the parable of the two sons: One son said, “
I will not go,” but later changed his mind and went to work in his father’s vineyard. The other son said, “
Yes, sir, I will go,” but he never went.
Jesus asks, “
Which one did the will of his father?” The answer is obvious:
the first son. He may have begun with rebellion, but he changed his mind. He turned around. He did what his father asked.
That is what repentance looks like: Repentance is not simply feeling bad about what we have done. It is not merely saying, “
I am sorry.” Repentance is a change of mind that becomes a change of direction. It is turning away from sin and turning towards God.
The tax collectors and prostitutes recognized their need for that change. They did not pretend that they had no sin. They did not hide behind anything. They did not blame someone else. Like the first son, they changed their minds and responded to God’s call.
But the religious leaders struggled to recognize their need for repentance. They knew the Scriptures. They knew the Torah and the Law. They had religious positions & religious knowledge. Yet they believed their outward faithfulness made them more righteous than others.
In that way, they were like the second son. They said the right words. They looked obedient on the outside. But when God sent John the Baptist with a call to repentance, they did not respond. And when Jesus came, they resisted Him.
They became, in a sense, signposts pointing others towards God, while failing to follow the direction themselves.
This is where blaming and pride can become closely connected. Think about it: When we blame someone else for everything, we are often saying, “
I am not the problem. I have nothing to repent of. I do not need to change.”
But God’s purpose is not to shame us or leave us condemned. His purpose is to open our eyes. He wants us to see our need for Him, to recognize the truth about ourselves, and to receive His mercy.
When we come to Jesus—the way, the truth, and the life—we begin to see ourselves more clearly. The truth is like a mirror. It shows us what is broken in us, where we have gone wrong, and where we need healing.
That may be uncomfortable, but it is also grace. We cannot be forgiven for what we refuse to acknowledge. We cannot turn from a sin that we will not admit is there. But when we come honestly before Christ, He does not expose us in order to destroy us. He exposes what is wrong so that He can heal, forgive, and restore us.
So the question for each of us is not, “
Whom can I blame?” The question is:
“
Will I recognize my need for God? And turn from sin?"
Amen.
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