Scripture Study for

The reading from Ezekiel emphasizes that the divine will is for  the wicked to turn from sin and toward God. What God sees is the  direction in which one is currently headed, rather than where one  has been. This sounds good when we have turned from evil to good,  but the principle is less congenial when we have turned from good  to evil. In response to the accusation of unfairness, God notes that  what is in fact “unfair” is the human desire to have God always  forget past sin but never forget past virtue. God’s “fairness” consists in holding us responsible for the life we have chosen rather than the  one we have forsaken. 

We surmise from Paul’s letter to the Philippians that there were  divisions within the community, exacerbated by outside opposition.  So Paul strongly encourages unity: same mind, same love, united in  heart, thinking one thing. This unity is found by sharing the same  attitude that Christ had, which was sacrificial kenosis (“emptying”),  setting aside his own interests for those of others. The force of the  exhortation is sympathy or empathy, regarding others as “one with  oneself,” just as Christ united himself with humanity even to the  point of death. Just as there was in Christ no selfishness, no holding  back, no concern with “rights” or “prerogatives,” so it should be for the Philippians. 

The parable of the two sons presents a clear analogy: only those  who actually do the will of God, even if they refuse at first, will  enter the kingdom. The parable involves two sons, highlighting  the fact that even the tax collectors and prostitutes are children of  God—disobedient at first, and maybe for a long time, but children  nonetheless. The chief priests and the elders, who thought they were  following the will of God, were given the opportunity to reassess  that belief when John came preaching repentance. They refused to  listen to him, even when they observed the conversion of sinners at  his preaching. Those who thought they had no need to repent were  mistaken.