"“What think ye?” He said. “A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father?” DA 595.1"
"But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard."
EGW directly quotes Matthew 21:28.
"This abrupt question threw His hearers off their guard. They had followed the parable closely, and now immediately answered, “The first.” Fixing His steady eye upon them, Jesus responded in stern and solemn tones: “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” DA 595.2"
"Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."
EGW directly quotes Matthew 21:31.
"The priests and rulers could not but give a correct answer to Christ's question, and thus He obtained their opinion in favor of the first son. This son represented the publicans, those who were despised and hated by the Pharisees. The publicans had been grossly immoral. They had indeed been transgressors of the law of God, showing in their lives an absolute resistance to His requirements. They had been unthankful and unholy; when told to go and work in the Lord's vineyard, they had given a contemptuous refusal. But when John came, preaching repentance and baptism, the publicans received his message and were baptized. DA 595.3"
"Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."
The EGW passage directly explains the parable in Matthew 21:31, referencing the publicans' initial refusal and subsequent repentance after John's preaching. It's a clear and direct explanation of the verse's meaning within the context of the parable.
"said, “I go, sir,” but went not, the priests and rulers professed obedience, but acted disobedience. They made great professions of piety, they claimed to be obeying the law of God, but they rendered only a false obedience. The publicans were denounced and cursed by the Pharisees as infidels; but they showed by their faith and works that they were going into the kingdom of heaven before those self-righteous men who had been given great light, but whose works did not correspond to their profession of godliness. DA 595.4"
"And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not."
EGW directly quotes Matthew 21:30.