The role of the penitents, of the ones who return to God’s ways (baalei tshuva - בעלי תשובה) in the New Testament and the Jewish sources.
In the parable of the workers in the vineyard in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 20, Jesus talks about the answer of the owner of the vineyard to the laborers who complain that the workers who arrived late receive the same wage as them. The owner of the field answers to the complainers about his action in the following way: “Am I not allowed to do as I please? Or have you turned a blind eye to how good I am? It is true that the last will be first and the first will be last.”
The parable speaks about the Creator of the world and the fact that he also accepts those who joined him at a later stage and started worshiping him after being away from him for a long time. God says: With me those who are considered low and vile can become the first, having the leading role to play and vice versa. Also in this passage, we can see the presence of the Jewish sources of the Bible on which the Gospels are based. The later Jewish writings also continue in the same thought.
In the Book of Isiah, chapter 55, the prophet Isiah says: “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.” (Is 55,6-8). That means that if only the evildoer will leave his bad ways and draw closer to the Lord, he will be received with forgiveness and mercy. Moreover, the prophet quotes God: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” This means that even the biggest criminal is entitled to My forgiveness, if only he will abandon his wicked ways and come closer to Me.
The Babylonia Talmud (Berachot 34:22) recounts: “Rabbi Abbahu said : The place which the penitent occupy, the perfectly righteous are unable to occupy ; as it is said, "Peace, peace to him that is far off and to him that is near" — "to him that is far off [from God]" first, and then "to him that is near.” In other words, people who repentant, who abandoned sinful life and drew closer to God are in a more important position than the greatest of the righteous!
The Babylonian Talmud tells a story about one of the sages of Israel from the second century AD, Rabbi Shimon Reis Lakish, who was a criminal and the leader of a band of robbers who repented and left his bad ways after meeting Rabbi Yohanan. After some time he became one of the most important rabbis of his generation who would spend all his time serving God and studying Torah.
Those ideas are very close to the parable of the workers and the words of the owner of the vineyard that the last will become the first.
About the author:
Shlomo Libertovski, a Torah lecturer at Beth Shemesh and a member of Nostra Aetate 4 in Jerusalem, an ecumenical organization dedicated to Jewish-Catholic dialogue.