The sure path to the way of righteousness involves turning away from sin and turning to God. John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance that prepared the way for the arrival of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins for all who believed in the good news of the Gospel. Saying yes to the way of righteousness, believing the Gospel message and living accordingly are at the heart of being a disciple of Christ.
The parable of the “two sons” outlined the difference between the Pharisees and the “known sinners” of that time. Tax collectors and prostitutes were judged as saying “no” to righteousness by their appearance, while the Pharisees were judged as saying “yes” for the same reason. The “optics” of righteousness, to use a current term, did not tell the whole story of the repentance and forgiveness necessary for Salvation. Appearances can be deceiving, as the saying goes. The parable explains:
What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. 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 in the 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 (Mt 21:28-32).
Tax collectors and prostitutes were reviled in ancient Palestine for differing reasons. The former overcharged their own people and pocketed the difference, while the latter traded on seduction and sins of the flesh. Both were easily identifiable in their respective roles in society. The Pharisees, by contrast maintained the outward appearance of righteousness by strict adherence to the law to the nth degree. The Gospel of Luke offers the following:
Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:10-14).
Pride, the deadliest of the seven deadly sins, is largely undetectable by others. The outward pomposity and superiority that is sometimes exhibited in public cannot be a sure indicator of sin. There is no scarlet “P” to signify guilt in the eyes of others. Even the person committing this sin may be oblivious through denial and rationalization. God, of course, reads the heart, and knows the exact disposition of each soul. The Book of Jeremiah sheds light on what only God knows:
More tortuous than anything is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?
I, the Lord, explore the mind
and test the heart,
Giving to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their deeds.
A partridge that broods but does not hatch
are those who acquire wealth unjustly:
In midlife it will desert them;
in the end they are only fools (Jeremiah 17:9-11).
The way of righteousness is truly the road less travelled when properly understood. The appearance of holiness is easier than ever to pull off via social media and other means of artifice, while the actual holiness of living the Gospel in our daily lives is the only sure path to the Kingdom of God. May we endure the sometimes tortuous confusion of the human heart as we journey on the path to eternal salvation in Christ.
