And he went to the other and said the same. And he answered and said, “I will go, Lord,” but he did not go.
With this parable Jesus reveals how a person responds to God’s call, either by words or by deeds. The father symbolizes God, and the vineyard His Kingdom or the field of service where every person is called to labor. The two sons represent two kinds of people: the first at first refuses, saying, “I do not want to,” but later repents and does the father’s will, while the second agrees with words, “I will go, Lord,” but does not do it. The parable shows that what pleases God is not the promise, but the deed proven by obedience. The first son symbolizes sinners and tax collectors, who at first were far from God but repent, and the second symbolizes the religious leaders, who had faith in words but in deeds rejected the Lord’s will. This account reveals God’s justice: He receives the repentant sinner and rejects the formal believer, because true obedience is born from a change of heart, not merely from words.