The Sons of the Kingdom

When we reflect on the parable of the wheat and the tares, righteous and wicked people come to mind. When we picture wicked people we think of murderers, thieves, drunkards, rapists, and so forth. When we consider righteous people we envision those who do not practice such things.
The record of the Scriptures suggests another kind of righteousness and another kind of wickedness. There is a righteousness of loving and seeking God and walking in His will. There is a wickedness of loving and seeking our own gain and walking according to our own desires.
It was not the murderers, the thieves, the drunkards, the rapists who crucified the Lord. It was esteemed religious people who loved and sought their own gain and walked according to their own desires. The original sinners, Adam and Eve, were not murderers, thieves, drunkards, or rapists. But they loved and sought their own gain and they walked according to their own desires.