Mat 21:31 Which of these two did the will of [his] father? Tryly I tell you that the tax-collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.

Mat 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him: but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him: and you, when you had seen did not repent afterward that you might believe him.

Again, the topic is how one thing follows another, the first and the last, but you cannot tell this from the English. Here, because they believed John the Baptist, tax-collectors and prostitutes, "lead the way," literally, go first. Christ contracts the son who finally does his father 's bidding with the priests who do not do God's bidding. They deny God, but they do not feel guilty about it, so they do not do what is needed, in this case, believe in John.

Christ sets out the order of things: words before actions, the feeling of regret before acting correctly. Those who society looks down on are more likely to feel regret and therefore more likely to reform their behavior and become better people. Those who society praises are less likely to feel regret and are therefore more likely to become worse people.

"Tax-collectors" is from telônês, translated as "tax collector" or "publican." These tax-collectors were independent business people charged with collecting rents, tolls, and other fees from the general public. Historically, these tax-collectors or rent collectors were notoriously corrupt. As middlemen and managers, the rulers trusted them to know who should pay what, but these tax-collectors readily took bribes from farmer for setting the appropriate rents on property.

"Go before" is from the Greek proagô, which means "lead onward," "lead forward," "increase," "advance," "go before," and "lead the way."

"Kingdom of God" is from basileia (kingdom, rule, reign) theos (God). Note, this is not the term "kingdom of heaven" (basileia ouranous).

"Repent" is from metamelomai (metamellomai), which means "to feel repentance," "to repent a thing," "to change one's purpose or conduct," and "to feel regret." This term is the same used to describe the feelings of the first so who does rightly after speaking wrongly.