26th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Which Son Will We Be?

In today's Gospel we have the beginning of a three-part confrontation between Jesus and the chief priests and elders. The next two Sundays we will hear the next two parables that Jesus tells the religious authorities in rebuke of them. But why does Jesus confront these so-called religious people so frequently in the Gospels? And what does He mean when He says that "tax collectors and prostitutes" will enter heaven before them?