When you move from the Old Testament to the New Testament, you encounter the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and he seems to be the opposite of the son depicted in Deuteronomy 21:18–21. Whereas the son in Deuteronomy 21 wouldn’t obey the voice of his father or mother (Deut. 21:18), Jesus was an obedient son (Luke 2:51). The significance of Jesus’s obedience was in the fact that not only was he an individual Israelite who was keeping the law, he also represented the nation of Israel as their redeemer and Messiah. He was the true Israel.
Parents in the covenant community of Israel had to face the possibility that they might have, at some point, a rebellious son. The son might become so disobedient, in fact, that his defiance and covenant rejection would need the intervention of the community leaders. If this situation came to pass, the Israelites had guidance from Moses as to the course of action.
The father and mother “shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard’” (Deut. 21:19–20).
If the pattern of the son’s behavior had been characterized by such wickedness, then likely the elders of the city—and others in the city—already knew of such rebellion. This meeting at the city gates was a formal event, however. His covenant violations were pronounced. And the men of the city were to put the son to death, purging the evil from their midst (Deut. 21:21). There is a heaviness, an utter seriousness, to the whole proceeding. Unrepentant and belligerent evil reaps what it sows—the dire consequences of sin.
If you follow the narratives in the Old Testament after Deuteronomy, there is no story of the Israelites applying the preceding law to any of their sons. We don’t read about such a meeting at the city gates, we don’t hear those pronouncements, and we don’t see the penalty applied. Is that because Israelite parents wouldn’t apply the law? Perhaps. Or is it because not every case law has to have a corresponding narrative? Perhaps.
The law in Deuteronomy 21:18–21 takes on an intriguing significance when we read it in light of the nation as God’s son.