Luke 7:29-35

John Burnett:  ²⁹ (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

³¹ Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

“‘We played the pipe for you,
    and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
    and you did not cry.’

³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ ³⁵ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”  Jesus came to save sinners but He could not be the Savior if He had sinned.  The Pharisees said He was a sinner just for being a friend to tax collectors and sinners.  I am so glad He is my friend because I am wretched sinner and I need Jesus as my savior.

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Allen Michaels:  ²⁹ (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.) The tax collectors (who embodied evil in most people’s minds) and common people heard John’s message and repented. In contrast, the Pharisees and experts in the law (religious leaders) rejected his words. Wanting to live their own way, they justified their own point of view and refused to listen to other ideas. Rather than trying to force our plans on God, we need to try to discover his plan for us.

³¹ Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

“‘We played the pipe for you,
    and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
    and you did not cry.’ Jesus points out the hypocrisy of these hardened hearts who criticized both John the Baptist and Jesus Himself. "If the message is unwelcome, nothing that the messenger can say or do will be right." (Maclaren)

³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ The Pharisees weren’t troubled by their inconsistency toward John the Baptist and Jesus. They were good at justifying their “wisdom.” Most of us can find compelling reasons to do or believe whatever suits our purposes. If we do not examine our ideas in the light of God’s truth, however, we may be just as obviously self-serving as the Pharisees. ³⁵ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” Wisdom’s children were the followers of Jesus and John. These followers lived changed lives. Their righteous living demonstrated the wisdom that Jesus and John taught.

The religious leaders hated anyone who spoke the truth and exposed their own hypocrisy, and they did not bother to be consistent in their faultfinding. They criticized John the Baptist because he fasted and drank no wine; they criticized Jesus because he ate heartily and drank wine with tax collectors and “sinners.” Their real objection to both Jesus and John, of course, had nothing to do with dietary habits. What the Pharisees and experts in the law couldn’t stand was being exposed for their hypocrisy.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Luke 7:36-43

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,^[c] and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.