In our last study Jesus proclaimed the greatness of John the Baptist by showing that he was in fact the one that was sent before the Messiah to prepare the way before the Lord that Malachi 3:1 speaks about. This is an amazing statement because for many there was a wonder of who John was. John was questioned on several occasions and always answered that he was not the Christ and that he was a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.(John 1:23). At this point John had drifted into the background and was in prison for speaking against Herod about his unlawful marriage and other unruly acts.
Jesus shows the people the greatness of John by the fact that he was indeed not just a great prophet but was the forerunner to the Messiah. This of course would be another claim by Jesus that He was the Messiah. In this study we are going to really look at the reaction from the people concerning what Jesus just spoke on concerning John. We will see two groups, those that accepted this statement and those that did not. We will see that Jesus gives us a visual story to help us understand how those that reject God and His salvation call are never satisfied in spite of two different ministries, one from John and the other from Jesus. Let’s get into our first point for this study.
1.Those that accepted God’s work through John.
Look with me at Luke 7:29 And when all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. The people that had been following John and that had followed into the baptism of John were the common people. They understood their sinfulness as they heard from John the message of true repentance. They were not like the religious leaders that we will look at in our next point that thought they were God’s gift to the human race because they were so religious. These common people were baptized as a sign of repentance. Mark 1:4 says John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
John’s message was not soft and his baptism was not meant for the superficial. Matthew 3:7-9 says But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
Just like any good preacher I am sure there were many that came through the baptismal waters that were not serious but it was the sure enough religious leaders that proved by every action they took that they were not coming to John because of a true repentant heart. John knew this and with this they did not truly accept the message of John. Instead they rejected his message and in essence rejected God. That is what we see in our next verse and our next point.
2.Those that rejected God’s work through John.
Look with me at Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and the scholars of the Law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. It is clear by this text that the Pharisees and scholars otherwise known as the scribes, were never baptized by John. They were only at the baptism area to observe and question. We see in John 1:24-25 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
They were curious so they sent people and even went themselves to see what John was doing. They questioned his authority and who he was. This is similar to what they are doing with Jesus as well. This will be obvious by what Jesus says in the next section of Scripture that we will look at in our next point. But for now we see that the most religious people, those that thought they were doing everything right to get God’s attention were the ones that were left out of the kingdom. They rejected God’s prophet in John and they are continually rejected God’s Messiah all because they think they have this salvation thing all figured out. They have formulated a religious system that has brought them to the top of the religious pyramid. Not only are they Jews, which in their eyes gives them a pass into the kingdom of God, but they also are the most ritualistic people of their religion. They are honored as supreme by the people and by their peers but in reality they are rejected by God. They have chose the path of self accomplished salvation instead the path of repentance.
In reality they did not like John’s message and they do not like Jesus’ message. Both preached a message of repentance. Now John’s approach was one that did not include personal connections really. He had his close personal followers but you don’t see him eating with the common people. Jesus on the other hand does these things but this does not sit well with the religious elite as well. This is what Jesus points to as he draws a comparison that shows really a visual analogy of the difference in John and Jesus with the religious leaders being unsatisfied because they thought they had everything figured out when in reality they were ignorant to the truth. Let’s look now at our last point.
3.The unsatisfied people of this generation.
Look with me at Luke 7:31-35 “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children, sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, who say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’ 33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” It is clear that Jesus is making a comparison of what the men of this generation are like. I do think it is important to note that Jesus is not speaking of every man but specific men.
If we included every man then that would include John the Baptist, Jesus’ disciples, Jesus’ apostles and so many more men in this time that were actually following Jesus or would follow Jesus. The men of this generation is pointed toward the unfaithful and unbelieving of this time. Now I do believe that we can include any person that falls into this category from all time but here Jesus speaks specifically of this generation of unbelieving Jewish people. These people would be led by the religious leader, the Pharisees and Scribes along with the Sadducees.
So it is this generation that Jesus speaks of here and He says they are like children. Now let’s not get confused about the fact that Jesus says in Matthew 18:1-3 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
In that passage Jesus speaks about a person that is a believer being as a child in the sense of innocence and humility but here there is something much different to why Jesus says that they are like children. We also know that children lack understanding, are self-centered in action and dependent on whatever authority is before them. When I say dependent I am referencing the dependence of needing to follow the rules of whatever authority they have whether from their parents, school teacher or sports coaches. The unbelieving people of all generations are dependent on those in the authoritative role even in religion.
Jesus points out also that children expect others to play along with whatever game they may be playing. But there will always be those children that refuse to play along even when the other children change what they were doing. From many different commentators I gathered that the children in Jesus’ time would play games that were associated with either marriage or a funeral. I remember as a child playing games acting as if I was an adult and my room was my house or my fort we built in the woods was my house. These kids were accustomed to attending weddings and funerals in which all people attended. This was normal life and therefore these were the types of things that they played.
Jesus goes into this comparison by saying in Luke 7:32 They are like children, sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, who say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’
I believe what we see here is that these children were willing to play whatever the other person wanted but the unsatisfied children still refused to play along. This ties into what Jesus says next in Luke 7:33-34 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
John did not interact with most people. He did not go to the parties, he did not include himself into the feasts nor was he very personal with people. It’s not that he was rude or unfriendly but that he did not have but one goal and that was to prepare the way for the Lord.
On the other hand Jesus went to the parties and feast. Jesus ate with tax collectors, Pharisees, former lepers, those that He healed, He fed multitudes and is seen often interacting with different people from different social statuses. But neither John nor Jesus pleased these unbelieving people. They found fault with anything and everything simply because they felt like they had all of the answers. They did not like the way John preached and the fact that he was baptizing. Equally and even more so they hated Jesus for how He would call them out in front of the crowds and for preaching the message of repentance as He was as well. These unsatisfied people show that they are only interested in religion when it benefits them or when they can have it their way. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
These people do not seek for truth but rather for what makes them happy. The religious leaders were notorious for looking for anything they thought was sin in Jesus, even though there was never any sin or violation of God’s law or any law. They looked to please themselves and not God therefore we see them as unsatisfied and unbelieving.
This points us to look briefly at our last verse, Luke 7:35 says Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children. People that show true wisdom is always in association to true followers of Christ. Ephesians 5:15 says Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.
James 3:13 says Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good conduct his works in the gentleness of wisdom.
Romans 16:19 says For the report of your obedience has reached to all. Therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
Wisdom shows the true state of those that live by it. These are those that are righteous through the Lord Jesus Christ, these are those that look for the truth and follow the truth, these are the children that are not wanting their way but that are on the path that God has set out for them to live by. These are the ones that had been baptized by John and recognized that God was indeed at work through John and was working at this time through Jesus. My prayer is that you do not find reasons to complain about everything when it comes to spiritual life. God has called us to be satisfied in what He has given to us in salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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